Sport with the right SPIN

Discrimination in Austrian football was commonplace in 1997, the European Year against Racism. It was in this year that the Vienna Institute for International Dialogue and Cooperation (VIDC) launched the campaign "fairplay. Many Colours. One Game", today known as the fairplay Initiative. The spectrum ranged from attacks against individual players and fans to right-wing extremist symbolism and violence in stadiums to the structural marginalisation of people with refugee and migrant backgrounds at the level of officials.

Hostility based on ethnicity was directed primarily at Black people as well as the Turkish and ex-Yugoslavian communities. The political situation in the 1990s and early 2000s did its part to further inflame the mood. It was high time to take public countermeasures and effectively utilise the integrative potential of sport. In essence, it is about actively highlighting racist structures and incidents on the one hand and barrier-free sporting and social participation of minorities and underrepresented groups on the other. Our goal is a society and sports culture free of exclusion and discrimination, based on equal treatment and solidarity. 

Diversity as an opportunity and a mission

26 years after the founding of fairplay, we are seeing progress. Athletes with migrant or refugee biographies and a public presence, such as David Alaba (football), Mirna Jukic (swimming) or Shamil Borchashvili (judo) and Zlatko Junuzovic (football), are no longer the exception. Clubs are increasingly engaging with criticism and strategies critical of racism and are participating in campaigns coordinated by fairplay to promote diversity.

At the same time, and in view of the accumulation of the most inhumane incidents such as the recurring catastrophes of people drowning in the Mediterranean and cynical political debates about the reception of people in need of protection in Austria and Europe, it is imperative that we continue to take a closer look and remain active. The war in Ukraine and the largest refugee movement in the history of the EU have clearly emphasised this. In the meantime, initiatives and organisations throughout Europe have set to work using sport to break down barriers, enable participation and thus strengthen social cohesion. Long-time supporters like asylkoordination are strong allies in these endeavours.

Since 2010 - long before 2015, a year that was so prominent in the discourse on refugees and integration - fairplay has been working with a network of European partners to promote social participation, including that of refugees, in and through sport. The challenges are as diverse as the biographies of our target groups. Barriers to diversity in clubs and associations can be of a social, cultural, legal and administrative nature; gender and language are also important factors. Access must therefore be comprehensive and appropriate to the context.

Sport as an instrument of social inclusion

For newly arrived refugees, a sports club is often the only opportunity to meet people from the majority population and integrate into society. At the same time, grassroots sports clubs often lack the experience to address and integrate this target group.

The inclusive significance of sport was emphasised by the European Commission in its 2007 White Paper: "Sport makes an important contribution to economic and social cohesion and to more inclusive societies. [...] The specific needs and situation of under-represented population groups must therefore be addressed; [...]. Sport can also facilitate the integration of migrants and people of foreign origin into society and promote intercultural dialogue."

In Austria, initiatives such as the sports and cultural association Neuer Start, the educational project Kicken ohne Grenzen and Play Together Now are successful examples of how people with a history of migration and flight can get involved and organise themselves with the help of sport. Some of our colleagues in the educational work of fairplay education have also acquired initial skills in communicating diversity and anti-discrimination through their work in these clubs, which today they pass on in the form of workshops and inclusive sporting events. Strengthening these initiatives and supporting them in building their capacities is a sustainable contribution to social inclusion.

In addition to supporting those affected, it is also about the continued existence of sporting club life as such. Country-specific studies from the EU speak a clear language: the high level of voluntary commitment on which many clubs rely is increasingly jeopardised. If it is not possible to involve the young population with a migration background as players and officials, grassroots sport as we know it will not be able to exist. The task is therefore to prepare the structures of sport for social change in the best possible way and to support it in the process.

Sport Inclusion Network (SPIN)

Today, it is well known that migrants and ethnic minorities in the EU face multiple barriers when it comes to participating in sport and physical activity. The under-representation of these groups, their exclusion from leadership positions and the lack of promotion of minorities in non-player positions are recurring problems.

Against this backdrop, the fairplay initiative brought together a group of NGOs and sports organisations from seven EU countries (Austria, Germany, Italy, Hungary, Portugal, Ireland and Finland) in 2010 to address issues relating to the inclusion of disadvantaged groups in sport, particularly ethnic minorities, refugees and migrants. They included the Irish Football Association FAI, the Portuguese professional footballers' union SJPF, grassroots sports organisations and projects working with refugees. Together, they designed the Sport Inclusion Network (SPIN) project.

First and foremost, it is about sharing good practice, networking the relevant stakeholders and strengthening and building the capacity of sports clubs for people with a history of migration and flight. SPIN's successful interventions are based on targeted analyses of the respective context and the creation of a scientific evidence base. Building on this, we develop training and educational programmes as well as measures to support our target groups. Finally, campaigns with messages such as United for Inclusion are designed to raise public awareness and promote positive counter-narratives.

The participation of all target groups in co-design is a common thread running through our programmes. The visibility of those affected mentioned at the beginning is also an indicator for overcoming access barriers. In our SPIN Refugees project, for example, so-called inclusion ambassadors have their say. They are athletes themselves - some of them Olympic participants or winners - with a history of flight, who act as role models to emphasise and promote diversity in sport.

One of these ambassadors is Daniel Abraham Gebru. Born in Eritrea, he now lives in the Netherlands and has ridden his bike to two gold medals at the Paralympic Games since 2016 and won a World Time Trial Championship in 2021. For him, sport is an effective vehicle for social inclusion because "it offers a unique opportunity to come into contact with people from different backgrounds. No other activity can do this," Gebru emphasises in the interview.

The International Olympic Committee (IOC) and the Paralympic Committee (IPC) also utilise this potential. In 2016 in Rio de Janeiro (IOC) and 2021 in Tokyo (IPC), so-called Refugee Teams were invited for the first time alongside the national delegations. According to the IOC, this is also planned for 2024 in Paris and 2026 in Dakar. In view of the sharp rise in the number of people fleeing war, persecution and human rights violations in recent years, this sends a strong signal of recognition for the achievements and biographies of athletes with a history of flight. 

Over 13 years of SPIN - focal points, results, and perspectives

In 2011, the EU began funding the first SPIN project. Thanks in part to the Erasmus+ Sport programme, we have since been able to implement several innovative projects, from the Sport Inclusion Network (2011-2012) to the European Sport Inclusion Network (2015-2017), Sport Welcomes Refugees (2018-2019), SPIN Women (2019-2020) and SPIN Refugees (2020-2022). The current project Empower Diverse Youth - Build up Youth Participation and Inclusion in Sport Organisations (SPIN Youth), which focuses on young people and young adults, is currently running until 2026.

SPIN Women has focused on the participation of women and girls with a migration or refugee background in sport. Barriers in sport and society have a double impact on them. While general disadvantages such as language or administrative hurdles apply equally to migrants regardless of gender, women and girls are confronted with stereotypes and role models in their home and host societies. Only this intersectional understanding opens effective options for action. In a transnational study with 54 participants in focus groups of diverse and highly experienced stakeholders, we got to the bottom of specific discrimination and identified well-founded solution strategies. One simple, albeit essential finding: sports programmes for women and girls must actively address their specific barriers and be geared towards their needs.

In addition to analysing problems and formulating ways to increase participation in sport and society, we have been developing easily accessible tools to achieve these goals for over a decade. The various formats are aimed at both grassroots and professional sport and reflect the diversity and expertise of the SPIN partners. The following resources are currently available. These include a train-the-trainers course on inclusive sport, accompanied by the online learning platform Electronic Learning Environment, or ELE for short. There are also web resources such as a self-assessment tool for sports clubs and the SPIN Connecting Tool, which links target groups with nearby inclusive sports programmes. The website www.sportinclusion.net serves as a central location for information, exchange and networking.

Over time, we have been able to reach tens of thousands of people across Europe as part of inclusive, polysport events - for example during the annual European Week of Sport at the end of September. The LebensLauf (Life Run) organised by asylkoordination is also a regular partner. In workshops, roundtable discussions and conferences, sports stakeholders regularly engage in dialogue with members of our target group, government representatives, NGOs, educators, social researchers and the media. 

What happens next?

Together with SPIN members, we are constantly committed to the expansion and further development of our services. To this end, we registered SPIN as an international association based in Vienna and appointed the first Board of Directors in mid-June 2023. Since then, other members around the world have joined us, allowing us to take SPIN's activities to regions beyond Europe.

In our view, this must be complemented by improvements in sports policy. In Austria, for example, there is a need for action around regulations and training programmes of domestic sports associations. Compulsory modules on interculturality and anti-discrimination could equip generations of coaches and officials with the relevant skills and professionalise the important work they are already doing in terms of integration. In addition to voluntary programmes such as those offered by SPIN and fairplay, this could be an important, systematic step towards a sports culture that is open and respectful to all people - regardless of origin, gender, age and religion.

Learn more about our work and how to join SPIN at sportinclusion.net

You can also connect with us on insta @sport_inclusion_network