FIFA picks its jury for first Diversity Award
May 18 – The last jury members have been named for the first FIFA Diversity Award, which will be presented in July 2016. US World Cup winner Abby Wambach, former captain of the German national team Thomas Hitzlsperger, and former Dutch international Clarence Seedorf are the big name players to join the 11-person jury.
Other jury members include FIFA Council member Constant Omari, Managing Director of the Centre for Access to Football in Europe (CAFE) Joyce Cook and President of the Mexican National Council for the Prevention of Discrimination (CONAPRED) Alexandra Haas Paciuc. They will join the five other already elected members, FIFA Council member Moya Dodd, anti-discrimination campaigner Tokyo Sexwale, Jaiyah Saelua, Gerald Asamoah and Piara Powar.
The annual award will recognise an outstanding organisation, group initiative or football personality that is standing up for diversity and anti-discrimination in football on a national or international level and on a sustained basis.
It is part of the set of recommendations made by the FIFA Task Force Against Racism and Discrimination.
“While discrimination in all its forms and complexity remains a barrier to the full and integrated development of human communities, football is the principal medium through which we can hope to achieve unity,” said Constant Omari.
“To do this, the FIFA Diversity Award will encourage the promotion of values the spread of which will surely mitigate the consequences of this despicable practice to create a better world, one that is based on merit, equal opportunities and equal rights.”
FIFA’s 11-strong jury, the ‘11 for Diversity’, is a standing jury and will select three exceptional candidates every year from a variety of projects and programmes implemented by organisations, group initiatives and individuals. The three finalists and ultimate winner of the FIFA Diversity Award will be presented to the public every July.
In this first edition of the awards the selection of nominees to be submitted to the jury members will be made by the FIFA administration through its anti-discrimination experts in the Sustainability Department. Next time round member associations and the general public will also be invited to suggest organisations and individuals to the jury.
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