Antiracist Football World Cup in Montecchio, Italy

A multicultural fest and tournament of mini-football – for solidarity and against racism – was organized by Istoreco Reggio Emilia and Progetto Ultrà UISP Emilia Romagna again this year.

Now in its fifth year, the mondiali antirazzisti continues to enjoy great popularity in the antiracist football fan scene. A peek into the work of Istoreco Reggio Emilia and the eventful days in June of this year can be found here …

The Initiative

The fifth »Antiracist World Cup« is planned as a workshop for practical experience in the fight against racism and every form of discrimination. The initiative offers participants of different cultures, religions, skin colours and both sexes the opportunity for personal and political growth by getting to know each other, engaging in dialogue and discussing the dignity of women and men.

Confronting difficulties arising from cultural difference, learning to understand these differences as a source of richness and not a hindrance to living together and getting to know each other – these are, in short, the reasons for the 4-day event, in which 1,000 people from all over the world participated this year. There were a total of 96 teams (men’s, women’s and mixed teams), including people from Italian and European football fan groups, anti-racist organizations, youth clubs, immigrant groups, etc.

Aside from the football games organized by the tournament and played on small fields, the participants could spur themselves on and party in the stands. There was also a varied cultural program organized for the participants. The games were played with fair trade footballs, meaning that no children were exploited in the production process.

A camping site, set up just for this event, was made available to the participants. The festival kitchen provided everyone with international, vegetarian and traditional Italian meals, and many local and international organizations were represented at sales and exhibit stands.

Thanks to the bands – Station 17 (Gemany), Fermin Muguruza Dub Manifest (Basque region) und Chumbawamba (GB) – the evening concerts contributed to the success of the initiative.

Matthias Durchfeld + Steffen Kreuseler
c/o Istoreco
via Dante Alighieri 11 – 42100 Reggio Emilia – Italia
esteri@istoreco.re.it

The fan project, »Progetto Ultrà«(1), sponsored by the state committee, Emilia-Romagna der Unione Italiana Sport per tutti (UISP), and financed by the state of Emilia-Romagna, is determined to work with football fans against xenophobic and intolerant behaviour, both in and outside football stadiums and at the same time, to defend the values of fan culture.

The Institute for the History of the Resistance and Contemporary History in Reggio Emilia ({A http://www.istoreco.re.it/ Istoreco) has been involved for 30 years in research into the history of fascism, World War II, anti-fascism and the Resistance (Anti-fascist resistance in Italy). In the meantime, Istoreco has broadened its focus to the history of the entire 20th century and organizes, among other things, international youth exchange programs, educational trips and anti-racist youth work.

Further arcticles and reports:

• by Simonetta Gilioli on the mondiali homepage
• exhaustive evaluation and personal report of a Waldhof fan
• article from the Frankfurter Rundschau of 02 July 2001 (at demballegal.de and at stehplatz-ermaessigt.de
• short film by Schalker Fanini’s project, »dem ball egal«
• reports on montecchio in this and previous years
• from liverpool fans
• Montecchio 1999 at Roter Stern Leipzig(2) or nadir
• In Italian: at Emilia-Romagna and Pop-Up

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