Football v Homophobia (FvH) has announced the allocation of ten grants as part of its 2013 Small Grants Scheme to support activity globally for the FvH a Month of Action in February.

Campaign Director, Megan Worthing Davies explains, “Football v Homophobia is an international campaign opposing homophobia and transphobia in football. We have chosen LGBT History Month as the time in which football can unite and focus on making the biggest game in the world more inclusive of the LGBT community”.

The Small Grants Scheme is funded by FARE, the anti-discrimination network for football in Europe.

Grants of €300 were available to football clubs and community groups and the Football v Homophobia team were overwhelmed by the response. Almost forty applications were received for ten available grants, and allocations were made for actions in Mexico, Russia, Montenegro, Germany, Spain and the UK.

As a rest of the funding projects that will be undertaken over the next month include football tournaments and matches against homophobia, debates among young fans groups and a poster campaign tackling transphobia in sport. Further activities still will be posted on the Football v Homophobia February events calendar .

“The coverage given to homophobia in football can focus on whether a gay player is likely to “come out”. People forget that this is a symptom of a much bigger picture of exclusion. We all have a responsibility to make football a place where people can be open about who they are, whether they are lesbian, gay, bisexual or trans. The community actions we have funded show how we can make a difference from the grassroots of the game” say Football v Homophobia Campaign Director Lou Englefield.