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« Mondiali Antirazzisti »
the story of a festival of football, music, and colours
The Mondiali Antirazzisti
started eight years ago from a simple idea that through time proved effective:
to organize a party, which would imply the communication of diverse groups,
often judged as contradictory. On one hand, the group Ultras labeled as
violent and racist, on the other, the immigrant communities considered
to be the source of criminality and felony. A football team, thanks
to its foreign players, can make the game more entertaining, and similarly,
our multicultural societies can be a spring of _expression and culture.
Sport is a primary tool for dialogue and confrontation through its universal
language and all levels at all corners of the world play football. In
the first year, Mondiali Antirazzisti began with eight teams and about
80 participants. The concept, which consisted of promoting a neutral and
fun environment where entertainment, like football, concerts, and debates,
would intertwine with the values of community living, such as sharing
meals, camping and building a team spirit, was very successful. Such that
the number of attendees multiplied significantly each year. The 2004 edition
was a real success with 168 teams and 5000 people coming from various
places of the globe. In addition to the countries that have been participating
since the beginning of the project (France, Italy, Germany, and the UK),
through the course of the years, Portugal, Romania, Bulgaria, Poland,
Palestine, and representatives of communities from Senegal, Nigeria, Cameroon,
South America, Egypt, Pakistan, Indian and others added to the diversity
of the event. Through time, the event became a multicultural festival,
but more specifically an experience uniting people for the purpose of
fighting against racism. The original idea of gathering a group of people
around football became secondary. The tournament continues to be the highlight
of the event, but concerts and debates have attracted crowds as well.
Bands are chosen based on their initiative and involvement around the
theme of racism, or because of their well supported audience in the world
of Ultras (ska, rock…). The success of the demonstration is the result
of all those who came back to the tournament the following years with
more of their peers, not only because of their enthusiastic experiences,
but also because of the conviction that their presence is moving the world
one step ahead in the fight against racism.\ The tournament is above
all a social based event, oriented toward the acceptance of others, hence
toward a change of mentality, which is usually only available to its own
circle of influence (i.e. ultras groups, social clubs, or community),
and closed to others who do not fit in it. In parallel, this event is
used as an opportunity to assemble immigrants and ultras to work together
as a team and to ensure an effective management of the event. While the
event brings people together from all walks of life, it is also a good
testimony of the birth of friendships between ultras group rivals. Those
historical rivalries are moderated and quietened down through their participation
of the tournament. The first objective of this festival is the meeting
and the confrontation: creating a dialogue between ultras and immigrants,
and between youth associations and local organizations, and coming to
reciprocal knowledge of one another, and fostering the construction of
future local and international projects. The tournament is one way to
build up a network of contacts that can ensure enduring, long-term projects
against discrimination. Finally, the event promotes the opening of the
mind toward a more democratic dialogue among all individuals and a mindset
that values people for their differences, not in spite of them, realizing
that the benefits of accepting one another as we are created brings creativity
and joy into our world.
