Over 70 participants from 17 countries gathered in Ljubljana (Slovenia) to discuss homophobia, prejudices and violence against LGBTIQs in the context of football and upcoming Mega Sport Events.
In Mid-November, FSE joined its partners in the “Queering football” Erasmus + project for the European Networking Conference “QUEERING FOOTBALL – Addressing Homophobia at Mega Sport Events” at the Faculty of Sport of the University of Ljubljana. 17 countries and 3 continents were represented by over 70 participants – including fans, activists, students, journalists, volunteers, practitioners, researchers, and representatives of NGO’s, sporting and public bodies, such as UEFA.
The two-day program included sessions on homophobia, human rights, prejudice and violence against LGBTIQs in the context of sport and football. Particular emphasis was placed on the forthcoming final phase of the FIFA World Cup 2018 in Russia. During the conference FSE also had the chance to discuss in detail the upcoming MSEs with its member organisations “Pride in Football” and “Queer Football Fanclubs”, in order to build a common strategy.
The conference was also the closing event of “Queering football”, a project co-funded by the European Union. FSE wants to thank all its project partners for the great work and the trustful relationship during the last two years.
Martin Endemann, the project co-ordinator for FSE said in Ljubljana: “Even though we are today at the closing event of Queering Football, we have to ensure that there is a legacy of our work in the last years. FSE and its partner organisations and members will continue to fight homophobia at every level of the game. We will proceed to support our LGBTIQ member organisations and lobby the football authorities to take every possible step to make stadiums finally fully exclusive for every fan, regardless of their sexual orientation.”
You can find the conference report here.