SAY NO TO ANTISEMITISM SIMON TAYLOR, HEAD OF THE CHELSEA FOUNDATION
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Overview The Say No To Antisemitism programme was designed in response to high profile racist incidents against the Jewish community both at home and abroad. These include divisions created by the EU Referendum, a 34% rise in the number of antisemitic incidents in the UK, increased antisemitism attitudes within the Labour party as well as attacks on the Jewish community in Europe. The Chelsea Foundation was tasked by owner Roman Abramovich to create and implement a comprehensive strategy to tackle antisemitism at Chelsea, within sport and in the wider community. We wanted to create a programme that was adaptable to other clubs, sports and countries.
Overview We examined examples of good practice from across Europe and the US. The concept was to create an industry leading equality campaign, as part of our Building Bridges initiative. The programme had to engage and provide a deep impact – we wanted more than just a player in a t-shirt. We consulted with a wide range of partners from across the community including: Holocaust Educational Trust, Communities Security Trust, Kick It Out, Jewish Museum, Chief Rabbi Office, Board of Deputies, Jewish Leadership Council, Maccabi GB and Anne Frank House. We also met with the Premier League and Chelsea Fans Forum to ensure that all groups supported our work. 4
Say No To Antisemitism With our partners we designed a wide- ranging campaign. The central pillars focus on education, support and awareness in order to create a welcoming and safe environment for fans and to educate the wider community that discrimination has no place in our club or our society. The programme is club-wide, encompassing all staff, players and fans. We identified Holocaust Memorial Day 2018 to launch the programme. 5
Staff We have developed a range of "Say No To Antisemitism" campaign material. With the Community Security Trust we have written a stewards training guide to provide educational material for use by Chelsea stewards and safety staff. A stewards’ information guide was also produced – an easy to use pocket guide for stewards on identifying and acting on antisemitic behaviour. This was backed up with ongoing training for all stewards and safety staff. The guides were also re-designed and sent to all Premier League and Football League clubs ahead of 18/19 season. 6
Fans A fans information card has been produced for supporters, a suggestion made by the fans themselves. To help fans report discriminatory incidents we designed and produced reporting hotline phone wallet – 30,000 were distributed. We also produced a series of hard-hitting educational films released via social media. Our film for Holocaust Memorial Day received over 2 million views – a record for non-football content. 7
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Education 140 fans, stewards and staff visited Auschwitz in partnership with HET to learn about the Holocaust. A Chelsea delegation featuring Bruce Buck, Eugene Tenebaum, Avram Grant and Chelsea Academy players attended the March of the Living in Poland. Our U15 squad also visited the Auschwitz this month. Four Holocaust survivors have hosted talks with our men and women players, academy teams and fans groups. With the FA we have also created a series of educational workshops for schools, celebrating equality and tackling discrimination and hatred in our wider communities. 9
Education Alongside the World Jewish Congress we launched the Red Card for Hate initiative, engaging young people to tackle discrimination and hosting a series of conferences to discuss how sport can play a role in the fight against hate. The Say No To Antisemitism programme is now included in the syllabus at the New York University Business School as part of their CSR best practice seminar. We will also be participating in a project with Anne Frank House to examine best practice in anti-discrimination programmes in Europe. We have worked with leading organisations in the anti- discrimination industry to fund and implement high profile educational campaigns to tackle hate crime. 10
Players Our players are proud to support the We Remember campaign with World Jewish Congress. The Final Whistle for Hate match saw the men’s team play the New England Revolution and attend the Boston Holocaust Memorial. Players attended schools education programmes designed and implemented by the Chelsea Foundation. 29,000 fans attended the game which helped raise $4m and was donated to groups sharing our vision of a game free from discrimination. Chelsea Women also played a pre-season game in Israel and took part in coaching sessions with young Israeli, Arab and Palestinian girls as part of our ongoing commitment to tackle all forms of discrimination. 11
Restorative Justice We have re-designed the Chelsea sanctioning process to introduce a restorative education element for fans found guilty of antisemitic behaviour. Bans can be reduced following the satisfactory completion of a education course to ensure supporters are aware of the consequences of their words or actions. This is a Premier League first and, if successful, will be rolled out to cover all forms of discriminatory behaviour. 12
Future Ambitions Tomorrow will see another fans educational event take place at the Holocaust exhibit at the Imperial War Museum, London. We will continue to work with fans groups and campaigning organisations to tackle antisemitism and ignorance around use of the ‘Y Word’. We will empower new fan ambassadors to tackle discrimination. We will be commemorating the 75 th anniversary of the liberation of Auschwitz with a series of events. Our restorative justice programme will be expanded to cover other forms of discrimination. We will work with other clubs to develop their own campaigns. We will continue to use our power and influence to tackle discrimination in all it’s forms. We will never forget where hatred leads. 13
22 NOVEMBER 2019 14
THANK YOU 15
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