On Thursday 11 November, the Chelsea FC Foundation in partnership with the Jewish Community of Vienna (IKG), the Office of Lord Mann and the International Coalition for Combating Antisemitism (ICCA) co-hosted a one-day Global Conference on Football's Role in Combatting Antisemitism.
The event took place at the FK Austria Wien Football Stadium in Vienna. The conference brought together experts and leaders from the world of sports and policy to discuss the prevalence of antisemitism in football, as well as the role football can play in combatting antisemitism in the game and wider society.The day began at the Judenplatz, Jewish Memorial Square in Vienna’s first district where the Austrian Football Association (ÖFB) adopted the International Holocaust Remembrance Alliance’s (IHRA) working definition on antisemitism.
The ceremony was attended by representatives from the Austrian Football League and local Jewish Community as well as by representatives from the Austrian and Israeli Government, notably Austria’s vice-chancellor and sports minister, Werner Kogler; and the Israeli diaspora minister, Nachman Shai. Austrian Wien also adopted the IHRA working definition, becoming the first Austrian club to do so.
Chelsea FC became the first sports club in the world to adopt the definition in January 2020, followed by Borussia Dortmund in October of the same year. The Premier League went on to adopt the definition themselves in March of this year.
Following the ceremony, Chelsea FCW manager Emma Hayes gave the opening remarks at the conference and reiterated the club’s and Mr Abramovich’s continued commitment to fighting antisemitism, both in football and the wider society.
The day included high-level speakers from the Austrian Government, the European Commission, UNESCO and from Chelsea and Borussia Dortmund. Speakers included Karoline Edtstadler, Austrian federal minister for the EU and the Constitution, Katharina von Schnurbein, European Commission coordinator on combatting antisemitism, Dr. Kathrin Meyer, IHRA secretary general, Gabriela Ramos - assistant director-general for Social and Human Sciences UNESCO and Professor Lee Igel, clinical professor in the NYU Tisch Institute for Global Sport.
During the event Chelsea announced the launch of the Global Chapter – an initiative to utilise the power of sport to combat antisemitism. The Chapter will be governed by a Global Advisory Board led by Lord John Mann and NYU Professor Lee Igel, with signatory clubs committing to tackle antisemitism in their club and society through a list of concrete actions.
Click to watch the full conference