The 2010 Football World Cup that kicks off on Friday in South Africa is a unique opportunity to tackle racism and intolerance on and off the field.
UN human rights chief Navi Pillay said the World Cup is an opportune time to reflect on the fact that sport is meant to foster social cohesion, bring different cultures together in healthy competition, and to overcome the diffidence that divides countries and communities.The UN High Commissioner is a South African native of Indian descent who experienced prejudice and racism first hand and was the first non-white female judge to sit on the country’s High Court.
Ms. Pillay said as a victim of racism and a sports fan she urged all who played or watched to use the World Cup as an opportunity to call for global action against intolerance and racism.
She added that those were scourges that affected countless women, men and children around the world and that must be challenged at every turn.
Ms. Pillay called for guarding against racism and other manifestations of intolerance that poison sport Ð particularly football Ð and that undermine its positive message and bring it into disrepute.