German Interior Minister Nancy Faeser has launched a nationwide drive against right-wing extremism and discrimination in sport. She also honored three sports clubs for their social commitment.
Launching the new initiative on Tuesday (February 27), Nancy Faeser said it was aimed at stengthening "the democratic and integrative power of sport," according to news agency AFP.
"We are supporting athletes, clubs and fans in speaking out: against hostility on the pitch, from the stands or around sporting events," Faeser explained.
The German Parliament, the Bundestag, provided funding of 1.5 million euros for the new program, AFP reported. According to the interior ministry, these funds are to promote and support sponsors from sport, sports research and civil society actively committed to greater diversity and acceptance.
What's more, the ministry on Tuesday awarded the first 'Sport mit Haltung' (sport with attitude) prize in Berlin to non-profit sports clubs "that show outstanding commitment to combating right-wing extremism".
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Combating right-wing tendencies, antisemitism
The first four winners of the prize are SV Borussia Leer, the migrant sports club Athletic Sonnenberg from Chemnitz and a Coesfeld campaign alliance, as well as Maccabi Germany.
SV Borussia Leer, from a small city in the northwestern state of Lower Saxony near the Dutch border, "has taken a sustained and clear stance against right-wing extremism, right-wing tendencies and discrimination -- far beyond its own club," according to the ministry.
Other awards went to Athletic Sonnenberg from Saxony, "which as a migrant sports club reflects the diversity of the Sonnenberg district of Chemnitz," the ministry stated, and to an alliance of clubs from Coesfeld in North Rhine-Westphalia called 'Unser Rasen bleibt grün' (our lawn stays green), which the ministry said had set a joint example against right-wing extremism.
Maccabi Germany, a 126-year-old Jewish gymnastics and sports club, received the ministry's honorary award for "its outstanding commitment against anti-Semitism."
The newly created prize, which is jointly awarded by the interior ministry and the German Sports Youth (Deutsche Sportjugend), is intended to recognize the commitment of sports clubs in their work against exclusion.
Germany's federal Institute for Sports Science (BISp), which "identifies research needs and initiates, promotes and coordinates research projects in the field of sport," co-hosted Tuesday's award ceremony.
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with AFP, SID