UEFA stands for zero tolerance against any form of discrimination (e.g. age, religion, social background, gender, sexual orientation or ethnic background). UEFA President Ceferin has stressed on numerous public occasions how strongly he feels about UEFA being a social fair play organisation. When working across the European continent, one unfortunately has to deal with huge differences in public opinion and legislation on topics like e.g. LGBT, migration or anti-Semitism. UEFA takes on its social responsibility and feels morally obliged to play a leading role in the fight against discrimination in and around its European competitions. The campaign therefore has not been altered to match local political requirements but propagates respect, the central value on which UEFA has been founded.

The recent cooperation with the European Commission has further strengthened this. Next to campaigning on a large scale for both Equality for all and women's participation in the game specifically, UEFA is partnering with strong NGO partners to further spread the message of inclusion and diversity in Europe. This also includes maintaining a vast network of match observers, who report on any form of discrimination and a firm disciplinary process against any form of discrimination, racism or homophobia.

Aleksander Ceferin

The campaign is based on peer-to-peer storytelling. On non to light branded platforms, elite and grassroots football fans find a place to share how they live, what they feel and think and what role football plays in their lives. By doing so diversity is not talked about, but displayed and by sharing a common passion, one gets to understand that in this we are all the equal. This is enhanced by putting famous stars next to amateur footballers.The multi channel campaign is highly visual (video and photo based) and portrays a strong realism (no scripting, no actors, no perfection). The colours of the visual style, depict diversity in every possible way.

UEFA takes on a (new) role of facilitator. No by being patronising, but by showing support. All video makes use of local languages as these are strong cultural carriers and depict the beauty of diversity in European football.

Implementation took place across all UEFA channels and all platforms available. For maximum exposure a mix was made from digital, social, print and live event opportunities. Extra push was given around Match days to maximise the audiences.

Activities:

Commissioned multi-nation surveys to understand fan concerns: Results showed diversity/inclusion was a priority.

Forged the strategy and creative brand #EqualGame.

Developed equalgame.com website for players/fans to share passionate football stories and highlight diversity.

Published monthly photo report in UEFA Direct magazine.

Delivered diversity training packages and online toolkits for NAs and Clubs.

Hosted diversity and equality seminars/workshops for all UEFA staff.

Engaged elite ambassadors (Cristiano Ronaldo, Leo Messi, Paul Pogba, Ada Hegerberg) for campaign promotion.

Approached NGOs as third-party advocates to gain further credibility.

Activated a PR launch event and social media amplification with Paul Pogba and grassroots players.

Launched powerful new #EqualGame advertising and in-stadia promotional campaigns for Champions League/Europa League.

In just nine months since its launch, #EqualGame has achieved unprecedented success compared to previous European-wide UEFA community responsibility campaigns:

o 100% of National Football Associations have signed-up to participate in the campaign.

o More than 50 NGOs and charities endorsed and adopted the campaign.

o The #EqualGame launch event achieved more than 500,000 Facebook Live views.

o 16.5 million views of the main campaign advert film.

o 8,6 million views of the mini web documentaries.

o 800'000 ‘Likes’ for campaign posts on corporate social media.

o 250'000 hashtag mentions on social media, resulting in a reach of over 2 billion.

o Several hundreds pieces of positive print/online media coverage across Europe.

o 98% positive sentiment in coverage.

o Over 80% positive social media sentiment.

o 75 EqualGame projects implemented by clubs, federations and NGO partners.

o 15 International awards received, e.g. the Grand Prix of The International Olympic Committee.

The most recent UEFA RESPECT campaign was aimed at fighting racism on and off the pitch.

Through Europe-wide public research/surveys, UEFA identified that RESPECT should now evolve & create broader fan engagement via a more expansive message of inclusion, diversity & accessibility. Underpinning the strategy for UEFA’s new campaign was the development of a central proposition: "Everyone has the right to enjoy football, no matter who you are, where you're from or how you play". The campaign theme: #EqualGame stands for the shared passion for football that connects people and makes everyone equal.

UEFA’s strategy was to develop #EqualGame as a bold, ambitious, multi-media public engagement campaign through TV, digital and social media that offers platforms to elite, amateur & grassroots players and fans to express their individual passion for the sport, share personal football stories online & highlight to peers how the game has helped them

and their communities.

The most recent UEFA RESPECT community responsibility campaign, launched in 2008 and promoted around UEFA’s club competitions, was aimed at fighting racism on and off the pitch, and included the well-known ‘No to Racism’ television and digital advertisements.

Through Europe-wide public research/surveys, UEFA identified that RESPECT should now evolve & create broader fan engagement via a more expansive message of inclusion, diversity & accessibility that promotes unity & respect for racial, gender, age, sexual orientation, physical ability & social differences. Therefore, the new #EqualGame content campaign was created in July 2017.

Overall objectives:

Be a proactive voice in football leading the inclusion conversation, set new high standards for diversity/equality practices and embed human values in everything UEFA does.

Creatively engage fans to promote diversity, stimulate positive discussions on UEFA’s digital channels and encourage players/fans to be active advocates of inclusion.

Foster strong NGO alliances and highlight to National Associations (NAs) and Clubs the community, organisational and business benefits of diversity/inclusion strategies.

Instigate positive cultural change within UEFA and demonstrate exemplar corporate governance and leadership on employment equality.

Showcase compellingly the different pathways into football so the game expands with more players/fans from every background.