Roman Abramovich launches Chelsea partnership with World Jewish Congress in bid to combat anti-Semitism in sport
Chelsea owner helps club announce Red Card for Hate initiative aimed at driving more inclusion and better acceptance of Jewish groups
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ROMAN ABRAMOVICH is heading Chelsea's partnership with the World Jewish Congress to help fight anti-Semitsm in sport.
Blues owner Abramovich has paired up with the WJC to launch the Red Card for Hate initiative aiming to combat discrimination against the Jewish community.
The move will see Chelsea work closely across three projects designed to encourage fans, the public and government officials to treat anti-Semitism more seriously.
It will begin at the end of this month with the opening of the Pitch for Hope competition, targeting students in Britain, America and Israel.
They want youngsters to pitch their own ideas for how sport can be used to help tackle the problem which still exists around the world.
Finalists will present their proposals at Stamford Bridge, with the winner being awarded £7,000 to help implement the project.
The club will then collaborate with the WJC on a series of high profile videos about anti-Semitism and discrimination which will be rolled out at matches and on social media around games next season.
And Chelsea will then play host to a major forum next year involving national football associations, clubs, players and government figures aimed at driving out the problem from sport.
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Abramovich said: “Since we launched Chelsea’s anti-Semitism initiative, I have been very pleased with the positive response from our supporters and from the community as such.
“This partnership is the next step to increase our efforts and I am proud to be partnering with the World Jewish Congress, whose leadership and expertise in these issues are truly remarkable.
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"I hope that our joint efforts will make a difference in combating anti-Semitism in the UK and elsewhere.”
WJC president Ronald Lauder said: “The World Jewish Congress is proud to partner with Chelsea FC and its owner Roman Abramovich in this critical endeavour to pull a red card on the demonstrations of hatred, antisemitism and threats of violence running rampant in sports stadiums across the world.”
Robert Singer, chief executive and vice president of the WJC, added: “We applaud Chelsea for taking the courageous lead in addressing this epidemic and urge other sports clubs, federations and associations to follow its example by putting words into action to enforce a zero-tolerance approach to hate and educate others about its dangers.
“The road ahead won’t be easy, but I am confident that working together we will succeed in kicking anti-Semitism off the field once and for all.”