Recently, the European Parliament published a briefing on 'Fighting discrimination in sport' that provides information on the state of play of discrimination in sport, with a focus on racism and homophobia.
While an extensive framework of EU legislation condemns all type of discrimination, a survey published in 2018 showed that 90% of the respondents perceive homo/-transphobia to be a problem in sport, while almost one in five respondents had refrained from participating in a sport that they felt attracted to as a result of their sexual orientation and/or gender identity.
Worryingly, 'hate-motivated violence and harassment often go unreported', making these numbers very likely to be underestimated.
In the past, numerous projects centered on combatting violence, discrimination and intolerance in sport, received funding from the Erasmus+ Programme. It is worth noting that Erasmus+ in the 2021-2027 period offers opportunities to engage against discrimination through small-scale partnerships, cooperation partnerships and not-for profit sport events. Moreover, projects focusing on promotion of inclusion in sport are also eligible to be financed under several Pilot projects and preparatory actions.