Salvador launches World Cup without racism booklet

Salvador is home to one of the largest African-descendent populations outside of Africa (80% of its total population) and is known for its diverse culture. However, growing numbers of reports have highlighted deep rooted problems of social exclusion and segregation.

On Thursday (26 June), the State Government, alongside its Secretary for Racial Equality and for World Cup issues, launched a booklet to promote a debate around racial discrimination and enlighten the general public on the topic.

The booklet is being distributed inside and outside football stadiums on both match days and non match days. This is being done to “show to everyone that racism and football do not go along together” said the Bahia State Secretary, Ney Campello.

“People’s awareness of racism is a legacy that will remain once the World Cup is over.” he added.

The ‘Copa sem racismo’ (World Cup without racism) booklet gives a context of racism in football, definition of racism, legal information on the issue and contact numbers of anti-racism organisations to help fans, tourists and Salvador’s citizens report abuse.

In December 2013, the Sate of Bahia inaugurated the Nelson Mandela center against Racism and Religious Intolerance an information and reporting discrimination point for racial discrimination.
Since then, several seminars and debates have been organised in the centre addressing discrimination and religious intolerance ahead of the World Cup.

Other anti-discrimination messages at the World Cup include a social media campaign from FIFA with a message of #SayNoToRacism. The Quarter Finals of the competition on the 4 and 5 July will be dedicated to the campaign.

The Brazilian government also have a social media campaign under the hashtag #CopaSemRacismo (World Cup without racism) consisting of a series of anti-racism football related pictures and a video.

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