IS THE EMBRACE REAL?

"My heart is very saddened for my little boy, because there’s gonna be a time and a place for me to speak to him about the world – how the world is gonna be for him as a black man, and I have no words to even put together."

Last summer in France, the eighth FIFA Women’s World Cup broke new records. After an exhilarating final, won by the USA, a little while after the dust had settled, as the players started to let their achievements sink in, my eyes were drawn to Jessica McDonald and a little boy, standing in the middle.

A mother and son, sharing a very special moment, showering each other in the left over ticker-tape. The same son, who McDonald talked about in an excellent piece in The Athletic this week, with seven of the USWNT, by Meg Linehan.

As a father of three kids, that quote hit me. Hard. In the aftermath of George Floyd’s death, I did what I suspect many did. Read. Read some more. Got angry. Sad. Felt guilty. Had some conversations with my kids. 

My rather consistent take on the modern world for at least 12 months has been simple: the world is regressing. The surge in popularity of far right ‘politics’ and parties. Increasing cases of documented discrimination in the UK, fueled by some of the narratives around Brexit. Gay women punched in the face on a night bus in London, the city that was my home for 11 years.

Since 2008 I’ve lived in Switzerland. A country governed by a coalition, where the most popular party since I moved here, had campaign posters that stoke racism and islamophobia. Displayed at bus stops and public advertising boards.

So…where am I going? It’s Saturday evening. And in a true reflection of this sporadic Blog’s name…I’m rambling. By the time I’ve written this and pushed it live, the UK Sunday papers will start to come online. As is the norm in the Mail on Sunday, a journalist who I admire (and on many occasions, guided and supported me on projects I was trying to raise awareness of, when I worked in PR at The FA) will have his weekly column live.

They are generally hotly debated on Twitter. I suspect, tomorrow, he may find an unusually high number of people agreeing with him. Ollie, for those who don't know, has been one of the longest-standing advocates of the Rooney Rule in British sport.

As per his tweet earlier this evening, the question he is asking, is the following:

“Is the embrace of anti-racism by the NFL and FIFA real, or is it just corporate sport’s favoured mode of crisis management?” A topic that Jonathan Liew examined earlier in the week. Before FIFA’s statement was published. And before the NFL’s Roger Goodell published his video.

This is not about calling him out. Just trying to provide a bit of insight, from my viewpoint.
It’s not my place to critique another sports body, whose inner-workings I have no insight into. Where I’m slightly better qualified to write, is in relation to FIFA. Where I have worked since October 2008.

When I first started in the press office, one of my jobs, was to update a factsheet, documenting FIFA’s historical contributions to fighting discrimination. A list of dates and milestones. Yet whenever a small fine was handed out to a Federation whose fans racially abused players in a World Cup qualifier, this factsheet soon lost any credibility. 

In November 2011, approximately 15 months after an historic World Cup in South Africa, which was hoped would help to unite a deeply divided nation, came another memorable blot of the copybook. I remember it like yesterday.

The FIFA President had conducted a TV interview with CNN. The Producer and interviewer I’d got to know well in previous years. As the only mother-tongue English speaker in the press office, it was often me they would call when new stories broke.

Two of my senior colleagues sat in on the interview. And when they returned to the office, I remember clearly asking: “How did it go.” The answer it seemed, was pretty well. Until I asked for a couple of topics. I was curious. What followed next, made me swear. Loudly.

I walked hastily down the corridor, into the room that they were using to edit the piece. Said hello. And one of them said: “Wow Alex. This is going to be big. We’ve just sent the first part over to London. And I’ve just tweeted that this is going to make quite a splash.” It did.

A quote as oft-referenced in the next 8-9 years, as the one about ‘tight shorts’:

"There is no racism. There is maybe one of the players towards another - he has a word or a gesture which is not the correct one. But the one who is affected by that, he should say: 'This is a game. We are in a game, and at the end of the game, we shake hands’."

Just short of three years later, a German guy joined FIFA in a new role: Corporate Social Responsibility Programme Manager (for Equality and Anti-Discrimination).  

Gerd has 20 years experience in football. As an activist working with FARE. The DFB. Curating exhibitions. Speaking at conferences. Writing a Doctorate on Discrimination and Anti-Discrimination in English and German football. Ironically, in 2001, he was invited to the FIFA Congress in Buenos Aires. Where he addressed the world’s football federations. And FIFA made its first declaration in the fight against discrimination. (a bullet point on that factsheet I mentioned earlier).

As part of the CSR team, he has done a huge amount of education work. Travelled around the world to work with Federations. Introduced an annual Diversity Award with a well-respected panel. Supported the development of initiatives such as the ‘three-step procedure.’ And the introduction, with FARE, of anti-discrimination observers at the 2017 Confederations Cup. And in every 2018 FIFA World Cup stadium.

Needless to say, he spent a huge amount of time before that tournament, working in tandem with colleagues on the Local Organising Committee in Russia. Sharing his experience and advocating best practices, to try and ensure a World Cup that in many quarters was feared, would be a celebration. 

A lot of this work seems unknown. It was however, considered more effective than a committee that seldom met, and even more seldom, generated outcomes. Rather overlooked, when a few people share round a link or two on Twitter, is the quote from one of the members: "We never had a single meeting under his chairmanship. I wrote him, more than once, asking for when a meeting would be held. But I never received a reply from him."

That Chairman had got off to a flying start, impressing everyone, myself included, at a media briefing on the sidelines of an IFAB AGM in Edinburgh. The less said, the better.

In 2019, after no update in 15 years, FIFA's Disciplinary Code was also updated. In consultation once again, with FARE. One element of that change, was also the commitment to launch a dedicated FIFA website (legal.fifa.com) where the outcomes of cases would also transparently published. Removing much of the perceived 'cloak and dagger' of gently rapping Federations on the knuckles. 
The work done by a small team in Zurich however cannot change history. It shouldn’t. But, back to Ollie’s question.

On 13 May 2016, FIFA appointed a new Secretary General. In old money, a new CEO.In May 2019, Fatma did an interview with CNN. Them again. This time, the answer to a similar question eight years ago, was slightly different. 

"There are idiots in the life. There are people who think that they want a world where everybody is the same and I think this is totally wrong.

"It's the whole sports world that should be fighting racism," she said. "On the pitch, through communications, through education, through demonstrations, through sanctions. We have all to pull our efforts together to make it happen. But racism has been as old as any other evil in society, and it's for everybody to combat and to fight it. I'm sure in the eyes of some people I was not supposed to be there (at FIFA). But they have to deal with it.”

On Wednesday morning this week, I woke up. As usual, turned on my phone, and scrolled through Twitter. Two tweets were near the top of my timeline. Posted at 3.23am. From Fatma.

“Last week #GeorgeFloyd’s life was brutally taken from him. The footage of #Floyd being restrained by police & saying “I can’t breathe” shocked me to the core & I wish to say this: There is no place for racism anywhere in society nor is there ever any excuse for it.

“The killing of black people by police follows a depressing pattern in US history & this is wrong. #Floyd is not an isolated case, the list is long. It’s about time for the US culture of systematic racism to change. The US can & must do better. Our prayers go to #Floyd’s family.”

As the week developed, a number of former players – Legends – were mobilized by FIFA to spread a simple message: Stop Racism. Stop Violence. Stop Discrimination. It’ll take more than a t-shirt to achieve those things. But when you’re talking about Yaya Toure, Ronaldo & Roberto Carlos, I think they know that already.

So, after nearly 1500 words, I’ve got just a few ones left, to answer the question:
“Is the embrace of anti-racism by FIFA real?”

I think it is. To everyone who read this/got this far, now ask yourself the same question too. Let's make this more than just a black square on your Insta, a blog written late at night, or a newspaper column every few years.

FREE YOUR MIND

“Free your mind and the rest will follow.” En Vogue are anything but these days. Nevertheless, as I thought about this, it seemed as good as any a place to start.

This morning I flicked through Facebook and saw a notification from 7 years ago today. At the 2010 FIFA World Cup, I was still less than two years into my new job in the press office.

As the final approached, one afternoon I got a call from a former FA colleague. She was working with the 2018 England bid team, and was going to take a few hours off, to explore Johannesburg. Lucas Radebe, who was working as a Bid Ambassador, was also working for ITV, and had hired a minibus to show some of the crew and commentary team, his ‘home.’ There was a spare seat. Would I like to go?

Holed up in Sandton for the best part of five weeks, I jumped at the chance to see a different side of Johannesburg. It turned out to be one of the best few hours of the whole tournament. 

We travelled to where Lucas grew up. He explained his upbringing, showed us where he grew up playing football, and we toured around a broader area of the city, together with a guide. At one stop, we entered a church. There, many years before, some young black children ended up being chased by white police. We were shown strafe marks on the walls and ceiling. And told what happened next. The story had most of us in tears. Brutality. Violence. Death. The guide then went on to explain about the Truth and Reconciliation Committees that were later formed, and the next day, I bought a book, to learn more.

Why is this interesting or relevant? About 90 minutes earlier today, I had watched the final press conference of the 2017 FIFA Confederations Cup. Whilst VAR and doping were the main two topics on the agenda (as they were approximately a week before), three of the four speakers all declared the event a success.
Working at FIFA, the fact that operationally the event should have proven so, is no surprise. Colleagues and their Local Organising Committee counterparts plan at the most micro-level across many, many levels. The width of the organizational chart (which can be found pinned to the wall on one level of FIFA’s building) actually spans the width of two double offices.

However, whilst the number of visiting fans may have been much lower than for a World Cup, and the scale of everything is smaller, there have been other encouraging signs these last couple of weeks.

Fans from Cameroon visited. They had a good time. Were safe. I read articles in Australian media that some of their fans were actually delayed getting to one match, as the locals kept wanting to stop and speak to them. Not quite the image sometimes portrayed. That travelling to Russia could be to take your life in your own hands. (I remember the Panorama documentary pre-Euro 2012 too). In addition, at every game (as there will be next summer too) there have been multilingual anti-discrimination observers.

British and German media have been on-site in healthy numbers. Many gave credit where it was due, praising operational areas, the cities, and the people. If there had been any trouble, they would have been duty bound to cover it. You would have read about it. Nick Ames, a journalist who I always enjoy reading - as he veers off most beaten paths - has been particularly interesting to follow on Twitter.

Next summer there will be more visitors. There will be more security. More entertainment for fans, e.g. the always-popular Fan Fests. Russia is a huge country. Certainly one of many extremes.A Mail on Sunday piece last weekend ventured towards one of the country’s borders, and found a rural backwater where World Cup investment will not make a difference to the lives of those living there.

Comparative studies detailing where urban infrastructure could have been improved (instead of shelling out on the frippery of a mega sporting event) are a common (and fair) analogy to draw every four years. Ironically, and tragically, had England won the vote to stage 2018, overseas media may have been writing this past fortnight about how our own money could have maybe helped prevent the Grenfell Tower disaster. Or asking, will Muslim visitors be safe in British cities, after the horrific (and seemingly under-reported) acid attack in East London. (You can always find something to attack, if you are so minded)

Ever since the announcement that Russia would host next year’s World Cup, the scare stories have had a demonstrable impact on many of the fans whose comments I see daily in my job, on FIFA Social Media accounts.

I would never try to pretend that everything is perfect. That no-one visiting next summer will not encounter a single problem. However, the reality, versus the perception, told by those who have visited four of the cities this summer, suggests that perhaps people will be able to enjoy themselves after all.

Russian people are friendly. Helpful. Inquisitive. Volunteers, as at every major event will do their best to help you. As I know only too well from my own job, FIFA, the LOC and other stakeholders are ever more determined to try to provide better services and experiences for fans, to help make their experience as enjoyable as possible.

“Why oh why must it be this way

Before you can read me you gotta learn how to see me, I said
Free your mind and the rest will follow.”

En Vogue might have had a point. 7 years ago, I could easily have stayed in the office, or flopped on my Sandton Hotel bed for a power nap. Instead, I decided to take a trip on a minibus in Johannesburg, opened my own mind, and ended up having an unforgettable experience.

If you are going to Russia next summer, follow the usual rules and suggestions when you visit new places. But free your mind. It might just lead to moments you never expected. And also never forget.