© kvo, blg
Football club SV Zulte Waregem shifts up a gear in the fight against racism and other forms of discrimination. Players will testify in schools and a hotline will be set up.
Karen Verhulst
Anyone who hears racist statements during a football match and wants to raise it, often does not know where to go with it. A QR code that can be seen during every match in the Elindusarena next month will make that easier. Via the QR code you can report acts of violence, vandalism, but also other problems.
“You can also report defective toilets, lukewarm pints, broken seats, but also discriminatory messages that you would receive in the stands,” says Sciandri Jacques, spokesperson for SV Zulte Waregem. The SLO team, the link between fans and club board, follows up on all reports. (Read more below the photo)
Via the QR code you can report racism or other problems in the stadium. — © quo
The QR code is just one part of the total project with which the football club wants to make an extra effort this month against racism and other forms of discrimination. Prior to every home game in the Jupiler Pro League, youth players will roll out a banner for the line-up of both teams, and during each game the players will wear a special shirt with the slogan on it All As One. The Essevee captain is given a special diversity bracelet.
Testimony
“We also want to make a difference off the field,” says community manager Geert Van Assche. “With the All As One campaign, we highlight the current initiatives of Zulte Waregem, but we also create new projects to completely sideline discrimination and racism.” (continue reading below the photo)
Zinho Gano also wants to put a stop to racism and will tell his story this month in some Waregem schools. — © BELGIUM
And that is done in the best possible way: let a victim testify himself. In this case, that victim is football player Zinho Gano, who himself was confronted with discrimination. In January he goes to various Waregem schools to tell his story. “I want the young people to be aware of what discrimination, in whatever form, can cause the victim,” Zinho Gano looks ahead to the lectures.
To prevent racism during the matches, starting at a young age. For example, all youth trainers will receive a workshop at the end of January that should help them to let diversity live in a group of players. And in the campaign video made for this All As One project, we see some young Essevee players. That, too, should raise the subject with the little ones.
