Discrimination has no place on the playing field!

The Discrimination-free Zone campaign invites members of sports organisations and other actors to declare themselves a discrimination-free zone. Declaring a discrimination-free zone means opposition to discrimination, addressing the problem if one exists, and recognising equality between human beings.

In 2004 the sports federations adopted the Fair Play principle, and now the aim is to highlight the responsibility of every athlete and sportsperson for making equality a reality. There have been a lot of different ethical projects and projects on the theme of equality in sports, with very concrete results. Examples of these include the discussions on rules in children’s physical exercise established by the Young Finland Association, the Football Players Association of Finland’s ‘Welcome to Finland’ pack for foreign players coming to Finland, the ‘Heads Up’ training sessions in basketball, and several others.

Sports federations and clubs are also employers, and each work community needs to focus attention on its atmosphere and the matter of equality. The campaign’s objective is also to increase the number of Fair Play discussions in the clubs and federations that relate to socially responsible action.

The campaign’s patrons and those responsible for taking it further are Wilson Kirwa, someone who has run and danced his way into people’s hearts, MP Juha Mieto, and Susanna Rahkamo, President of the Finnish Figure Skating Association.

Tips for the Fair Play discussion

Discrimination-free zone declaration form

Further information on Fair Play can be found at the Finnish Sports Federation’s website: www.slu.fi/reilu_peli 

The contact person there is Project Manager Riikka Juntunen (riikka.juntunen@slu.fi )