Belarusian NGO Human Constanta has organised the first Football People festival in the country, held in Minsk on Sunday 8 October, to raise awareness of discrimination in football and its links to society.

The festival, organised in the city's iconic Gorky Park, was one of the highlights of the opening weekend of the Fare action weeks. Youth, NGO representatives, activists and migrant communities engaged in a series of events including: a football tournament, a lecture, a debate and a film screening.

Players from local football clubs AFK Malanka and FC Aūtazak joined the football tournament to show their commitment to stamp out discrimination from the game, as well as the Belarusian Football Association, who backed the event.

The second part of the activities consisted of a lecture and film screening followed by discussions on the topics of racism and discrimination. The film screened was ‘Invictus’, which follows the journey of Nelson Mandela to unite South Africa through the universal language of sport.

As part of their Football People activities, they will also produce and promote a video campaign featuring sports stars, LGBT and refugee rights organisations.

Based in Minks, Human Constanta works to promote inclusion of disadvantaged and socially excluded groups and provides assistance to refugees and asylum seekers on matters related to the legal rights and education.