Joining forces to fight racism with football
Finnish Immigration Service, reception centres and the Football Players Association of Finland:
For the last two summers, the Finnish Immigration Service and the Football Players Association of Finland (FPA), which represents the interests of footballers in Finland, have used the world’s most popular sport to enrich the everyday lives of asylum seekers at Finnish reception centres. Football also features in reception centres’ programme for the summer of 2015.
The ‘Football Belongs to Everyone’ campaign is designed to let asylum seekers in on the secrets of football as well as to promote equality and justice at reception centres and in society in general. This year’s ‘Football Belongs to Everyone’ courses kick off at reception centres in June.
The activities are coordinated by the reception centres’ own instructors in cooperation with the FPA.
Reception centres to compete in a championship tournament at the beginning of the summer
In addition to the football courses that will be run at individual reception centres, the summer programme also includes a championship tournament. Reception centres from around the country will fight for the championship at the stunning Eerikkilä Sports Institute in Tammela on Thursday, 4 June and Friday, 5 June.
Teams from 13 different reception centres have signed up for the tournament this year, and the championship will be decided between Oulu, Kemi, Rovaniemi, Joutseno, Kajaani, Turku, Mänttä-Vilppula, Kotka, Helsinki, Espoo, Vaasa, Oravainen and Lammi. The tournament is being hosted by Lammi reception centre, which is run by the Finnish Red Cross, in cooperation with the FPA and the Finnish Immigration Service.
A venue fit for Finland’s top players
“All of Finland’s national teams have trained at Eerikkilä Sports Institute, and many of the players come from a foreign background. The reception centres’ teams get to play on the same pitch that Finland’s top players use for training. Eerikkilä Sports Institute is a training facility for Finnish footballers at all levels of the sport,” says FPA’s Executive Manager Markus Juhola.
“This kind of a two-day event is a great way to break up the daily routine of reception centres. It gives residents and staff from different reception centres an opportunity to interact both on and off the pitch. We are proud to be continuing this tradition and honoured to be involved. The event embodies our ‘Football Belongs to Everyone’ theme,” Juhola adds.
The patron of the championship tournament is the former Finland international Hannu Tihinen, who is the current Head of Player Development at the Football Association of Finland. The Football Association of Finland supports reception centres by donating equipment.
Show Racism the Red Card
The FPA has been working with the Finnish Multicultural Sports Federation FIMU in a campaign called ‘Show Racism the Red Card’ for several years. As part of the campaign, players and spectators have together physically shown a red card to racism at various football events. All Finnish top teams have also posed for the campaign in their dressing rooms. Representatives of other sports have also recently joined the campaign.
“The international ‘Show Racism the Red Card’ campaign is a global tool that sends a strong message against racism. Football is the first sport to take up the fight against racism in Finland, but other sports are also beginning to join the ranks. Working with the Finnish Immigration Service and reception centres also supports this goal,” Juhola says.
More information:
Markus Juhola, Executive Manager, Football Players Association of Finland, tel. +358 50 596 0727, email: markus@jpy.fi
Visa Knape, Senior Adviser, Finnish Immigration Service, Reception Unit, tel. +358 29 543 0431, email: visa.knape@migri.fi
