Fan culture, the fight against discrimination and the power of public communication

After a first day filled with topics such as disability inclusion, support for vulnerable groups, gender equality and sustainable infrastructure, the second day of the conference brought discussions on fan culture, the fight against discrimination and the importance of public communication in sport.

The opening speech was given by Piara Powar, Executive Director of the FARE network, who spoke about the challenges and opportunities in the fight against discrimination in European football. Special emphasis was placed on the importance of international cooperation, education and concrete mechanisms to protect the rights of fans and minority groups.

The presentation was followed by a panel on fan trends and the fight against discrimination, in which Daliborka Nikolić from the FARE association, Veljko Kajtazi, a member of parliament for the Roma national minority, and sociologist Ozren Biti from the Institute of Ethnology and Folkloristics participated. The panel opened a space for dialogue about how fan culture is changing, what are the key threats in the context of discrimination and hate speech, and what clubs and associations can do to take a more active role in changing the behavior pattern in stadiums.

A presentation was held by Jurica Jurjević, Head of the Department for Safety, Prevention and Integrity, entitled "What are Croatian fans really like?" The presentation presented the main challenges the Federation faces in working with fans and possible directions for solving these problems.

This was followed by a panel discussion on the relationship between clubs and fans, which discussed the importance of building trust and dialogue. Jurica Jurjević, Head of the HNS Department for Safety, Prevention and Integrity, presented the Federation's approach to working with fans and official fan officers, and the panel was attended by Ilija Ćosić, HNS Fan Commissioner, and Tomislav Majdančić, Coordinator of Club Fan Associations.

The final part of the conference featured a panel on public communication in football, attended by the editor of Sportske novosti Robert Šola, journalist of Večernji list Tomislav Dasović, editor and presenter at MAX Sport Valentina Miletić, and editor and presenter at Nova TV Ana-Marija Vuković. The participants spoke about the challenges in sports communication, the boundary between information and sensationalism, the role of the media in shaping the image of football, and the need for responsible and professional reporting. The panel raised the question of how public communication can be a tool for building and promoting inclusion and sustainability, not only between the Federation and clubs, but also towards the public and fans.

The second day of the conference concluded with the exchange of knowledge and experiences through numerous concrete examples and recommendations, and the Croatian Football Federation once again emphasized its commitment to promoting positive social values ​​through sport.

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