Thursday 28 September, Jacco van Sterkenburg woke up early to spend the day discussing racism and discrimination. As early as 5 am he arrived at Mediapark Hilversum to be interviewed by Merel Wielaert on the NPO Radio 1 programme ‘Vroeg’ for an hour in the episode ‘How will the football world regain its composure?’. On the same day, Jacco participated in the first National Congress against Discrimination and Racism organised in the Netherlands.
‘Our football belongs to everyone’
Three years ago, the KNVB started the programme ‘Our football belongs to everyone’, aiming to stop racism and discrimination in Dutch football, on and off the pitch. 28 September KNVB organised a congress on the issue to see how things are going. The KNVB receives praise as well as criticism; the topic gets more attention but some things go relatively slow.
Jacco explains that the problem is persistent, but that it is also receiving more attention. Together with Merel and Sjaak van der Linden, director of Stichting Radar and chairman of discriminatie.nl, he discusses the current state of racism and discrimination within football and what needs to be addressed.
National Congress against Discrimination and Racism
Later that day Jacco participated in the National Congress against Discrimination and Racism, which attracted approximately 600 people. He did an introductory talk in the workshops on discrimination and racism in sport. These workshops included a VR-experience followed by a group discussion. It resulted in necessary conversations on racial discrimination in sport.
- Professor
