A vision for a more equal and diverse game in Wales

The Football Association of Wales (FAW) recently shared PAWB, its equality, diversity and inclusion (EDI) strategy for 2021–26. The Welsh word PAWB translates as ‘everyone’, which is the identity of the FAW’s EDI programmes and represents its ambition to make football for everyone, everywhere in Wales.

The FAW wants to create a safe and inclusive environment for everyone regardless of their race, ethnicity, gender, religion or belief, disability, sexual orientation, age or background. To do this, the association has identified four key priority themes and objectives, as detailed in PAWB: education and awareness, equality and diversity, report and challenge, listen and understand.

Understanding equality, diversity and inclusion

The foundation of the PAWB EDI strategy is education and the new PAWB microsite’s resources hub provides a platform for the football family to learn about and develop their understanding of equality, diversity and inclusion. The resources currently cover topics such as challenging racism and discrimination, tackling online misogyny, becoming an LGBT+ inclusive club, a key dates calendar, and a language and terminology guide.

The PAWB microsite also houses the FAW’s education programme, where the football family can book workshops and webinars across multiple topics. To help further develop a more equal, representative and inclusive environment a Clwb PAWB programme has also been created, where equality champions are being established for each Welsh club.

Together, working with the football family, the FAW can make strides forward in achieving its vision and ambition. The PAWB microsite can be viewed at PAWB.Cymru.

This article originally appeared in UEFA Direct 197