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European stars from both the men’s and women’s game give their personal views on racism, sexism and homophobia in a new UEFA.tv documentary that tackles the issue of discrimination in football head-on.
Some of the biggest names in football, past and present, talk about their own personal experiences of the racism and discrimination that continues to blight the world’s most popular sport in ‘Outraged’, a UEFA–produced documentary launched today on UEFA.tv.
Current stars Paul Pogba, Nadia Nadim, Megan Rapinoe, Moise Kean, Dejan Lovren, Olivier Giroud, Shanice van de Sanden, Tyrone Mings, Juan Mata, Guram Kashia and Kalidou Koulibaly all share their stories of exclusion and discrimination in football, as well as giving their own thoughts on the best way to help eradicate these issues from the sport.
Pernille Harder and Lucy Bronze, and Rapinoe, together with trailblazing referee Stéphanie Frappart, each explain how they have fought, and are still fighting sexism and discrimination to reach the pinnacle of women’s football.
Head coach José Mourinho and Dutch legend Ruud Gullit also feature in a film, which takes viewers on a journey across Europe and North America, exploring the complexities of discrimination in the global game, whether based on ethnicity, gender, religion, sexual orientation or refugee backgrounds.
The importance of listening
All the participants underline the importance of listening and the need for pro-active collaboration.
“It’s very important that (players) speak out. They are the ones who suffer discrimination,” says UEFA president Aleksander Čeferin in an interview filmed for ‘Outraged’, “We have to speak to the (players) who are on the pitch and who feel discrimination first-hand.”
Mr Čeferin emphasises that football must step up and lead the way in tackling discrimination.
“Football is something that is followed by billions of people around the world – we have to show that discrimination is wrong,” Mr. Čeferin says. “We have to be the role models. If any industry in the world can do that, it’s football.”
‘Outraged’: players tell it like it is
Ruud Gullit: “This is a social cancer that we all have to try to cure.”
Tyrone Mings: “You don’t have to go through something to know right from wrong so if you’re doing nothing about it, I think you are part of the problem.”
Thomas Hitzlsperger: “I wanted to come out while I was still playing because I knew it would have a huge impact, but my closest friends thought that’s a bad idea, so it took me just too long to be brave enough.”
Megan Rapinoe: “We have a unique opportunity in football, different to any other sport, to use this beautiful game to actually change the world for better.”
Stéphanie Frappart: “I think that my performance on the pitch and the fact that people are seeing me in men’s matches will change things. I’ve said to myself that I am where I am today because I belong there.”
José Mourinho: “We cannot hide discrimination that still exists, and we need to fight it for a better world.”
Featured in ‘Outraged’ (order of appearance)
• Paul Pogba
• Moise Kean
• José Mourinho
• Tyrone Mings
• Ruud Gullit
• Aleksander Čeferin
• Megan Rapinoe
• Guram Kashia
• Pernille Harder
• Olivier Giroud
• Juan Mata
• Hope Powell
• Thomas Hitzlsperger
• Shanice van de Sanden
• Nikita Parris
• Lucy Bronze
• Samantha Johnson
• Nadia Nadim
• Stéphanie Frappart
• Dejan Lovren
• Kalidou Koulibaly
• Didier Deschamps
‘Outraged’ is free to view on UEFA.tv now:
https://www.uefa.tv/video/vod/189317/
