REPORT 2013

Football Unites the Alps, Adriatic and the Balkans

Report Period: January 2013 to December 2013

reserved) (all rights FairPlay-VIDC/BAAP ©

Contents

1. PARTNERS

2. ACTIVITIES

a. “Balkaniade” 2013: International youth tournaments in the Western Balkans b. International youth tournament “ meets Balkan” May 2013 c. Anti-racism activities with the football associations and local football clubs d. FARE Action Week in October 2013 – Activities in the Western Balkans e. Media coverage

3. PLANNED PROGRAMME 2014

In cooperation with:

1 1. PARTNERS

Lead Organisations: FairPlay-VIDC, Austria Balkan Alpe Adria Project (BAAP) Football Federation of Football Association of Serbia Football Association of Montenegro Football Association of the FYR of Macedonia

Partner Organisations: King Baudouin Foundation (KBF) UEFA Council of Europe / Enlarged Partial Agreement on Sport (EPAS) City of Vienna Ministry of Sport, Austria Austrian Football Association (ÖFB) FARE network

Regional Partners: Drasko Braunovic (FK Bokel Kotor, Montenegro) Damjan Ratkovic (FK Leotar Trebinje, Bosnia and Herzegovina) Ivan Anastasovski (GI Global , FYR of Macedonia) Hasan Sisic and Nedzad Vuk (Sport Association of the City of Mostar, Bosnia and Herzegovina) Adem Preljevic (Novi Pazar, Serbia) Ivana Milosevic (Center for Development and Education, Serbia) Marko Begovic (Students Sport Association, Montenegro) FAC – Team für Wien

Contact information: FairPlay -VIDC, Markus Pinter (Project-Manager), Selma Vrazalica (Project-Coordinator), Michael Fanizadeh (Consultant) Moellwaldplatz 5/3, 1040 Vienna, Austria Phone: +43-1-713 35 94 ext. 89 or 93 Fax: +43-1-713 35 94-73 E-mail: [email protected] or [email protected]

BAAP, Alexander Rakowitz Phone: +43-68110485110 E-Mail: [email protected]

Web: www.vidc.org www.footballforequality.org/balkan-and-central-europe www.fairplay.or.at/balkan

With support of:

2 2. ACTIVITIES

a) “Balkaniade” 2013: International Youth tournaments in the Western Balkans

The Balkan Alpe Adria Project - BAAP in cooperation with FairPlay-VIDC and the partner football associations initiated the project “Balkaniade” with the aim to promote international youth exchange in the field of sports in the Western Balkans. The project partners organise a series of regional youth tournaments taking place annually in one of the countries in the region. Boys as well as girls participate in the tournaments hosted by the national football associations and local clubs.

Aiming to bring together experts in the field of sports, sport stakeholders, players, supporters and general audience from around the globe to share experiences and know-how, the Balkan Alpe Adria Project (BAAP) in cooperation with the Football Association of FYR of Macedonia, FairPlay-VIDC and the FYR of Macedonian NGO GI Global organised the 8th international workshop “Football Unites” and the international football tournament “Balkaniade”. The events took place on 29 June 2013 in Ohrid (FYR of Macedonia) and were supported by the football associations/federations of Montenegro, Bosnia and Herzegovina and Serbia

Youth players from Bosnia and Herzegovina, Serbia, Montenegro, Croatia, FYR of Macedonia and Austria came together in Ohrid to play football, to have fun and to get in touch with each other. Besides Bosnian, Croatian, Serbian and other languages, one language was spoken: the language of football and respect!

Bosnia and Herzegovina was represented by the previous year’s winner Leotar Trebinje and Gradska Reprezentacija Mostar that won out over local clubs in the qualifier in Mostar.

The workshop on the topic “Education through sports” was joined by Patrick Gasser (UEFA - Football and Social Responsibility), Des Tomlinson (FAI - Football Association of Ireland), Laurence Curtis (University of Brighton, UK), Kurt Wachter (FairPlay-VIDC, Austria), Ivana Milosevic (BAAP Serbia), Rahela Maneva (NGO Sveti Nikola, FYR of Macedonia), Ivan Anastasovski (Geostrategic Institute, FYR of Macedonia) and Andreas Hellstab (Show Racism the Red Card, Germany), to name just some of the international guests. The participants exchanged their opinions and know-how and discussed how sports can be implemented into formal and non-formal education in the Western Balkans. The problem of nationalism and extremism in sports in the region was also in the focus of the discussion.

3 b) International youth tournament “Vienna meets Balkan” May 2013

From 18 to 20 May 2013, FairPlay-VIDC and the Balkan Alpe Adria Project (BAAP) in cooperation with the FAC team for Vienna and the SC Süssenbrunn organised an intercultural youth football tournament. Under the slogan "Vienna meets Balkan" U10 and U12 teams from Bosnia and Herzegovina, Serbia, FYR of Macedonia, Montenegro, Hungary, the Czech Republic, Slovakia and Austria met in this sporting event. Not only the sport of football but also the strengthening of intercultural exchange and dialogue had priority.

For the 11 th time, Vienna was the venue of this intercultural youth football tournament. Vienna is located in the center of Europe and thus represents an ideal venue for an inclusive football event like this.

Christian Oxonitsch (Vienna City Councillor for Education, Youth, Information and Sports) was pleased that the city hosted the event again: „Vienna meets Balkan is more than ‘just‘ an international football tournament. It is about people from different cultural backgrounds meeting each other, having fun together and taking a united stand against nationalism, racism and intolerance. As City Councillor for Youth and Sports in Vienna, I am especially pleased that our city is hosting this event for the 11 th time. Vienna stands for tolerance and togetherness, and it has always been an important centre at the heart of Europe, which, in my opinion, makes it a perfect venue for the tournament”.

In total, 49 teams with over 500 children and adolescents participated at the "Vienna meets Balkan" tournament. It took place on the football grounds of the FAC Team for Vienna in the 21 st district of Vienna, SC Süssenbrunn in the 22nd district and FS Elektra in the 2 nd district. The final day, in particular, attracted many visitors to the FAC ground.

Trainer seminar Prior to this year's youth tournament, FairPlay-VIDC in cooperation with the Croatian NGO M Status invited the coaches of the clubs to a seminar at the hotel Sophienalpe. The aim of the seminar was to provide a basis for discussion as well as an exchange platform for the coaches. During the seminar, David Hudelist elaborated on the basic idea and the values of FairPlay-VIDC, which should come to life especially at an event such as the intercultural youth tournament. The colleagues from M Status , Natko Geres and Mislav Mandir discussed predominant roles in football and started an open discussion with the coaches who took the opportunity to share their experiences and ideas with the group.

4 Framework programme A framework programme, which was organised by FairPlay-VIDC on all match days at the FAC ground, provided entertainment for the youths. Away from the tournament action, the youngsters could prove their football skills and play together in mixed teams in an inflatable FairPlay Streetkick-Court. The FairPlay team also offered a creative workshop in addition to the Streetkick, where the kids could let their creativity run free and produce banners about the main topic of the project, their club logo or suchlike. Another element of the framework programme was the microsoccer-facility, which FairPlay-VIDC introduced at the youth tournament for the first time this year. A wooden frame (4 x 2 metres) with two mini goals served as a playing field and invited the children and adolescents to play football in the mode "1 against 1". The mini football pitch was used intensely by the adolescents and children and will be a permanent element of the FairPlay framework programme.

Opening The tournament was officially opened by Safak Akcay and Ing. Anton Waltz, district councillors from the 2 nd district Leopoldstadt , Goran Bradic of the Serbian embassy in Vienna, Markus Pinter of FairPlay-VIDC as well as Alexander Rakowitz of the Balkan Alpe Adria Project (BAAP) on 18 May 2013 at 7 o’clock pm in the Vienna Prater (venue "Buddy Grill").

5 Evening event A special highlight was the joint celebration for players and trainers at the Vienna Ost*Club on 19 May 2013, which combined need-to-know with fun, dance and music. At the evening event, the children had the opportunity to learn the art of break dance and rap in workshops as well as to participate in a workshop on "FairPlay and role models in football". A lottery with a total of five prizes and the music of DJ Burnee completed the evening event.

Results In the U10 age group, AS Novi Pazar (Serbia) won the first place and could thus defend its title and take the trophy back home. Second place was the Fav AC from the 10 th district of Vienna, the FAC Team for Vienna from the 21 st district made third place. The Serbian club Vojvodina had to settle for the fourth place. In the U12 age group, the Viennese club First Vienna FC came out on top. The second place went to the club Pale Piksi (Bosnia and Herzegovina), the 3 rd place was achieved by GR Mostar (Bosnia and Herzegovina) and the fourth by the club Buducnost Srpska Crnja (Serbia). The borough mayor debuty Ilse Fitzbauer represented the district Floridsdorf at the trophy presentation at the FAC ground on the final day, 20 May at 4 o’clock pm.

Youth brochure On the occasion of this year's youth tournament, FairPlay-VIDC published a youth brochure (‰ Download under: www.fairplay.or.at/balkan ) in German and English as well as Bosnian / Croatian / Serbian, which was distributed to the adolescents during the tournament and the evening event at the Vienna Ost*Club. In addition to an interview with SK Rapid Vienna player Branko Boskovic and statements by adolescent players, the booklet provides information on current and planned projects.

6 Support The "Vienna meets Balkan" youth tournament was sponsored by the City of Vienna and supported by the Austrian Football Association (ÖFB) and the Sports Ministry within the scope of the FairPlay-Service Point as well as the Viennese districts Leopoldstadt, Floridsdorf and Donaustadt. The youth tournament is part of the international "Football Unites the Alps, Adriatic and the Balkans"-project, which is carried out in cooperation with UEFA, the football associations/federations of Serbia, Bosnia and Herzegovina, the former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia and Montenegro and supported by the King Baudouin Foundation and FARE.

Vision The tournament combines integrative and intercultural objectives with development-political Public Relations. Under the slogan "Vienna meets Balkan" a connection between Vienna's youth teams, migrant groups living in Vienna and teams from non-EU countries in the Western Balkans such as Bosnia & Herzegovina, Croatia, Montenegro and Serbia, as well as from other countries, will be created. In recent years (2006-2011), FairPlay-VIDC – in cooperation with BAAP – organised activities to overcome nationalism, ethnocentrism and racism in the Balkans. In the course of this, FairPlay-VIDC was supported by the Belgian King Baudouin Foundation and UEFA. With the support of and in cooperation with football associations/federations in Bosnia and Herzegovina, Montenegro and Serbia, the measures in the Balkans will continue in future projects. In addition to the foreign activities in the Balkans the exchange with Vienna also represents an important contribution to overcoming chauvinisms in the Balkans. Moreover, this kind of tournament strenghtens the intercultural dialogue in Vienna, since adolescents from the Balkans also constitute the largest migrant group in Vienna.

c) Anti-racism activities with the national Football Associations/Federations and regional partners

Anti-racism action in (Bosnia and Herzegovina)

In April 2013 the Balkan Alpe Adria Project (BAAP) in cooperation with the Football Federation of Bosnia and Herzegovina launched an anti-racism action at the derby FK Slavija Sarajevo against FK Sarajevo. During the match campaign broshures were distributed to the supporters and audience in the stadium. The players wore t-shirts with messages against nationalism and racism in sports, showed red cards and presented a banner saing NO to discrimination in sports while entering the field. The action was braodcasted live by the public Bosnian television and therefore reached a broad audience.

7 Lecturer on discrimination in sports in Mostar (Bosnia and Herzegovina)

On 31 August the Sport Association of the City of Mostar from Bosnia and Herzegovina organised a lecture on „Discrimination on the football field“ in their premises in Mostar inviting young players from all football clubs in the Mostar region to participate. Mostar can be defined as a special case in Bosnia and Herzegovina as all societal areas are still divided along ethnic borders, even much stronger than in other cities in the region. Thus, bringing together young athletes from different clubs and different ethnic background can be seen as a big success in regards to overcoming nationalism and fostering a multi-ethnic atmosphere.

In the first session, Mr. Nedzad Vuk from the Sport Association briefly introduced the idea behind the FARE Action Weeks. After a short presentation on various initiatives that are active in the fight against discrimination in sports, such as FairPlay, BAAP etc. and their campaigns and activities in this very field, the interactive part started: in groups the kids discussed the phenomenon football and its ability to tackle but also reproduce discrimination. The kids were also confronted with other forms of discrimination in sports such as sexism, in particular homophobia, and discussed these topics. Most important, the youngsters had the possibility to reflect their own role in a multi-ethnic society and their chance to contribute to a better future through sports.

“Balkan kup” held in Novi Pazar (Serbia)

From 6 to 8 December 2013, Novi Pazar hosted a football youth tournament under the motto “Together against racism, drugs and discrimination”. The sports event was organised by Adem Preljevic from the Academy of sport (Novi Pazar) bringing together over 1700 young footballers, visitors and supporters in 7 different age groups. During the three-day “Balkan kup” more than 170 matches were played. “It is a pleasure for me that Novi Pazar has evolved into a breeding ground for young and ambitious football players ” stated the representative of the city council of Novi Pazar, Suadetin Mujezinovic, welcoming the audience and the athletes to the event which was opened by a folklore dance group. “The Balkan kup showed that football does not know barriers and offers a great platform for a better tomorrow for our youngest members in society who – in this very event –

8 represented their countries fabulously. Our common wish is to see sports fields become a place where the fight against racism, nationalism and all forms of discrimination starts. This message we want to communicate to our youngest who then can act as role models ” said docent dr. Adem Preljevic. The tournament was conducted in a constructive and friendly spirit without any incidents, injuries or verbal slanders. The event was followed by print media and reached a broad audience.

d) FARE Action Weeks in October 2013 – Activities in the Western Balkans

The Europe-wide Action Weeks initiated by the FARE network aim to boost public awareness of the problems of racism and exclusion and to create a united front in dealing with this malign influence on Europe‘s number one sport. The FARE Action Weeks unites supporters, marginalised groups, NGOs, sport clubs and those targeted by racism to make discrimination, racism and nationalism a thing of the past inviting them to organise and implement anti-racism activities in their local community.

This year FairPlay. Different Colours. One Game. at VIDC and the Balkan Alpe Adria Project (BAAP) acted as the regional coordinators for the FARE network. BAAP and FairPlay-VIDC pro-actively supported and allocated grants for the activities taking place in the Western Balkan region including Bosnia and Herzegovina, Serbia, Montenegro, the Former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia, Serbia, Albania and Kosovo.

In total 28 organisations and sports clubs from the region received a small grant in order to implement activities during the FARE Action Weeks from 15 to 29 October , ranging from organising multi-ethnic football tournaments, stadium actions during league match days to anti-racism education in schools.

Bosnia and Herzegovina

In Bosnia and Herzegovina some well-directed activities were implemented to fight racism and take a stand against nationalism in the Western Balkans. These targeted different sectors of the society such as fan groups and children from different ethnic communities.

The NGO BAAP - Bosnia and Herzegovina has been participating in the FARE Action Weeks for many years. This year again the organisation planned and realised several activities during three Premier League matches in Bosnia and Herzegovina taking place in Sarajevo, the capital city of Bosnia and Herzegovina, Mostar and Trebinje. On Saturday, 19 October, FK Velez played against NK Vitez

9 in Mostar whereas Leotar Trebinje and FK Slavija met to play against each other in Trebinje. During both matches BAAP launched stadium actions to raise awareness against racism and nationalism in football. The players entered the field carrying a FARE banner saying „No to discrimination, Yes to equality“ and wearing t-shirts with the logos of BAAP, FARE and their club. Right before the game kick off the players showed Red Cards saying „NO“ to racism and nationalism. The same stadium action was also arranged during the Premier League match FK Zeljeznicar vs. FK Velez Mostar which was played in Sarajevo in the Zeljo-stadium on Saturday, 26 October. Additionally the activity in Sarajevo was followed by the local media and broadcasted on national TV and thus could reach a broad audience. During all three matches a stadium speaker introduced the idea and the goal of the FARE Action Weeks inviting the players, visitors and supporters to take a unified stand against all forms of discrimination in football.

Besides BAAP – Bosnia and Herzegovina, the NGO Association Orchid Stolac , the football school No Limit from Stolac, the organization Zajedno - Youth Initiative for Human Rights and the Informal Youth Group from Zenica became active during the FARE Action Weeks.

Serbia

Also in Serbia the Balkan Alpe Adria Project (BAAP) got active during the FARE Action Weeks. In cooperation with the Football Association of Serbia, FC Red Star, FC Novi Pazar, FC OFK Beograd and FC Vojvodina activities were realized on 19 and 26 October.

On 19 October a stadium action was implemented during the football match between FC Red Star and FC Novi Pazar in Belgrad in the stadium "Marakana". The players and referees entered the court with a FARE banner and wearing t-shirts with the logo of FARE and their own football club. During the opening ceremony the players and referees showed red cards while the stadium speaker introduced the FARE Action Weeks thanking the organisers and partners for their engagement and reminding the audience of the ideas of the initiative. He also stated how important a unified stand against racism in football was inviting the audience to support the players in a fair way and the referees to contribute to respect for diversity.

On October 26 BAAP in cooperation with its partners implemented another activity during the football match between FC OFK Beograd and FC Vojvodina taking place in as well. The course of the second stadium action was similar to the previous activity as again the players, referees and ball boys and ball girls came to the field wearing FARE t-shirts. This time the children carried the FARE banner which then became visible for the audience during the opening ceremony. Also during the second stadium activity the stadium speaker informed the audience about the idea behind the FARE Action Weeks inviting the players, supporters and visitors to join the fight against racism in football. Before and during the match volunteers were handing out anti-racism brochures, stickers and other materials to fans and visitors.

10 As both matches were broadcasted on national TV, the anti-racism activities reached a broad audience across Serbia.

Further 7 NGOs, schools and sport clubs participated in the FARE Actions Weeks, such as the NGO Club for Youth empowerment 018 , the Elementary School 15 October , the Voluntary organization Svilajnac-VOS , the NGO Radovi u Toku , Sportikul-Serbian Center for Development of Culture and Sport , the Local community Lug as well as the football club OFK Belgrade .

Montenegro

The Balkan Alpe Adria Project in cooperation with the Football Association of Montenegro implemented two actions during football matches of the Premier League. One took place during the game between Mogren against Sutjeska which at the same time was a derby of the Montenegrin league. Before the game’s kick off the players showed red cards saying “Show racism and nationalism the red card” while the referees entered the field with a FARE banner with a slogan against racism and discrimination in sports. The match and the stadium action were broadcasted on the Montenegrin TV station RTV 1 and got visible for a rather big audience. The second stadium action took place during a Second League match between Bokelj and Bratstvo. The ball boys and girls carried a FARE banner whereas the players and referees wore t-shirts with the logos of FARE and BAAP showing Red Cards to racism and nationalism in sports. Furthermore, the NGOs Kulsport and Forum MNE joined the FARE Action Weeks in Montenegro.

Kosovo

For the first time the Kosovar NGO Gender Equality Movement from Pristina participated in the campaign and performed fan choreographies during several football matches.

“In the beginning it was very difficult to organise activities dealing with sexual equality and homosexuality as these topics are still a big taboo in Kosovo but I think that at the end we did quite a good job ” sais Ismail Cakolli from the Kosovar NGO “Gender Equality Movement” that participated in the FARE Action Weeks for the first time.

The NGO started their activities by promoting the idea of the FARE Action Weeks inviting particularly homosexual women to participate in workshops on gender issues and football tournaments. “Gender Equality Movement” organised activities in three Kosovar cities aiming to bring together people who are marginalised and discriminated due to their sexual orientation through sportive events.

11 “In one of the trainings I stressed how important it is for the community to gather together and play football as sport can bring together people and make their problems appear smaller. I went to three cities in Kosovo and met so many lesbians who all live a double life. Their parents want to marry them off which they can hardly refuse as to the strong traditional and partriarchal system that is still omnipresent in Kosovo ” explains Mr. Cakolli.

The rather desperate situation of transsexual people became very clear during one meeting with transsexual Roma people living isolated in a house 15 minutes away from the capital Pristina. Gender Equality Movement provided them with sanitary products and some food and will focus their future work on the social inclusion of the Roma community.

Slovenia

On 24 and 25 October the Roma Sport Association Slovenia (Romska Sportna Zveza Slovenija ) hosted a congress tackling discrimination and racism in sports. Under the motto “With Ball Against Discrimination and Racism” representatives of Romani associations from Slovenia, Bosnia and Herzegovina (Ibro Beganovic) and Croatia (Toti Dedic), city representatives and sport stakeholders came together in Murska Sobota (Slovenia) to discuss how discrimination against minority- and marginalised groups in sports can be overridden. Joze Horvat-Didi, president of the association Romska Sportna Zveza Slovenia opened the conference. The city of Morksa Sobota was represented by the mayor Anton Stihec. As representative of the football association of Slovenia Rajko Korent attended the conference. Furthermore, Stane Baluh from the Office for National Minorities, Janja Roser, president of the Romani Community Council in Slovenia, Jozek Horvat Muc president of the Romani Union in Slovenia, Edvard Kolar from the Ministry of Education, Science and Sports in Slovenia and Branko Znidaric, vice president of the Slovenian Olympic Committee joined the conference in Murksa Sobota.

Former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia

With 9 NGOs participating in the FARE Action Weeks, the FYR of Macedonia was the best represented Western Balkan country.

The Roma Youth Centre organised five football matches for children of elementary schools and marginalised youths – in particular young Roma people, youngsters from rural areas, youths from poor families, refugees, disabled youngsters and migrants. All in all the tournaments were well visited and

12 reached around 150 people. Furthermore, the NGO arranged a street art event in the city centre of Kumanovo offering workshops on the art of face painting, street theatre, flash- mobbing and dancing. All these activities aimed to raise people’s awareness of social exclusion, discrimination in general and racism in particular by promoting the intercultural dialogue as a crucial part of social cohesion thereby using art as an integrative and connective tool.

Also the NGO YWCA Skopje Macedonia , the National Roma Centrum , YMCA Skopje Macedonia , the Union of NGO Babylon , the Macedonian Center for Culture and Development , the Youth Forum Bitola , the Informal Youth Group Sv. Nikole (in cooperation with the NGO “VOS” from Serbia) and the geostrategic institute Global implemented various activities during this year’s FARE Action Weeks.

A detailed list of all participants from the Western Balkans you can find under: http://www.farenet.org/campaigns/fare-action-weeks/list-of-activities-2013/

Read also the detailed report on our website: http://www.footballforequality.org/uploads/media/Action_Weeks_2013_in_the_Western_Balk ans.pdf

e) Media coverage

In June 2013 FairPlay-VIDC and the Balkan Alpe Adria Project designed and started a facebook site (http://www.facebook.com/Balkanprojects ) in order to present the activities in the Western Balkan region and – most important – to announce upcoming events and actions, publish pictures, reach a broad community and invite them to participate in the activities throughout the Balkans. The site is managed by FairPlay-VIDC, BAAP Serbia and BAAP BiH. The project partners in the Balkan region are invited to use the site as a promotion platform of their activities as well.

In May 2013 the Southeast European Times published an article on the activities of FairPlay-VIDC and the Balkan Alpe Adria Project (BAAP) that are implemented in cooperation with local partners and the football associations/federations of Bosnia and Herzegovina, Serbia, Montenegro and the FYR of Macedonia have been. Titled “Former Yugoslav nations tackle extremism in sports”, the article was dedicated to the efforts and successfully implemented actions of the lead organisations when it comes to taking a stand against discrimination in sports: “Racism, nationalism and discrimination is now an issue in football in former . Now the football associations in the region take the issue of racism and nationalism seriously, also some clubs have been very active”, Michael Fanizadeh from VIDC Vienna stated. During the FARE Action Week in Bosnia and Herzegovina the Balkan Alpe Adria Project in cooperation with the Sport Association of the City of Mostar implemented activities at a match between FK Velez Mostar and NK Travnik. Players from both teams, the referees and supporters displayed red cards against racism and nationalism. Also the teams entered the field carrying a banner saying “Stop discrimination”. “I truly believe that in some 15 years there will not be those who are going to the sport matches in the name of nationalism. And our goal for the next 15 years is to have such matches where will not be any group that comes to spread chauvinism”, stated Alexander Rakowitz , leader of the NGO Balkan Alpe Adria Project (BAAP).

13 Another article published in July 2013 by the Southeast European Times focused on the international youth tournament “Balkaniade” that took place on 29 June in Ohrid, FYR of Macedonia. International guests who participated in the Balkaniade and the international workshop “Football Unites” have been interviewed for the article. Among others, Nedzad Vuk from the Sport Association of the City of Mostar said: “Our team which takes part in these events has the title ‘The Representation of the City of Mostar’, and it is made of members of all clubs which have players of the right age for the competition, and the representation is always multi-ethnic” . As to Mr. Vuk, one of the most significant steps toward improving tolerance and cooperation with other countries has been the restoration of relations between Mostar and the Serbian city of Kragujevac. “Through sport and games we restored cooperaton with Kragujevac, and Split should confirm the same this year”, Mr. Vuk stated.

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3. PLANNED PROGRAMME 2014

Following the successful initiation of the Football Unites the Alps, Adriatic and the Balkans campaign 2006 – 2013, the Croatian Football Association agreed to join the activities in the framework of the “Football Unites” programme for the seasons 2013/14 and 2014/15 in partnership with FairPlay-VIDC and the Balkan Alpe Adria Project (BAAP). The activities are geographically focused on the basis of the cooperation with the football associations/federations of Croatia, Montenegro, Bosnia and Herzegovina and Serbia.

a) “Balkaniade”: International youth tournaments These tournaments are jointly organised in cooperation with BAAP, the national football associations/federations of Bosnia and Herzegovina, Serbia, Croatia, Montenegro and FairPlay-VIDC and will are held each summer in a different country in the Western Balkans. The usual format of the Balkaniade is to organise two or more local tournaments in the respective countries and then to have a final tournament. Teams and clubs from different Balkan countries are invited to celebrate the idea of multiculturalism in the region. Therefore, the tournaments are far more than competitive sports events. 2014 the Balkaniade will take place in June in Vojvodina, Serbia already inviting a Croatian team to participate in the final tournament. In 2015 it is planned to organise the event in Vukovar, Croatia.

b) Anti-racism activities with the national partner football associations / federations The project partners will organise several anti-racism days at football matches in the Balkans. These manifestations will be realised in cooperation with the national teams and clubs. The activities will contain: anti-discrimination actions on match days, spreading of inclusive messages via stadium announcements, perimeter boards and vidiwalls (if available), the organisation of fan matches or tournaments, joint media work around anti-racism activities and briefing of TV-commentators, publication of information and campaign material etc.

c) Grassroots anti-racism activities and FARE Action Weeks in October The idea behind the FARE Action Week is having a wide range of initiatives and activities addressing local problems within their club or community, while also joining groups across the continent to present a unified stand against racism in the game. The involvement in the FARE Action Week will guarantee a wide dissemination of the message against nationalism and racism all over the Balkans. From 2014 on the Croatian Football Federation will join the FARE Action Weeks organising activities in cooperation with FairPlay-VIDC and the Balkan Alpe Adria Project.

d) International FairPlay youth tournaments: Vienna meets Balkan The event lays emphasis on the participation of local migrant communities, ethnic minorities, local football teams and international guests from the Western Balkans. In 2013, a total of 49 youth teams (500 participants) came together for three days in May to play football, deepen the intercultural exchange and to take a common stand against nationalism. Under the motto “Vienna meets Balkan” children and youth teams from Bosnia and Herzegovina, Serbia, FYR of Macedonia, Montenegro, Hungary, Czech Republic and Slovakia as well as Austria took part. In 2014 the international tournament will take place in Vienna from June 7 to 9.

15 e) FairPlay-Award for tolerance in Premier League The Football Federation of Bosnia and Herzegovina in partnership with the Balkan Alpe Adria Project (BAAP) and FairPlay-VIDC will introduce an award for Premier League clubs based on best practice in the prevention of nationalism and discrimination and the promotion of interculturla dialogue in Bosnia and Herzegovina.

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