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Addressing homophobia in football - PDF
Achievements 1 What have been the key achievements in football to date? The key areas of achievements are set out below:
Ground Regulations
The FA’s Ground Regulations were amended for the 2007-08
season to ensure homophobic abuse is viewed on par with racist abuse. Clubs and Safety Officers were written to at the start of the 2008-09 season to remind them of their responsibility.
Partnerships
The FA developed a partnership with the
Gay Football Supporters Network (GFSN) to identify a volunteer Liaison Officer to work with the majority of the professional clubs. Their role has been to liaise with the clubs to assist them to implement the ground regulations and other issues they may have with regards to tackling homophobia and engaging the local gay community. Notable support has been received from Reading FC, Manchester City FC, AFC Bournemouth, Bradford City FC and Aston Villa FC (who were the first professional club to launch the first specific gay fans group in the country). This partnership is being reviewed with the GFSN to learn what has worked and what could be done differently.
Reporting and prosecution - The FA has a dedicated freephone reporting line (0800 085 0508 ) and e-mail address reportdiscrimination@TheFA.com for people to report any allegation of discrimination relating to sexual orientation nationally.
- The homophobic abuse of Sol Campbell that was evident in the 2008-09 season is a high profile example of how The FA acted swiftly and responsibly through an immediate press response condemning all offensive chanting and reaffirms The FA’s commitment to investigating complaints. The FA and its partners (clubs, the Premier League, the police and the Crown Prosecution Service) worked collaboratively, ending with successful prosecutions of many of the offenders, including Football Banning Orders. Any incidents of homophobic abuse which are reported by players are dealt with swiftly. Homophobic abuse is already a red card offence. For misconduct charges the sanction can be greater if there are aggravating factors; homophobic abuse is listed as aggravating factor. For a first time offence the sanction is doubled; it is trebled for a second offence and so on.
- The Crown Prosecution Service has appointed regional football officers to support the process of securing convictions and banning orders. The FA will use the film as part of the process to ensure that these officers are briefed with regards to homophobic abuse.
- The FA has reviewed the process of managing allegations of racism in football, and broadened the reporting process to be inclusive of all discriminatory complaints.
Education
- The FA has delivered training in Handling Discrimination Cases for the County Football Associations to assist them in the effective and efficient management of allegations of discrimination. To date, 30 Counties have been involved in this with approximately 300 people trained locally. Issues addressing homophobic abuse are explicit in this training.
- Working with 'Kick It Out' and the PFA ensures football scholars (16-18 year olds) are trained in all areas of diversity awareness including sexual orientation and the issue of homophobia in football.
What has The FA done to raise awareness and educate the wider football community?
- The FA's Equality Workshop is promoted throughout grassroots football. The workshops are attended by Coach Educators, Football Development Officers and County FAs. They seek to raise awareness that homophobic abuse is not acceptable and how to report concerns.
- Specific training with referees on Law 12 of Association Football: Fouls and Misconduct, specifically the use of offensive, insulting and abusive language.
- The FA supported Leftfooters to bid for, and run, London 2008 - the International Gay and Lesbian Football Association (IGLFA) World Championships. This was a very successful event with over 50 teams attending from around the world. We hosted an event at Soho Square for teams from countries where its unlawful or unacceptable to be gay e.g. South Africa, Croatia, Czech Republic, Hungary, Mexico and Argentina.
- The FA’s long-term Respect programme has codes of conduct, including: Never engage in, or tolerate, offensive, insulting or abusive language or behaviour. Additional guidance makes it clear that homophobic abuse is included.
- The FA’s anti-discrimination partner 'Kick it Out' promote an Equality Standard accreditation programme to professional clubs (building on and replacing their successful race Equality Standard). This includes tackling homophobia and how to engage with local gay communities.
- The FA has appointed Ambassadors to assist with supporting the work on tackling homophobia and promoting equality – these include Paul Elliott (former Chelsea player) and Dave Ravel (openly gay referee) to specifically work on messages about homophobia. However, all FA-appointed Ambassadors, whatever their background, support the generic equality messages, including work to tackling homophobia.
- We continue to develop and strengthen our relationship with the gay press.
Campaign Work
2 What is The FA’s position on stamping out Homophobia in Football?
As guardian of the game in England, The FA is uniquely placed to tackle issues such as homophobia. Why? Because, we can create a supportive, open and inclusive environment through the County FA network which aims to reach out to all communities. One of the main targets for the County FAs is growth and retention; working with more diverse communities is not only the right thing to do, it makes good business sense too. We can and we will continue to implement the Laws of the Game to address homophobic behaviour.
The FA will work with the football authorities, to ensure the door is open for members of the lesbian, gay, bi-sexual and transgender/transsexual (LGBT) communities to participate and progress within the game and we will stand up to all forms of homophobic language and behaviour, whether by spectators, players or other participants.
3 What is The FA’s strategy for addressing the issues of football homophobia?
The FA’s strategy for tackling football homophobia is to continue with working with key stakeholders who genuinely represent the voice of the LGB community, to educate and raise awareness through stewards and referee training, to engage with fans through forums as part of the on-going debate, to promote widely how to report abuse and discrimination and to look at innovative approaches of promoting football equality. The FA is currently reviewing its ten-point plan as part of the wider strategy for this work. The ten-point plan is set out below:
1 Lead and own
The FA fully accepts the positive leadership role it can take in tackling homophobia. The FA, working with the football authorities, has established a football-wide advisory group to deliver the core principles of the ten-point plan.
2 Educate
Issues such as homophobia are embedded as part of the training courses to raise awareness of equality, to change inappropriate attitudes and to celebrate diversity. The 'Kick Homophobia Out of Football' film will be used to support stewards' training, work with the CPS to educate Magistrates and emphasise the need for Football Banning Orders to be an essential part of the sanctions issued by the courts in these cases.
3 Sanction
Homophobic abuse is outlawed under Law 12 of the Laws of the Game. It is a red card offence and referees are trained to effectively manage situations where it arises. Sanctions are also imposed through the Ground Regulations which are basically a set of rules of entry to each stadium. The Regulations set out the behaviours that are not acceptable; these include, threatening behaviour, foul or abusive language, racial, homophobic or discriminatory abuse, chanting or harassment and the chanting of anything of an indecent or racialist nature.
4 Encourage reporting
The FA has a dedicated phone or e-mail for reporting all forms of discrimination including homophobic discrimination and abuse. All reported allegations are investigated and appropriate action is taken if the incident is proven.
5 Work in partnership
The FA will work with its partners to provide advice and guidance to professional and with grassroots clubs.
6 Lobby
The FA will work with government and international football authorities to change any legislation/regulations to support the involvement of gays, lesbians, bi-sexuals and transgender/transsexual people in football.
7 Fund
The FA will secure funds for strategic developments.
8 Promote key messages
The FA has produced information leaflets to promote the ten-point action plan, appointed a well known ambassador to help tackle homophobia and has kept the gay and mainstream media informed of the work on tackling football homophobia.
9 Research
The FA has sponsored relevant research and acted upon relevant external research undertaken to inform activities.
10 Monitor and evaluate
The FA will monitor the effectiveness of the ten-point plan.
4 Who are The FA’s partners and supporters in this campaign?
The FA works very closely with its partner organisations such the Gay Football Supporters Network (GFSN) who promote the support and participation of gay men and women in football and act as a medium for LGBT football supporters to get together and Kick it Out who work throughout the football, educational and community sectors to challenge discrimination, encourage inclusive practices and work for positive change. In addition other critical partners include:
5 Who leads this work for the FA and what is the role of the other Football Authorities?
The FA’s Governance and Regulations Division, through its Equality Team leads on this work.
The Football Authorities are part of the All Agency Review Team (AART), which involves the Premier League (PL), the Football League(FL), the Professional Footballers' Association (PFA), the Football Foundation (FF), the League Managers' Association (LMA) and the League Football Education (LFE). Its role is to have a co-ordinated approach to managing, dealing with and promoting anti-discrimination in football.
6 Who is the Advisory Group for Tackling Football Homophobia, what is its role and function?
The Advisory Group for Tackling Football Homophobia is formed of individual and organisational representation from the LGB community and other partners who offer strategic advice to AART on discrimination issues with a focus on homophobia.
7 Who champions this work for The FA and football at large?
The FA General Secretary, Alex Horne, is a champion of this work and has stated: “The FA and its stakeholders have worked hard over the years in providing football for all; ensuring that football stadia are open to everyone to enjoy and are family friendly. We’ve seen real progress over the last 20 years when it comes to tackling racism and that’s something football should be proud of. However, we remain committed to our long-term goal and on stamping out all forms of discrimination such as kicking homophobia out of the game.”
Curtis Davies, the Aston Villa defender, told Kick It Out: “Football is always seen as a man’s game, so there are macho attitudes both on and off the pitch. My take on the matter is simple; as long as a player does the business during 90 minutes, his sexual persuasion just doesn’t come into it. I’d rather be playing alongside the best player in the world who is gay than someone who’s not good enough."
Clarke Carlisle, Burnley defender and Kick It Out ambassador, said: “I think it’s [whether we will see an openly gay Premier League footballer] an issue, not just in football but generally in sport, and it’s a reflection of the nation we live in.
"There is a stigma about homosexuality and this is why the coming-out process is such a traumatic one. When you transpose that into a sports environment, it’s very alpha-male dominated, so you don’t want to show any signs of weakness. It was a monumental effort for me to hold my hands up to say I had a problem with alcohol back in the day, because it was exposing a vulnerability to others. Coming out as a homosexual sportsman can be viewed negatively, so people don’t want to do that."
Meanwhile, Portsmouth and England goalkeeper David James said: “If you’re gay, what’s the problem? We’ve got gay staff at Portsmouth and they carry on with their day’s work and no-one really cares.
8 What measures are there in place to deal with homophobic/anti-social behaviour at Wembley National Stadium?
We recognise that Wembley Stadium should lead by example and be an exemplar of good practice. Throughout 2010, Wembley will be implementing a Code of Conduct in respect of all visitors to the Stadium. This Code will be in addition to the Ground Regulations and will encompass the following issues relating to anti-social behaviour:
- No standing
- No swearing
- No smoking
- No aggressive behaviour
- No inappropriate behaviour
- No racist and homophobic chanting.
Following discussions, the principles of the Code of Conduct has received full support and backing from the Metropolitan Police The FA’s Compliance Department. Wembley is totally committed to combating anti-social behaviour and fans support is an integral part of this process. Wembley’s commitment is made visible and accessible via:
- Increased signage within the concourses detailing the in house stadium texting alert service
- Flash out messages on the Concourse TVs
- Flash out messages on the large bowl screens
- Public announcements via the pitch side announcer and on the public concourses
- Anti-social texting service – information posters situated throughout the concourses.
From a Crowd Safety aspect, homophobic chanting is taken very seriously and would result in ejection from the Stadium and criminal prosecution.
Kick Homophobia out of Football Film
9 Why did The FA commission this film and what were its objectives?
As you may have already seen towards the top of the page, The FA commissioned their Kick Homophobia out of Football Film as part of our approach to address homophobia in football. The decision was based on the intelligence we have gathered, working with stakeholders from the LGB communities in football and more widely. The film is now in the public domain and is being used for education and training for stewards.
10 What have been the reactions from the LGBT and football community?
Changing attitudes is a complex process. There is no consensus as to how to address this issue in football. It needs a multi-layered and targeted approach and the film is part of the process. There were different creative perspectives expressed throughout the process, and there were, and this is precisely the why we engaged Ogilvy and Kick It Out, both experts in their fields, to take the creative decisions. The film has received criticisms but we knew that would be the case due to the creative and innovative approach taken.
Messages of endorsement and support for the campaign were received from Sir Elton John, The Rugby Football Union and The Rugby Football League and the Crown Prosecution Service to name a few. The FA intention’s for commissioning and releasing this film virally has always been to create a debate around the issues. We believe this is taking place.
The FA’s Equality and Child Protection Team
June 2010
