The management of the senior European basketball factory, in cooperation with the players' organization, has almost completely eradicated all expressions of discrimination, racism and anti-Semitism on the pitches • "Israel Today" with all the details of the successful program
The Euroleague is fighting racism
Photo:
From ELPA's Twitter account
In recent years, the Euroleague has launched a joint struggle with the Euroleague Players' Organization (ELPA) to eradicate racism, discrimination and anti-Semitism in the Euroleague and Eurocup games under their responsibility.
In preparation for Holocaust Remembrance Day, "Israel Today" publishes the details of the full plan, the actions taken, as well as the positive results of all the steps the Euroleague has taken to deal with the negative effects in recent years.
Campaigns in hundreds of cities across the continent
As early as 2017, the two organizations launched a joint campaign entitled "Not in My House" (#NotInMyHouse) led by senior coaches such as Zeljko Oberdovic and Sharas and the biggest stars in the Euroleague such as Vasilis Spanoulis, Nando de Colo and others calling for the eradication of any manifestation of racism or Discrimination of any kind.
At the same time, it was made clear to the groups participating in the two factories that this was a serious offense, and that a group whose fans would experience such an event needed to be dealt with promptly and uncompromisingly and if not, it could be severely punished.
The Euroleague also developed the "One Team" program, which in order to bring it to consciousness, was led by five stars such as Spanoulis, Nick Claths, Jesse Carroll, Nemanja Nedovich and Charles Jenkins, along with Oberdovich.
This program in cooperation with the "Special Olympics" organization, which promotes the integration of people with disabilities in sports, has already operated in 2018 in about 16 countries in cooperation with 106 cities and localities and over 16,000 participants with about 170 ambassadors, most of them senior and well-known Euroleague and Eurocup players. .
Today the numbers are even higher.
German groups take an active part in these programs.
For example, Alba Berlin focuses on social campaigns in distressed neighborhoods in the city where mostly immigrants live, and the Hall Group has established a special group of children with disabilities that participate in all club activities and emphasizes their integration into society.
In 2020, the Euroleague planned a special campaign in support of the fight against racism that spread in the United States and elsewhere in the world where black and white players were supposed to participate and were supposed to include awareness-raising videos and youth activities, but due to the Corona virus and season break, those programs were canceled.
Hear from @ Free_Brooks21, @ pg30_Cole, @GigiDatome and @ foe23 too!
#NotInOurWorld pic.twitter.com/JV7XkzVey3
- Turkish Airlines EuroLeague (@EuroLeague) March 17, 2021
Revealing documentaries
At the beginning of this season, the Euroleague teamed up with the players' organization in a campaign called "Not in Our World" (#NotInOurWorld) aimed at fulfilling one of the UN's goals - reducing inequality in the world. "The need to raise our voice for world tolerance has never been greater." Euroleague Secretary General Jordi Bartomeu explained the new campaign.
The chairman of the Euroleague players' organization, Bustian Nakbar, added: "Nowadays, the players really care and care about social issues and also have a great influence.
That is why we are proud of this project. "
Just a few weeks ago, on the day of the international fight against discrimination starting on March 21, all teams joined efforts to raise awareness and in the games around that day the players wore jerseys with messages opposing racial discrimination of any kind.
In recent months, the Euroleague has released a special documentary that reveals the discrimination that black basketball players have faced over the years as well as the challenges they face to this day.
Throughout the film, actors such as Howard Saint-Ross (Panathinaikos), Shaquille McSick (Olympiacos) and former Valencia actor Larry Avia talk about how they refused to rent him an apartment due to the color of his skin.
Other actors also revealed for the first time in their lives personal stories and unpleasant experiences they had experienced over the years.
Once again we stand together in the fight against inequality!
#NotInOurWorld pic.twitter.com/sfwxTuZHWx
- Turkish Airlines EuroLeague (@EuroLeague) March 19, 2021
Acute and rapid activity
And so while in the NBA we still occasionally witness expressions of anti-Semitism and racism on the part of players or fans on the pitches and on social media, as in the last case with Miami Heat player Myers Leonard who was caught last month expressing himself antisemitically during a live computer game. Fined and even suspended, according to Euroleague data that reached us, in recent years not a single racist or antisemitic expression has been heard on the pitches.
On social media, only one case occurred during 2020 when social media surfers spoke out in a racist manner towards Malcolm Delaney, a Barcelona player at the time.
The Euroleague immediately acted decisively.
In addition to the harsh condemnation they issued, an immediate report was sent to the various platforms that blocked the profile from which the racist remarks came.
They also announced that if the same fans were found, serious measures would be taken against them to the point of denying them entry to the pitches.