A series of conferences and workshops, football tournaments and the launch of an educational manual brought together Slovenian activists, football representatives and educators to further a debate on social inclusion through sport.

Fare member Spolint and the Youth Center Zagorje Ob Savi lead the activities, which are coming to an end today (16 October), with the ‘Education, youth and sport’ conference, in Koper, organised by the first.

Between 06 and 16 October, the events, held as part of the Football People weeks, focused on the social value of sport to promote justice, human rights and inclusion; a tool to challenge discrimination and intolerance; and as a cultural instrument.

Bringing Football People together
During the period, football’s educational value was underlined through a guide, on how to run inclusive tournaments, developed by the two Slovenian organisations and distributed nationwide.

It also called on organisations to get involved in the ‘Let’s kick racism’ campaign, run by Youth Center Zagorje Ob Savi, and organise football tournaments throughout the country, on the same day and at the same time, to send across a unified message against discrimination.

In Škofja Loka, North West Slovenia, the ‘Say NO to discrimination and YES to equality’ flash mob, held on 11 October, highlighted the sport’s potential to bring people together. The activity was organised by Spolint and the sporting group ŠD Partizan Škofja Loka stressing the football's fun and non-competitive side.

Through a partnership with the University of Ljubljana, Spolint also organised the 'Sport and human rights education' conference, on 13 October in the Slovenian capital, in which guests of different cultural backgrounds explored the ideas behind the use of football, as a mainstream sport, for intercultural dialogue, empowerment and social change.

See the pictures of their activities here.