CONCACAF Unveils First Edition of Diversity Handbook

News America Now, MIAMI, Florida, Thursday, January 15, 2015 – In the continued effort to embrace and promote diversity as a key value of football, the Confederation of North, Central America and Caribbean Association Football (CONCACAF) announced yesterday the launch of its first-ever Diversity Handbook.

FIFA Vice President and CONCACAF President Jeffrey Webb presented the publication to the 41 Member Associations during a FIFA Club Licensing Seminar held in Miami on Wednesday. The seminar focused on promoting the new club licensing development tools for all leagues (men’s and women’s) and clubs in the region, as well as educating members on the steps they need to follow in order to implement club licensing in their territories.

“Diversity and inclusion are drivers of growth and critical to achieving our mission of developing the game,” said Webb. “I’m confident that this Diversity Handbook will contribute to the enrichment of our sport, while building solid education foundations for the next generations to embrace inclusiveness and to respect every individual regardless of any dimension of diversity.”

The Diversity Handbook is an integral part of CONCACAF’s Embrace Diversity campaign and a valuable resource that will serve as an educational guide for the football community. The book’s overarching goal is to provide a broad perspective on diversity, equality and inclusion. It offers tools to expand the vision of acceptance and inclusiveness on and off the field, while offering an understanding of the need for action, control measures and vigilance.

“The universal nature of football demands us to educate and be inclusive as our sport is in a unique position to foster a positive social change within the game and society, especially with the youth,” added Webb. “This handbook is an important step to empower all members of the football family to preserve the game’s universality, while eliminating barriers that may affect its integrity.”

The handbook has been meticulously researched with extensive information cited from leading organizations including the United Nations, UNICEF, FARE, Kick It Out, CONAPRED, Show Racism The Red Card, and The Non-Violence Project, among others. These organizations have been at the forefront of identifying and educating on best practices for the promotion of diversity, equality and inclusion.

The comprehensive guide contains key areas to consider when approaching diversity in football, including:
Prevention and Education: This section presents valuable tools necessary to educate, identify and prevent incidents within football. It features activities designed with key concepts and case studies on the importance of diversity and inclusiveness.

Control and Compliance: This section offers an overview of the measures and mechanisms that are vital in not only protecting the players, but the integrity of the game as a whole. It includes the Anti-Racism and Discrimination resolutions approved by Member Associations during the 63rd FIFA Congress in 2013, in addition to the CONCACAF Protocol for Racist Incidents during Matches, among other assets.

Launched in July 2013, the Embrace Diversity campaign was developed as a first step to prevent and control discriminatory behavior within the CONCACAF region. The goal of this campaign is to provide a unified and influential voice in promoting integration within the football community and society.

The Embrace Diversity initiative includes educational awareness activities, coalition campaigns, as well as prevention, monitoring and regulations that can facilitate the referral of concerns about discriminatory incidents within football.