LALIGA firmará un convenio con el Ministerio de Inclusión en el que compartirá su herramienta para monitorizar discursos de odio

LALIGA has shared with the Ministry of Inclusion, Social Security and Migration the use of its tool to monitor hate speech on social networks (MOOD).

This has been announced by the Minister of Inclusion, Elma Saiz, and Javier Tebas, president of LALIGA, in the presentation of the balance of the awareness campaign in the fight against racism “We are going to win this party”.

The tool will allow us to optimize the monitoring strategy already carried out by the Spanish Monitoring Centre on Racism and Xenophobia (OBERAXE) through active listening to hate speeches on social networks.

This assignment will form part of an agreement agreed between the Ministry and LALIGA with the aim of preventing episodes of violence, tackling them and working specifically against racism and xenophobia. On the other hand, communication and awareness campaigns will be developed, as well as in the field of training through a module on racism in grassroots football and different specific collaborations with the LALIGA FOUNDATION.

As the Minister of Inclusion, Elma Saiz, has explained, “We cannot remain idle in the face of hate speeches, when they have multiplied in recent times due, in large part, to their dissemination on the Internet and through social networks. With this tool from LALIGA we are sure that we will improve the diagnosis and we will be able to act accordingly.”

For his part, the president of LALIGA, Javier Tebas, has agreed on the importance of continuing to act against racism: “Since LALIGA, we have been fighting against racism for years and joining projects like this of the Government, managing to work together from the private sector and the public, does nothing but endorse all the effort invested so far. We are convinced that this agreement will represent a before and after in the fight against violence and hatred."

According to the results of the monitoring carried out by OBERAXE, racist content has increased in social networks in 2023, specifically, xenophobic, anti-Semitic, anti-gypsy and Islamophobic content. “These data show how necessary it is to continue promoting collaborations from the Government with reference organizations such as LALIGA, capable of reaching population centers more difficult to access for institutions,” he said.

“We’re going to win this game”

The four-week awareness campaign “We’re going to win this game” aimed to promote inclusion and generate debate to eradicate discriminatory behaviors in the field of sport, often encouraged by hate speech.

It is the first collaborative campaign of LALIGA with the ministry and is part of a broader collaboration with the Ministry of Inclusion, Social Security and Migration that is expected to culminate with an agreement signed between both parties coinciding with the beginning of the 2024-2025 season.

During the campaign, various informative activities have been developed from the field of football. LALIGA, with its participation in this initiative, shows its commitment to combat hatred, violence and discrimination, in line with the actions of its LALIGA VS platform and the projects developed by the LALIGA FOUNDATION in this field.

This action is part of the European project SCORE ‘Sports Cities that oppose Racism in Europe’, which is led by the Ministry itself through OBERAXE and which starts from the use of grassroots sport as an essential tool to promote social inclusion and trigger a transformative dialogue. In the balance of the campaign, the Minister of Inclusion, Social Security and Migration, Elma Saiz, has highlighted the work carried out by OBERAXE, at the head of this European project.

“Hate speech has no place in any area of our society and sport is a great area to claim it,” said the minister. “Talent does not understand skin color, origin, social class, and football is a great example of integration of the best talent, although much remains to be done in terms of hate speeches and we are going to focus on this agreement.”

SCORE Project

The European SCORE project, co-financed by the European Commission through the CERV 2021 Program (Citizens, Equality, Rights and Values), began in June 2022 and ends in November 2024. Its general objective is to create a coalition of European cities and local entities that promote inclusive sport, as well as for the prevention and fight against racism, xenophobia and related intolerance in the field of sport. The OBERAXE plays a fundamental role, since, in addition to leading the project, it stands out for its work as a platform for knowledge, analysis and promotion of everything that helps to combat racism, racial discrimination and xenophobia.

The SCORE campaign is carried out in six European countries (Spain, France, Greece, Ireland, Austria and Sweden) and has the support, in total, of 14 collaborating entities, both local, national and international. The campaign also includes the participation of local, state and international ambassadors, including athletes such as Aauri Bokesa, Thaylor Lubanzadio, Violeta Pérez, Antonio Liu, Nilofar Baya, Djeneba Touré, Melissa Besara, Gustavo Nazar and Juan Diego Amador Rivero.

The SCORE project responds to the lines of action proposed in the Strategic Framework of Citizenship and Inclusion against Racism and Xenophobia 2023-2027, which proposes lines of action in different areas, including sports.