Italian squad backs anti-racism initiative

The Italian national team have have worn t-shirts during training this week bearing the slogan ‘Eject Racism From Football’.

The t-shirts have been provided by UNAR (National Office Against Racial Discrimination), which is working in collaboration with the Italian FA, and the UISP (Italian Union of Sport for All) to mark the ninth European Action Week Against Racism.

Calciomercato reports that Gianluigi Buffon and Mario Balotelli have added their backing to the campaign by giving national shirts signed by the whole Azzurri squad to special guests at the squad’s Coverciano training base, including political refugees, asylum seekers, and children of immigrants born and raised in Italy.

The governing body wants to send out a strong message against any form of discrimination in football, and plans to unveil a banner before the upcoming friendly against Brazil which says no to racism.

Also in the pipeline is the completion of a short film documenting the Italian squad’s recent visit to the concentration camps of Auschwitz and Birkenau.