“Today is an important act in history”assured Javier Tebas at the signing ceremony of the agreement between LaLiga and the Ministry of Inclusion, Social Security and Migration. All efforts are insufficient to end racism. The force of the greatest number of agents possible is necessary to eradicate this scourge in the world of football and that is what has been sought since this morning through an alliance that aims to maximum involvement of both parties in this fight.
As stated by the Government, the objective of this agreement is “develop specific actions to monitor, prevent and raise awareness about hate speech both in social networks and in the sporting field.” Something that will be sought through the transfer by LaLiga of the MOOD toolwhich is a program that detects insults or threats on social networks with which to delete and report these messages. Minister Elma Saiz has assured that they will be “more forceful to put an end to this scourge that exists in society.”
An event that took place a few days before one of the most important games of the year. The duel between Real Madrid and Barcelona will capture all eyes and, although Javier Tebas has stated that he hopes it will be “a tolerant match, as the last Clásicos have been”has also acknowledged some concern about the current situation. “I’m worried about the Classic and I’m worried about the rest of the games because of the racists and the intolerant”assured the president of LaLiga.
However, he has also highlighted some progress in terms of the fight against racism: “I don’t think there are more acts of violence, but there is a much greater sensitivity to reporting this type of behavior”. The agreement also affects the Future Hobby project, to raise awareness among future generations of unacceptable behavior on a playing field.
A speaker for good and bad
One of the points on which Tebas and Saiz have agreed is the football is a powerful speaker for society when it comes to transmitting certain values. In some positive cases and in some negative cases, as the minister states: “We have seen acts of camaraderie, but also insults, violence or racism in prime time“.
Javier Tebas with Minister Elma Saiz at the agreement signing ceremony between both parties.
For his part, the president of LaLiga has pointed out the “major turning point” that crosses Spain, pointing to the ability of the beautiful sport to give visibility to certain events: “We have to put an end to racism and xenophobia. The loudspeaker effect that football has must show the opposite: tolerance”.
