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UEFA allocates money to combat racism Posted: Friday November 08, 2002 9:28 AMCOPENHAGEN, Denmark (AP) -- UEFA's executive committee said Friday that it has allocated 2.6 million Swiss francs (US$1.8 million) to be evenly split among its 52 member associations for anti-racism activities. Each member of UEFA, Europe's governing soccer body, will get 50,000 Swiss francs (US$33,000) to help them launch initiatives to fight racism inside and outside the stadiums. The money, which is to be used in the coming 12 months, will come from fines imposed by UEFA's disciplinary panel on clubs and national teams and a new allocation will be made every year, UEFA president Lennart Johansson said after a two-day meeting of the executive committee in Copenhagen. Two years ago, UEFA decided to crack down on racism in soccer, saying it will no longer be tolerated and will be punished by playing matches behind closed doors and by imposing fines on clubs whose fans display racist attitudes. It is up to each member association to decide how the money should be used, and project proposals should be subjected to UEFA for approval and financial assistance. The initiatives should be "visible and noticeable," in match programs, newspapers, television and in fan clubs, UEFA chief executive Gerhard Aigner said. "It has to be an active program to combat racism," he said. The UEFA plan is to "work with the fans and supporters to achieve what is the ideal -- to convince the fans that those who show racist attitudes are not desired," Aigner said. Most recently, Dutch soccer club PSV Eindhoven faced a stiff fine of 34,000 euros ($34,400) for the poor behavior of supporters who shouted racial abuse at a rival player during a humiliating 4-0 loss at home to Britain's Arsenal in a Champions League game last month. The executive committee also decided Friday that another 2.6 million Swiss francs (US$1.8 million) will be donated soccer facilities in countries that were most affected by floods earlier this year, Johansson said. He cited Germany, Austria, the Czech Republic, Albania, Spain, Russia and France. |
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