Protection
Article summary
We protect the right of everyone to enjoy football in a safe and respectful environment – regardless of ability, age, belief or religion, ethnic origin, gender or sexual orientation.
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Anti-discrimination
Whatever its form – ageism, disability hate, homophobia, racism, sexism or xenophobia – we must all play our role in preventing, identifying and managing any form of discrimination. It has no place in football, on or off the pitch.
We have always recognised our responsibility to address any form of abuse and inequality within European football. On the pitch, our three-step rule gives match officials the power to halt games in the event of racist incidents. We also use the global visibility and reach of the game to deliver powerful anti-discrimination messages and educate everyone involved in the game.
OUTRAGED documentary series
Since its launch in 2020, more than 100 broadcasters have shown our documentary series OUTRAGED, in which some of the biggest names in football share their first-hand experiences and perspectives on four areas of discrimination: homophobia, racism, refugee integration and sexism.
Working with our member associations, we have used these video testimonies to create an educational toolkit for children, young adults, parents, coaches and team staff. It includes tailored teaching materials, encouraging discussions around the human cost of discrimination and the actions that individuals can take to prevent it.
Online abuse
In recent seasons, our fight against discrimination has extended to a new playing field – online abuse. First, we have developed educational tools to advise football players, coaches and officials on how to best defend themselves. Second, we run a dedicated monitoring platform to report cases of online abuse that occur during our competition finals and final tournaments.
“Our aim is to fight all forms of abuse and discrimination in football by creating awareness, providing education, and monitoring and reporting online abuse across all UEFA competition finals.”
We have measures in place to ensure all our competitions and events take place in a safe and respectful environment. Clear transparent processes are available for staff to report any incidents, while our core values are embedded into UEFA’s bidding and competition regulations.
Public awareness campaign
Child and youth protection
UEFA’s child and youth protection programme represents a core part of our football sustainability strategy for 2030 and underlines our commitment to safeguarding anyone under the age of 18 who plays or participates in football.
The programme has provided the basis for close collaboration with football’s stakeholders. For example, we have helped our member associations develop and implement their own child safeguarding policies and organised training sessions for their child safeguarding focal points. We also ensure that core safeguarding principles are integrated into relevant association activities, such as preparing event staff and volunteers.
Our dedicated child safeguarding platform, a joint initiative with Terre des Hommes, a Swiss non-governmental organisation, provides a one-step information resource, including guidelines and toolkits, for anyone working with children in European football.