Big fun emerges when history meets soccer and anti-racist football supporters play their own game

Six years ago a small but very unusual world cup was started by an ambitious initiative of four people from two organisations: The first antiracist soccer world cup took place in Montefiorino, a small city north of Bologna (Italy), where in 1944 the first freed partisan republic existed in the midst of an Italy that was occupied by nazi troups.

The mondiali antirazzisti is right from the beginning a networking project. Two very different institutions have started it and followed it ever since. Progetto Ultrà, a soccer fan project from the region and Istoreco, beeing a historical institut that researches and teaches about the partisan resistance in the same region. Both of them came together in order to create unsual meeting points and networks, that show exemplary that a common fight against discrimination and exclusion is possible between the most different people from all over the world. The mondiali antirazzisti is the antiracist soccer world cup that tries to go out in the public as much as it can and perform this democratic workshop to show that football fan culture doesn't have to be pictured with violence and brutality and history isn't something that had only taken place in the past and in the end, that a world without racism and exclusion is possible.



In 1997 eight teams, mostly coming from Germany and Italy, took part in the first small-field championship for solidarity and against racism. Every year the world cup becomes more and more famous through mouth- to mouth propaganda, so that in 2002 over 120 teams from over 40 different countries were playing. The location also had to move, because 2000 people didn't find enough space in Montefiorino for all the activities associated: camping, eating, concerts, soccer playing and discussing with each other. That's why the initiative moved to Montecchio Emilia, where the city was just as supportive as in Montefiorino, but had a lot more capacities for an event like this. "Having a supportive community that is willing to put up with the chaos that 2000 people produce in a city that has 6000 inhabitants is one of the preconditions necessary for such an event." Steffen, who is one of the organizers, explains the importance of support for such an event. "Montecchio Emilia is such a city and we are very glad about that. Because an event like that without support would have a totally different character, that we don't want."



The program of the mondiali antirazzisti is more or less similar every year: Most teams are arriving on Thursday when also the first discussion and information round takes place. As for instance last year, different fan groups were exchanging experiences from the world cup in Korea and Japan. During the day there are all the different soccer games - every half an hour ten games will takes place at the same time. After all this exhausting playing, there are mostly concerts or parties at night. On Saturday, at eight o'clock there is always a very special event: a talk with contemporary witnesses that used to fight as partisans in this region. This is always interesting many people that normally wouldn't have noticed the history of the region and the historical presence of a struggle against fascism and racist discrimination.



The organizers of the mondiali antirazzisti have mainly one goal: to involve as many people as possible in the struggle against racism and fascism. And their idea seems to work: the participants of the mondiali antirazzisti are coming from all over the world, they are football fans or not, men and women, kids and grown ups. The variety of people attracted to this event is impressing. When Steffen tries to group them he was estimating that "one third of the people participating are young activist, involved in antiracist and antifascist issues, one third are football fangroups and one third are migrants from all different places."



The whole participation in the mondiali antirazzisti is totally free of charge: the camping, the concert, the championship participation and the cultural events. The only thing participants need money for is for the traveling costs and food. That means a big organizing effort for the organizers, since they have to find a lot of sponsors and funds, but at the same time that's just as important to them: "We want that everybody who wants can participate and a lot of groups, like the ones from eastern Europe or Migrant groups just couldn't effort it. For them it's hard enough to manage their traveling costs." explains Steffen.



For the furture, they plan a common website, that enables more people to access the mondiale and to participate. That way the whole process of registration will be easier to coordinate, but also all the existing material about the event will be available for all: films, newspaper articles, music that has been donated to them, photos and all the information they collected so far will soon be available on this site. The next mondiali antirazzisti will take place from the 9th of July to the 13th of July Montecchio.