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February marks the Football v Homophobia month of action and the Sheffield United Community Foundation has worked alongside Rainbow Blades to deliver LGBTQ+ workshops to students at Sheffield United Community College. This initiative exists to challenge discrimination based on sexual orientation, gender identity and expression at all levels in football and aims to make football a safe, welcoming and inclusive environment for LGBTQ+ people, improve their representation and visibility, and to use use football in society as a tool to create positive change. “It was a really good session. There was a lot of good conversations in class afterwards. I think it’s just basic respect for people. By holding these sessions, it gets the word out and it makes people feel more confident and inclusive in football. It spreads a wide message and makes…

This season, the Pro League joined a European project, All In & Win led by its partner European Football for Development Network (EFDN) with funds from the European Commission under the Erasmus Plus programe. Union Saint-Gilloise and SK Beveren are the first clubs to take steps towards inclusion and more specifically for people from the LGBTQIA+ community. Read more here: https://www.diversitywins.eu/news/pro-league-clubs-take-steps-towards-inclusion-and-more-specifically-for-people-from-the-lgbtqia-community/?_thumbnail_id=4302

The KNVB (Royal Dutch Football Association) chose Coming Out Day to announce that professional clubs can now decide their involvement in the OneLove campaign. It had been a requirement for the OneLove captain’s armband to be worn during Eredivise games, something which created extensive discussion, but it will now be at the discretion of the individual clubs or players. Houssin Bezzai, the Programme Manager for Racism and Discrimination at the KNVB, emphasised that the Association remains committed to the OneLove campaign but says the clubs should determine their level of involvement, adding, "I am curious to see how they will handle this." This decision has been criticised by Thijs Smeenk, board member of the John Blankenstein Foundation, an organisation dedicated to promoting LGBTQ+ acceptance in sports and All-in & Win…

Captain of the Dutch national hockey team, Xan de Waard, has called for action on the lack of diversity within the sport, saying “The mission sounds very intense, but I would like to get the conversation going”. "It's not very diverse here if you look around," De Waard says, watching a youth match at her club SCHC in Bilthoven, "In that respect, I think hockey needs to change." "I am the typical hockey girl myself, of course - white and blonde", reflects de Waard. She was alerted to the issue when fellow hockey player and the first black player to be selected for the Dutch national team, Terrance Pieters, reported the abuse that he was subjected to, "When he shared his story about racism in the hockey world, it started…

The European project Erasmus+: All-in&Win was present this Wednesday, April 19, at the session of the Municipal Sports Council held in the Assembly Hall of the House of Sports. Mr. Marti Lloveras explained the project. https://twitter.com/fcdehockey/status/1649000872876097536?s=20 Check out the Instagram post here: https://www.instagram.com/p/CrQHfSWrvgL/?utm_source=ig_web_copy_link Check out the Facebook post here: https://www.facebook.com/fcdehockey/posts/pfbid02J1y9MGAQVta8hXHcP7iheTzkDKrxKwpTskpmHe37EidbCLwKJLSer6eVuuGwRiRKl

The 27-year-old Jankto is the most famous footballer to openly announce being gay. The midfielder played 155 games in Serie A, 14 in La Liga and appeared in 45 international matches for the Czech national team. In 2021, he played at the European Championship against the Oranje, who were eliminated by the Czech Republic. “I have work that I have been doing professionally and with passion for many years.” I want to be able to live freely. Without fear. Without prejudice. Without violence. But with love. I am gay and I don’t want to hide any longer.”Jakub Jankto, player of Sparta Prague https://twitter.com/jakubjanktojr/status/1625117590182928384?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw%7Ctwcamp%5Etweetembed%7Ctwterm%5E1625117590182928384%7Ctwgr%5Eebe193181d56ecc394ceb60185970b99fba82c70%7Ctwcon%5Es1_&ref_url=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.efdn.org%2Fblog%2Fnews%2Fczech-international-jakub-jankto-comes-out-as-gay%2F His club Sparta Prague, which Jankto joined on loan from Spain’s Getafe, is fully behind the footballer’s coming-out: “You have our support. Live your life, Jakub. Nothing…