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Written by Daniela Wurbs

Published: 14 May 2015

ONLY ONE CANDIDATE MAKES FIRM PLEDGE TO TACKLE HUMAN RIGHTS AND CORRUPTION IN WORLD FOOTBALL.

In response to a survey from a coalition of leading NGOs, sports organisations and trade unions, only one of the four candidates for the FIFA presidency has set out a plan to address human rights, labour rights and corruption issues if successful in their bid for the top job at world football’s governing body.

The Sport and Rights Alliance (SRA) sent a questionnaire to the candidates - Sepp Blatter, Luis Figo, Prince Ali bin Al Hussain and Michael van Praag - last month. It asked specific questions about abuses linked to the 2018 World Cup in Russia and the 2022 World Cup in Qatar, and about the FIFA reform process. The FIFA presidential election takes place on 29 May in Zurich.

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Written by Ren & Stimpy

Published: 19 March 2015

We are not talking about the annual spring cleaning but about the move of our office. The FSE Coordinating Office is getting new and shiny premises.

This is the reason, why we unfortunately will be available for you via phone (+49 40 370 877 51) ONLY between Monday, 23 March to Monday 6 April in urgent cases.

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Written by Philipp Markhardt

Published: 22 April 2015

In view of a recent UEFA Disciplinary decisions taken against the Croatian Football Association for racist conduct of fans, the members of the FSE Fans Embassy Team in Italy have released the subsequent statement: 

As Italian Fans Embassy team, having accompanied and supported Italian national team fans across Europe for many years now, we hereby express our deepest disagreement with the UEFA decision to have the next match between Croatia and Italy (which is a qualifying match for EURO 2016) on 12 June 2015 in Split played without spectators.

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Written by Sport & Rights Alliance

Published: 25 February 2015

Human rights, labour standards and anti-corruption measures must be central to all stages of the Olympic Games to stop the event becoming a byword for oppression, the Sport and Rights Alliance (SRA) said today ahead of a key meeting of the International Olympic Committee this week. 

The IOC Executive Committee will meet in Rio from 26-28 February to discuss implementation of Agenda 2020, its “strategic roadmap for the future of the Olympic Movement”, passed in December last year. The Agenda includes anti-discrimination measures, labour standards and proposals to improve transparency and promote good governance.

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Written by Ren & Stimpy

Published: 21 April 2015

A coalition of leading NGOs, sports organisations and trade unions has written to all four presidential candidates from the Fédération Internationale de Football Association, known as Fifa, urging them to commit to addressing human rights, labour rights and anti-corruption issues in future World Cups if successful in their bid for the presidency.

The election of a new president takes place on 29 May in Zurich. The candidates are Prince Ali Bin Al Hussein of Jordan, Miguel Figo, Michael van Praag, and the incumbent president, Joseph “Sepp” Blatter.

In the questionnaire from the Sport and Rights Alliance (SRA), the candidates are asked whether they will systematically engage with civil society and if in the first 100 days of their presidency they intend to address corruption, labour issues and other human rights concerns around the Russia 2018 and Qatar 2022 World Cups.

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Written by Philipp Markhardt

Published: 13 February 2015

The federation of Danish Football Fan Clubs (DFF) – Danske Fodbold Fanklubber – is a Danish umbrella organization for Danish supporters and members of FSE. This week the DFF launched a campaign against mandatory “away cards” – a proposal the Danish League Association have made due to safety and security concerns. So why is the DFF fighting this decision?

The background for the decision goes back to 2012, where a match on March 3^rd between Aalborg Boldklub and FC Copenhagen made media headlines, with lots of pyro and almost riot looking footage from the away section. The Ministry of Justice, the Danish FA, the police, the clubs and the fans then came together, and agreed to work on a plan to secure better football experiences for everyone. In the joint plan a “common entry system” was suggested as a possible action point. Ever since then the focus in Danish security aspects has been on dialogue. Police are being trained as special event police and using dialogue as a tool; SLOs are being introduced in the Danish Super League and an ongoing dialogue and cooperation is happening with the supporters.

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Written by Daniela Wurbs

Published: 07 April 2015

Sport and Rights Alliance Calls on European Olympic Committees to Act

Rights abuses may taint the first European Games unless the European Olympic Committees and key National Olympic Committees urge the Azerbaijani government to release unjustly imprisoned journalists and activists, the Sport and Rights Alliance said today. 

Azerbaijan is to host the first European Games in the capital, Baku, from 12 - 28 June 2015. An estimated 6,000 athletes from 50 countries are to participate in 20 sports. The games are organised under the auspices of the Olympic Movement.  Apart from that, Baku was also selected to host football matches of the European Championships of UEFA in 2020 that will take place in 13 countries across the continent.

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Written by ein Praktikant

Published: 09 December 2014

European Fans’ Congress 2015 in Belfast - #EFFC2015

Belfast is calling!

As already announced during the 7^th  #EFFC2014 in Bosco Albergati / Italy we will gather next summer in this vibrant and inspirational capital City. So: Start to plan your trip to enjoy the famous friendly Northern Irish welcome - and of course beer, whiskey -  and lots of football tradition!

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Written by Ren & Stimpy

Published: 20 March 2015

On 16 March, the annual meeting of the FSE Committee with UEFA took place, together with our partners Supporters Direct Europe and Centre for Access to Football in Europe (CAFE). Whilst progress was made and joint actions were discussed with regards to nominative ticket schemes and travel restrictions, we had to register that UEFA  was still unwilling to move even an inch in its position on collective punishments of fans.

The FSE Committee is still missing a sign of understanding from UEFA for the fact that punishing fans that haven’t done anything wrong whatsoever, is unjust, doesn’t meet judicial principles and is hence counter-productive to motivating fans in the important commitment against racism. 

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Written by FSE Committee

Published: 09 December 2014

Football Supporters Europe condemns the latest incidents of violence in Spanish football but calls for detailed research and evaluation of the incidents in Madrid instead of imposing short-term mass punishments against certain sets of supporters throughout Spain.

As Football Supporters Europe (FSE), we were shocked to hear of the death of Spanish supporter Francisco Javier Romero Taboada. No football match in the world is worth a person’s life. Therefore, first of all, we want to express our sincere condolences towards his bereaved family members and friends, our thoughts are with them.