For the third time AEGEE-Tilburg organised the International Champions League. The ICL is a sports event where students and refugees spend a day together by attending a football tournament and several other sports and games like badminton, table tennis, chess and others. 

Why?

Refugees in the Netherlands all have one thing in common, which is the long wait for a permanent residence permit and an actual house and job to start building a new future. Even though refugees get shelter in asylum shelters they experience isolation and social limitations within.

By organising a sports event with students and refugees, AEGEE-Tilburg offers both the opportunity to informally meet new cultures and a day of relaxation and sports so they can have the time of their lives and forget the struggles they are facing.

Migration & Europe

A strong Europe is built upon the foundations of respect, tolerance and solidarity. By creating dialogue between people and communities with a sports event, AEGEE-Tilburg believes they can break stereotypes and prejudices. Among migration intentions there is the need to increase awareness about the situation of refugees in Europe and the challenges they are facing. The example from Tilburg shows that it is possible to build a better narrative towards them by bringing these people together and offering them the possibility to interact and exchange experiences personally.

Outcome of the event

In the afternoon of Saturday, the 20th of May, the ICL started. Beforehand, several student and refugee teams subscribed to attend the event and play against each other in the football tournament. Some teams consisted of solely students or refugees and others were mixed. The teams didn’t have age restrictions so there were from 11 years-old to 30 years-old participants trying to be the champion team of the day.

After playing some matches some teams could play other sports to relax and socialise with each other. Free snacks and drinks were provided during the event.

During the break the winners of the lottery were announced. Participants could buy lottery tickets before the event with which they could win prizes like tickets to the UEFA Women’s European Championship. The revenues of this lottery were used to buy sports equipment and food during the day for the refugees so as to keep this event free for them.

After several rounds it was time for the final in which the two resting teams played against each other for the fiercely desired trophy. After the final whistle all the teams congratulated the winning team.

In the evening everyone was resting from the tiredness of the day and anticipating their highlight of the day, pizza!

In the end participants were extremely satisfied of the event and organisers were frequently asked when the next event was going to be organised. During the event everyone got the opportunity to speak with each other but also become friends and teammates cheering for and supporting each other. Several students and refugees went on adding each other on Facebook to stay in contact.

The organisers from AEGEE-Tilburg are happy to be able to bring students and refugees together with an event they both enjoy. They would like to encourage other locals to organise similar events.

Migration Interest Group

Several interviews with refugees that were taken at this event are or will be published in the MIGR Facebook groups. If you’d like to see what the refugees thought of this event and hear what struggles they are facing currently, join the Facebook group of Migration Interest Group.

Written by Gökhan Sancak, AEGEE-Tilburg & Migration Interest Group

On the past 24th of March, AEGEE-Chişinău organised a run which involved not just students and teenagers but people of all ages. Here you can find all pictures of this very successful event. We interviewed Nadejda Hadjivu, from the Moldovan local, who told us more about it.

The AEGEEan: Can you tell us something about the “Neon Night Run”? Why is there a word “Neon” in the title of the event?

Nadejda Hadjivu, AEGEE-Chişinău: Neon Night was one of our older ideas that we decided to promote now and create such a unique event that had a great impact on all participants. Neon because it took place in the evening, as it was dark already and a Neon bracelet made the difference. Fun run, neon lights around accompanied by rain.

Why did you organise this event? What was its aim?

The main aim was to gather as many people as possible, to run together and to promote a healthy lifestyle in our network.

How could a students’ association organise an event that attracted also workers and citizens?

We created and promoted the event on Facebook and different media sites, everybody could participate (we even mentioned that in the description of the event). We encourage everybody to keep themselves healthy and in shape, not only the youngsters but also the workers and older people- one can run at any age.

Did you receive a contribution from any sponsorship? 

We had as a media partner, Sporter and Aqua Unica, who provided hydration throughout the entire event.

Did many participants enjoy the run? Were there any requirements to take part in it?

We had around 300 or even more runners. There were no requirements at all (only to have appropriate clothing and shoes for the run).

Can you tell us who the organisers were?

Nadejda Hadjivu, Ana Gancearuc, IX Dan, Aliona Iorgov and the local itself, everybody was involved as much as possible.

Could you get any prize in this competition?

This was not a competition, we run all together, the distance was five kilometres around the lake.

Why did you choose Valea Morilor as location?

Valea Morilor was perfect as a location, as it is situated in the city centre.  There is a beautiful lake and it was also easy to measure, two circles around the lake made the five kilometres distance we had planned. It was easy to locate and everybody usually likes to go there for a walk or a run at the weekend.

Do you think you will propose this event again?

We saw that this made a big impact locally. Many people asked for a second edition and we are definitely going to organise it again, sometime in the summer.

Written by Matteo Lai, AEGEE-Cagliari

Breaking the ice and circles.

Most of the participants arrived on Saturday, 20^th of July, and after dinner headed for a party at the outskirts. Many people from Bergamo work in busy Milan and want to enjoy a peaceful night, and because of this there are no bars in the city. Another problem of parties is that people start dancing in a circle and the atmosphere dies. Therefore Richie (AEGEE Bratislava) started to break the circle in order to make the party flow.

Day I: Kick off with beach volleyball

Let’s start from the beginning. The Summer University organized by AEGEE-Bergamo named Summer Games: Sun, Fun & Sport really kicked off on Sunday morning with ice breaking games, a presentation on AEGEE-Europe and beach volleyball tournament. People were woken up by music, a mix of Italian & foreign. Most of the shops in Italy are closed on Sunday, therefore it is wise to steal some cakes from a typical sweet breakfast with toasts and Nutella.

Day II: Active participants and Old Town Crawl

On day two we went hiking into the nearby mountains over the river Serio. While waiting for lunch, Richie and Erik from AEGEE-Bratislava gave a non-formal workshop on body-weight exercising, which was an example how participants can help the organizers. Nudly from AEGEE-Budapest suggested a great way how to count people. Make a circle (sorry, Richie) and everyone remembers the person on their right and left. City crawl at the Old Town[1]at night was non-traditional but nice. Citta Alta is the original part of the town with medieval buildings and churches, now turned into a residential area. It looks great at night, especially if you have a drink in hand.

Days III: healthy lifestyle and how to speak Italian

Finishing a 1.5 liter of vodka and eating jamon at 3:35 in the morning is not the best idea, but on the second day, we had a healthy lifestyle lecture, where Matteo Rovetta explained to us how should a healthy diet look like, and how to fit modest alcohol consumption into sport activity. In the afternoon we played sport games – football, basketball and handball. Raffaele Pirozzi managed the football session like Carlo Ancelotti and we also met some guys from the professional street ball-team. Later we had the opportunity to try the BMX track. The instructor was a former professional and introduced us to the basics of this extreme sport. No injuries, luckily. On our way back, I had a conversation with an Italian and realized that locals appreciate when you learn a few phrases in their language. You must start with buongiorno and end each phrase with polite per favore or prego.

Day IV: The Old Fashion in Milan

On Wednesday we visited the swimming pool, regardless of the Sangria party the night before. During a Summer University, you rarely sleep longer than 3 – 4 hours. However, you do not feel tired because the AEGEE spirit takes over the body, helped by adrenaline and serotonin released by the sport activity, if I am to put it right. A short swimming lesson held by Lucka Dvořáková and Paula Cores Barral helped. In the evening we did some sightseeing in Milan. It started raining and the 2,500 statues of the Duomo were completely wet. Later we headed for a party. There is an Erasmus party every Wednesday at The Old Fashion, a great way how to bring young people together.

Day V: The attack of the cupid and cinnamon 

Thursday morning it was raining and the participants coud sleep in a bit longer. Everyone was looking forward to the archery session, and on day 5, some people were already hit by Cupid’s arrow and a desired target for our photographer Martin Ondroušek. In the evening, we went for a pool party at Matteo’s place.  Some people made bets that they cannot speak their own language during the SU in order to be understood by everyone. Who broke the challenge, had to make a punishment: Erik and Richie drunk a can of beer upside down and Erdős Kata with Paula had to eat a teaspoon full of cinnamon. Not as easy as it seems.

Day VI: Climbing & Colour.

Sports like climbing push you over your limits. Up there, you can’t disappoint nature, as if you were on a real mountain. The climbing took place at the Bergamo’s Alpine club. Our organizers cooperated with many sports clubs when preparing the activities. At the workshop on Youth Mobility we discussed our experience with stereotypes and racism and agreed that it could be helped by cooperation and more education about the other cultures. This is one of the aims of the Summer University Project. Evening Colour Party organized by AEGEE-Bergamo was featured even in the Italian newspapers.  Imagine 30 young people all dressed up in white t-shirts like a stag party. Each participant got powder colours. You can even cover your hands in colour and touch people’s body parts. All the girls had colourful… legs.

Day VII: Lake Como and European Night – breakfast

On Saturday, most of the participants went for a trip to Lake Como to see the big lake surrounded by the mountains and small towns where the tourists sip Italian café and the brick Gothic buildings host the high street shops. Nice place to relax before the main party. European Night started at 9:30 with a hamburger dinner. We had to fill in a questionnaire – voting on the best participants, which was followed by the exchange of the presents and the award ceremony. Richie was voted the best participant. Around 11:30, we finally got to the tables and tasting. I would like to point out to the rich presentation of Hungary. The most abundant Spanish group also did a good job, like everyone. We, Slovaks, presented the Tatra Tea, Borovicka and wafers with the same charisma and determination that earned us 4 ‘best of’ awards. Also respect to Silvia Cannarozzi, the main organizer, who survived tasting all the products.

On Sunday we took the optional sightseeing tour of the Citta Alta with Michele Bezzi. And this was the end. I realized it when I saw the half-cleaned gym and the beds of the remaining participants lined up in a row. Well, I hope that everybody had a great time. Unfortunately, I could not mention every person, every sport performance and every story from the gossip box. If you feel like it, add your bits in the comments.  Do not dance in a circle and do not forget to thank the organizers & give back the care at your SUs.

Written by Erik Redli, AEGEE-Bratislava

Pictures by Erik Redli (AEGEE-Bratislava), Lucka Dvořáková (AEGEE-Praha)

What happens if you are LGBT and you live or you decide to visit Russia? In both cases you may end up in jail! If you are a visitor you may be in jail for two weeks and then you will be deported!

Putin and Kremlin believe that the youngsters must be protected from “bad” homosexuality so they banned any “homosexual” behavior inside the country. Last year, Moscow’s Top Court banned Gay Pride for a hundred years. According to the Russian LGBT Network, homophobic violence increased after the Russian anti-gay law passed, because the attackers are not afraid of legal reprisals. These attacks are mostly motivated by right-wing activists. All of this is happening while Russia prepares the Winter Olympics 2014 in Sochi where many LGBT people are expected to arrive, among them are athletes, officials, volunteers and visitors.

The Winter Olympics have been called for boycott due to the ‘anti gay’ legislation. Picture: Raul Pacheco-Vega

With the adoption of the new laws, many people proposed to boycott Russian products, like vodka. In addition, there are pages on Facebook calling on people to boycot the Olympic Games. Among the voices against anti-gay legislation is also the singer Cher. As she revealed in her interview in the Canadian magazine Maclean’s, she turned down the proposal for being an ambassador for the Games and she said no to opening the show.

On the other hand Blake Skjellerup, ice-skater from New Zealand, said that he will wear a rainbow pin to show his support for LGBT people in Russia. Also Elton John stated in The Guardian that he feels like he needs to perform in Russia in order to help gay people.

A big share of the international media turned against the Russian authorities for these laws, paying special attention to the reaction of public figures as well as NGOs and citizens across the world.

Russia’s law depicts homosexuality as something bad and immoral that young people should be protected from. These laws violate the right to non-discrimination, and by silencing all LGBT issues it protects people who commit violence against homosexual people. Moreover, it creates a difficult situation for people who want to visit Russia. This affects AEGEE as well since we promote human rights and the mobility of young people.

There are governments that reacted to those laws. For example, when Putin visited the Netherlands, Amsterdam was decorated in rainbow flags. But it needs to be something more efficient from official organizations like International Olympics Committee, European Union and United Nations because after the passing of the laws, the crimes against homosexuals increased and they remained unpunished by the local courts.

The anti-LGBT laws also has the support of the more conservative sector of society. The Russian Orthodox Church and Christianity have a lot of influence in Russia and, as we could read in The Huffington Post, Patriarch of Moscow and All Russia Kirill said the following about equal marriage: “This is a very dangerous apocalyptic symptom, and we must do everything in our power to ensure that sin is never sanctioned in Russia by state law, because that would mean that the nation has embarked on a path of self-destruction”. However, homosexuality was removed from the list of mental disorders in 1990 (according to the World Health Organization).

Those laws remind us of the communist era in Russia when homosexuals used to end up in Gulag labour camps. They remind us of the Second World War, when homosexuals were arrested and went to concentration camps where they had to wear pink triangles, and where many of them got raped and died. They remind us of the Middle East where many people keep on murdering or forcing sex reassignment surgery to homosexuals, using the Shari’a as an excuse.

Now a European country acts like these regimes that remind us of the darkest pages in history and official international organizations keep silent, not only for Russia, but for every homophobe law in every country of the world.

Written by Dimitra P. Amorgianou, AEGEE-Kastoria

On August 29^th it was clear which teams were going to face each other in this year’s UEFA Champions League (Football) and it was also clear that The AEGEEan had joined forces with the Sports Working Group (SWG) to gather AEGEEans interested in football to follow the prestigious tournament.

The idea was brought by The AEGEEan’s Network editor Marije Arentze already in the spring, after the success of the Eurovision Facebook group. “Yesterday I was watching the Champions League final, and I was thinking that UEFA is something similar to Eurovision: it unites people from all over the continent by cheering for their own ideals. Eurovision by means of music and UEFA by means of football,” was the comment by Marije that started it all back in May.

During the summer the idea was, as many other things in AEGEE, left behind not only because of exhausting exams for the students of the Network but also because that is the time of the year when many of the AEGEE members flee to beaches and other fun activities.

Then, a few weeks ago, the idea was again picked up both in The AEGEEan, as well as in the Sports Working Group (SWG). From the beginning, the idea was to bring the two groups closer. In the end, developed both by Sports Working Group members as well as by members of The AEGEEan – AEGEE’s Online Magazine it is now possible to find a Facebook group of AEGEE members interested in following Champions League together.

This group has a lot of potential since football is a popular sport, and it can lead the SWG to members across the Network interested in sports. Champions League also brings on many different topics such as racism in football or the economy of the teams involved, which can possibly be the focus of the talks between the matches. An even greater success the group can achieve, is leading to events against homophobia and racism which have been some of the main causes in the SWG.

Which team will be the winner of the different matches? Who will be the football player with the most goals? Who will bring the trophy home after the final in Lisbon next year? All these are questions that AEGEE members can try to answer and round by round it will be interesting to see which people, and from where in the Network, know most about the sport. In the end, as in Champions League there will be a winner, not with a trophy, but indeed with a prize. For now the main aim is to have fun and bring the people of the Network closer to each other.

Written by Patricia Anthony, AEGEE-København

While many AEGEE members were spending their time green travelling with the destination Mannheim, the Sports Working Group (SWG) was hosting a football tournament for the ones already in the city.

The idea behind the active afternoon was not only to raise awareness about physical activity but also to inform members about the topic of racism in sports. In a collaborative project between the SWG and Policy Officer Stephanie Müller, Agora Rhein-Neckar was used to consult AEGEE members about racism.

At the time that the football tournament took place not many had arrived in Mannheim yet and a large part of the ones who were there were taking part in city tours. However, there was no need to call off the match since the motivation was there, so instead of being AEGEE members playing against each other, it turned out to be a little group of AEGEE members playing against some locals from Mannheim.

While the active representatives from our organization were sweating on the field under the summer sun, the rest cheered them along while also filling in surveys about racism in sports created by Stephanie Müller. Later on during the Agora the questionnaire was used again during the AEGEE fair and these are only the first steps in the research of AEGEE people’s opinion on the topic.

Back at the match the spectators saw a large number of goals being scored by the footballers, and in the end it was a victory on the field to the AEGEE team. Outside of the team the small but interesting event is also considered a victory. It proved raised awareness amongst our members about the connection between sport and racism and it also underlined that there is an interest in such sportive activities in our organization. There might not have been many people able to take part in the game, but many showed interest in the outcome, and the Sports Working Group has afterwards received numerous requests to repeat the event before Agora Zaragoza, in even larger dimensions.

Written by Patricia Anthony, Secretary of the Sports Working Group

One of the activities suggested by the Sports Working Group (SWG) was to volunteer at international sport events. That would encourage youth participation while strengthening the network between AEGEEans and companies or organisations, and also providing the opportunity of gaining experience and inspiration to organise events in AEGEE. AEGEE-København member Patricia Anthony told us a bit about the Euro 2012 a few months ago, and now it is time for SWG member Sabina Begic to share her experience from volunteering at the European Universities Games in July. 

Sport plays a significant role in today’s society.

I had the chance to be one of 35 International Volunteers at the 1 st European Universities Games in Cordoba, Spain. The city of Cordoba is located in the middle of Andalusia. Thanks to its privileged position, it has been the centre of diverse cultures, which translates to a great historical legacy and a warm and familiar atmosphere. The EUSA Games are meant as an opportunity to bring student athletes together and make Europe friendlier. The Opening Ceremony brought together all the players of the 10 modalities of the Games. Cordoba hosted 2583 participants, representing 253 teams from 151 universities coming from 32 countries, competing in 10 sports featured at the 1st European Universities Games: badminton, basketball, beach-volleyball, football, futsal, handball, rugby 7s, table tennis, tennis and volleyball.

VOLUNTEERING AND CROSS-CULTURAL COOPERATION

Here is my list of benefits and reasons why I chose to become a volunteer: getting to know new places and people – making new friends, and if you are lucky enough, as I was, then making friends for life; networking; building self-confidence; decision-making; CV improvement, civil responsibility. Another important argument is that volunteers only have to pay for transportation to and from the city of the organizer. Accommodation and food is provided. I really had a great time in Cordoba with other volunteers and players,  especially when we, after a long working day, spent the night in the city or in our Colegio Mayor chilling out.

WORDS TO THANKS

People who somehow find the time and energy to throw themselves into a cause cannot be thanked enough! Even so, there are ways to let them know exactly how truly appreciated their time and efforts are. Sports offer volunteerism, friendship, a healthy lifestyle, social integration. At the closing ceremony, all participants were welcomed by the Mayor of Cordoba Jose Antonio Nieto Ballesteros who also took the opportunity to thank all the volunteers for their hard work and dedication by presenting diplomas to their representatives. The president of the organising committee and vice rector of students and culture of the University of Cordoba, Mr Manuel Torres, thanked all the volunteer and partners in the project, especially emphasising excellent cooperation between the University of Cordoba and the European University Sports Association. Mr Adam Roczek, the president of the European University Sports Association recognised the tremendous efforts of the volunteers and thanked them for their enthusiasm and hard work. Also during the event Mr Roczek pointed out:Volunteers are a crucial part in each event. Without volunteers there is no event. Without motivated volunteers there is no successful event. This is also true for the EUSA Games.

I like the fact that both the local volunteers recruited by the organisers, and the international volunteers, recruited through the EUSA volunteer program were there because of their own will, positive energy and enthusiasm. They brought a really great and friendly atmosphere to the games and shared it with other participants.

Mr Daniel Sikkens, the president of the organising committee gave a short introduction to the 2014 games and invited the public to attend – either as participants, or as volunteers. At the end the EUSA Flag was then symbolically passed over from Cordoba to EUSA and onwards to Rotterdam as the next host of the European Universities Games.

If you are interested in experiencing a unique adventure, learning about sport values and gaining valuable work experience through volunteering in European University Championships and European University Games – apply for it. Hope to see you there.

Written by Sabina Begic, AEGEE-Wien

A little more than a month ago the Sportive Working Group was introduced to the Network at Agora Enschede. A nervous introduction by AEGEE-Koebenhavn member Patricia Anthony, a suggestion of name change to Sports Working Group and some abstentions were part of the scenario that took place before this working group eventually was approved by the Agora Enschede delegates.

Hard work in progress

Creating a Working Group may seem easy, but it is not. However, there is plenty of help to find around the Network. The SWG noticed this receiving help from the Juridical Commision with the name change as well as with the recent board elections, and with step by step information about creating a Working Group that has been provided by CD member Guillermo Garcia Tabares.

Big plans for the future

So the current work for the SWG is mostly related to internal communication. However, one of the questions that the candidates for the board were asked, was how he/she was planning to integrate sports in AEGEE events. The ideas ranged from AEGEE olympiads to affecting Summer Universities with sports, to volunteering at international sport events and much more.

Already out there

In April 2012 three Danish AEGEE members (yes, true Danish) volunteered at the Danish tennis tournament “E-Boks Open”. How does stuff like this help AEGEE? Many have wondered, it was one of the main questions at the Agora, and the answer is not that simple. Volunteering in huge sport events gives members the opportunity to 1) Learn about how it is to help out at a big event with many people and plenty of sponsors. 2) Improve their English. 3) Make new friends. 4) Learn about working with different cultures. 5) Have fun!

In the end it is more about the experience than the sport, some do it because of their country, others for their city and some “just” to be part of the event.

Euro 2012

The AEGEEan editor and Sports Working Group secretary Patricia Anthony is in these days in Gdansk, Poland, volunteering for one of the biggest sport events in the world: Euro 2012 (football). Why? For the love of travelling, sports and volunteering. Funny thing is that she is not the only AEGEE representative in this Polish sea-side city. In a peculiar conversation on the beach, relaxing with the other volunteers, Patricia discovered that a fellow volunteer Fabio from Torino is enthusiastic about our students organisation as well, as he is the vice-president of AEGEE-Torino.

Not only for football freaks

Besides Fabio and Patricia there are two other AEGEEans taking part of the organisation of this big tournament. Ana Stamenkovic is currently undertaking a job with UEFA and she is reporting live from the EURO 2012, whereas another girl, Marta Troc, began working for the tournament already last year: “Last year I joined UEFA EURO 2012 as one of the volunteers helping to recruit other volunteers. Finally, I got a paid-job there, so now my life goes around the Tournament. Working in a Volunteers Management team is a great challenge for me even though I am not so keen on football,” she says about taking part in the tournament.

And the winner is…

At Agora Enschede Patricia was screaming out loud the various winners of The AEGEEans Choice Awards but she is having trouble to predict the team that will leave Ukraine in the beginning of July with the Euro 2012 trophy. “Being a member of AEGEE has made me even more patriotic about Denmark and of course it made me happy to see the Danish team beat the popular AEGEE country Holland, but then sad to see them leave after the loss to our neighbours from Germany. Actually, Spain owns my heart and I really want them to do it again, make history, but all eyes are on them. The only team that I dont like is Italy. I am sorry to say it, but Italian football for me is not interesting. I am more interested in the way that teams like Portugal play and would love to see them make it far, but they will most probably meet Spain in the semi-final – which would be an interesting match for sure. However, in football anything can happen both on the pitch and off the pitch,” Patricia gives her view on the tournament.

That was definitely not an answer to who is going to win, but it will probably make it even more fun to follow an event like this.

Written by the Sports Working Group

“Racism is man’s gravest threat to man – the maximum of hatred for a minimum of reason.”

Abrahah J. Heschel (Jewish theologian and philosopher, 1907-1972)

For a long time before starting this article, I was thinking about how to start it, and at last I have not found anything better than to just take a quote of Abraham Heschel, who was a Polish-born American rabbi and one of the leading Jewish theologians and philosophers of the 20th century. In his quote, dating back to the 1950s, he managed to describe perfectly the modern concept of racism. Racism is not something new or unknown to mankind; it has been developing alongside with humankind. According to Wikipedia, racism refers to the belief that inherent different traits in human racial groups justify discrimination.

Personally I do not like speaking on some theoretical issues and problems in international politics, as in my opinion such issues are a result of uncertain and different approach of individuals to some existing issues, but during the last few months I guess many of us have witnessed numerous unknown and unheard of things, for example in sports.

Liverpool and Chelsea football teams’ star players Luis Suarez and John Terry, and the professional boxing superstar Floyd Money Mayweather Jr. have two things in common, and the first one is their recent involvement in racial scandals.

The first two racially abused their opponents during their respective football matches, and were banned from the field for several months by England’s Professional Footballers’ Association.

In his turn, Floyd Mayweather Jr., who in my opinion is really one of the best pound-for-pound boxer in history, after the New York Knicks’ basketball match, wrote down on his Twitter page, which has 2.5 million followers, the following tweet about one of the Asian basketball players: “Jeremy Lin is a good player but all the hype is because he’s Asian. Black players do what he does every night and don’t get the same praise.”

Why have I taken these examples? The thing is that all the aforementioned sport figures have another thing in common: they are super popular, and today the interpretation and concept of racism could really have an awful impact on everyday activities of many modern civil societies, of which they are an integral part. You may immediately argue with me that today there is no such state in the world where racism is officially promoted, and it is very common that individuals get involved in such scandals. Yes, God bless all of us, we have managed to successfully overcome those times when it was not possible to imagine that black and white children would be sitting in the same classroom or that black citizens would not get problems while getting citizenship of their respective states.

But the thing is that in today’s reality even a little racism abuse may bury anybody’s career and everything. In this simple, and very obvious truth on first sight, lies the whole concept of modern racism.

Of course, these racial scandals in my opinion shall not have much impact on popularity or career of people mentioned; in fact, I guess it may even get bigger. But surely after such accidents they would be under much more pressure from society and it may have an impact on their working/playing abilities. Simultaneously, it is really interesting to know their motivation or ideas by which they were guided while making such harassing comments or offenses. The answer is again very simple; as practice shows, they are really doing it intentionally, as none of them is denying their fault after, and some are even making excuses, but they also do not think to what consequences it may lead.

Nobody shall exclude the possibility that the victims of these scandals (Patrice Evra, Anton Ferdinand, Jeremy Lin) may have done something which compelled our “heroes” to make such abuses, but in my opinion, a strong-minded and composed person, especially when he/she is also very famous, shall not allow himself/herself to do such things.

Simultaneously, I could not mention another thing on this topic; such racial scandals, taking place on the football pitch, were really unknown thing for the British society, as well as to the international football community, and the replies to them were too critical and radical, but racial incidents are a very common thing in the USA and I may even agree with Mayweather Jr. that if some black player played as Jeremy Lin maybe he would not get such fame in the USA just because of his skin colour.

With no debate, we just shall state that today the interpretation of racism is much more different than it was some decades ago. The equality of the individuals and social justice in civil societies shall not recognize any racial arguments or grounds. Only when the rights and freedoms of an individual will be respected by the others, humankind will be able to fulfill the dreams of Dr. Luther King and Mr. Mandela, and as long we do not have that respect, we shall continue living while bearing in our minds the simple truth which is expressed in the starting quote of this article.

Written by Armenak Minasyants, AEGEE-Yerevan & Speaker of International Politics WG