DISCRIMINATION OFF LIMITS: FOOTBALL STORIES TO FIGHT HATE

DISCRIMINATION OFF LIMITS: FOOTBALL STORIES TO FIGHT HATE. The project aims at promoting a better understanding and a more aware dialogue on the issue of racism, xenophobia and other forms of intolerance in our societies, using football as a positive example. The goal will be reached through the development of a web-archive, which will act as a platform containing multimedia contents (from now on “stories”) offering positive examples of how football can combat racism and other forms of social discrimination, through inspirational and virtuous messages, leading societies to elevate into a more open, diverse and tolerant version of themselves. Times and again in the past, sport has spearheaded social change, forcing civil societies to question the status quo and anticipating the future. However, recently, sports arenas and their equivalent online environment have been the theatre of episodes of racism and hate. Through the web-archive, the project team aims at producing two main changes: • firstly, it will offer a platform for professional in sports communication to develop a better understanding of the issue, and enhance the way such episodes are communicated to the outer public. • secondly, the expectation is that the web-archive will be acknowledged as an entertaining tool by a vast public that will enjoy the “stories” translated in the main European languages, while also re-discovering how sport can drive change and social justice, through real-life examples