A/HRC/25/69 balanced opinion. Given the regional context of denial of racism and xenophobia, he considered that it would be challenging to create guidelines of protocols. He welcomed the boom of community media in Venezuela adding that MDI would like to see this strengthened as it served as a model for other countries in the region. 29. Due to a logistical issue with the arrival of an expert presenter on the morning of 25 July, the Chairperson-Rapporteur proposed that the 6th meeting be devoted to an informal meeting. The participants discussed informally issues relating to xenophobia, affirmative action, data collection and replies to the questionnaire. 30. Mr. Piara Powar, Executive Director of the Football against Racism in Europe (FARE), delivered a presentation on Racism in sport at the 7th meeting of the Ad Hoc Committee. Mr. Powar stated that racism was rife in sport and that while expression of nationalism in sporting events signified unity, it has increasingly spilled over into various forms of hatred, racism, xenophobia and other manifestations in sporting events. He noted that the fault lines or spectator sports like football, racism, xenophobia and nationalism tended to overlap. He attributed the increase in racism and racial hatred to increasing migration flows, re-emergence of far- right youth movements, local, national and regional rivalries as well as social and urban conflicts spilling over into the sporting arena. He said while recent incidents involving the walkout by AC Milan player Kevin Prince Boateng and other players in Europe highlighted the situation, monitoring of sporting events had shown that racist activities in sporting events had taken place in 28 countries outside of Europe and in all parts of the world. He explained that due to a glass ceiling in sports, while the flow of talent was from the South to the North, very few people of African descent or from other groups held top level managerial or senior corporate level positions in the football world. According to Mr. Powar, the xenophobia and racism in sport was often built on the mythologies of the “other” and stereotyping. He also highlighted the lack of gender diversity in sports management. He proposed that mobilization at the street level in creating awareness about racism was important in addressing the issue of racism in sports. Similarly, it was essential that icons of sports led initiatives to highlight the situation as well as awareness campaigns aimed at countering racism. Mr. Powar also proposed that better data collection and sharing of good practices on countering racism in sports, together with the UN Office on Sports for Development was important. 31. The delegate of Switzerland inquired as to whether low representation of women in sports or discrimination against women in sports was a subject matter that had been researched by the FARE Network. The representative of the European Union asked about the success of training programmes, whether it was possible to change behaviour through training and also requested information on FARE campaigns as well as the sharing of good practices with other regions of the world. She also inquired how discrimination on multiple grounds was being addressed by FARE. 32. The delegate of the USA highlighted the role of race in sports in the United States, such as in major league baseball, and also noted the issue of diversity in the management structures of sports. Pakistan inquired if there was a difference between xenophobia and racism in sports activities. In addition, he stated that for spectators and viewers who watched sports on the basis of national affiliation, where did nationalism cross over into racism and hatred? The delegate of Greece commented that racism had always been prevalent in sports. The delegate of South Africa asked whether Mr. Powar’s organisation had encountered racist attitudes in countries where people were of similar ethnic backgrounds. The delegate of Mexico asked about the mechanisms that the FARE Network used in establishing dialogue with local authorities. The delegate of Morocco highlighted the prevalence of discrimination of women in sports and also posed the question as to whether an institutional mechanism to monitor racial discrimination in sports could be established as international governing bodies such as the International Olympic Committee did not appear to have such a monitoring body or lacked the capacity to monitor. Ethiopia stated that contemporary forms of racism and particularly xenophobia were issues not 26