BRATISLAVA – The World Jewish Congress, as part of the EU-funded Building Bridges: Together Through Sport initiative, hosted a conference in partnership with the German NGO What Matters and the Federation of Jewish Communities of Slovakia. The conference brought together diverse stakeholders to address antisemitism and discrimination in sports within the European context and to exchange actionable ideas to combat them.
The three-day conference featured a variety of experts that spoke to Jewish and non-Jewish professionals, athletes, and activists involved in various sports leagues, coming together to learn how to combat hate speech, physical harassment, and conflict in sport associations. The agenda included expert-led discussion and interactive workshops, aiming to equip participants with practical tools and actionable plans. Among those were models to question and reflect the individual work regarding effectiveness, target group orientation, and overall goals. The participants were then invited to write down their general mission and vision in their activist work and how they break it down into their strategic planning for the upcoming years and months.
To get an overview of the represented projects as a big group, the more than 50 participants mapped their projects in the field of the work against discrimination in and through sport. They also mapped themselves: on a metaphorical map of Europe, every person stood at the place where they started their journey and how they were led to Bratislava, as well as how long they’ve been active in the field of sport and antidiscrimination. Each member circulated around the room in ten-minute intervals to learn more about the others’ projects and fields of interests.
The first of the three offered workshops, led by KickIn!’s Managing Director Daniela Wurbs and Senior Partner Manager Carlo Kosok, was dedicated to the exploration of what diversity and inclusion look like in and through sports. The pair worked with participants to learn how to overcome the barriers placed around sports for various European target groups, exploring potential approaches and solutions that are beneficial for everyone. Daniela, who was appointed to the first human rights advisory board of UEFA for EURO 2024, gave an overview on the variety of meanings and definitions of diversity and inclusion. Carlo, a veteran sports advisor for teams such as Bielefeld United and the German Child and Youth Foundation, invited the participants to identify their needs, besides money, to more effectively work toward an inclusive society.
The second workshop was led by WJC’s Technology and Human Rights Institute Projects and Partnerships Manager, Marija Ljubinkovic, who addressed the pressing issue of online hate speech specifically through the lens of the online antisemitism during the 2024 Paris Olympics. Through interactive case studies, participants learned how to analyze real comments left on social media platforms, as well as the impact discrimination has in broader sports contexts. Marija spoke about WJC’s Technology and Human Rights Institute, which was founded in June 2024 and focuses on education and advocacy against hate speech.
She provided insight on the collaboration with digital platforms and tech companies on how to define antisemitism and other forms of discrimination. After showing examples of the tech companies’ guidelines for content moderation, she invited the participants to try for themselves. After the group evaluated several real life social media posts, Marija explained how these posts were categorized by the platform’s respective company. The session raised participants' awareness of the shared responsibility of fostering a more inclusive society online in sports and beyond.
The group also received an in-depth analysis of the collaboration with digital platforms and technology companies in defining antisemitism and other forms of discrimination. By presenting examples of content moderation guidelines used by these companies, she engaged participants in a hands-on exercise to assess real-life social media posts. Following the group's evaluations, Marija elucidated how these posts were classified according to the respective platform’s policies. The session underscored the collective responsibility of ensuring a more inclusive digital environment, both within the realm of sports and in broader societal contexts.
The third workshop, led by CEJI’s Daniel Heller, gave the participants a chance to reflect on different levels of combating Jewish discrimination, depending on the analysis of their reasons and roots. The session raised participants' awareness of how everyday actions can challenge discrimination while emphasizing the shared responsibility of fostering a more inclusive society in sports and beyond.
After dinner there was a panel discussion with German scholar Dr. Pavel Brunnsen, and Jana Turanská from the Slovakian NGO ADEL. Dr. Brunnsen discussed the results from an online survey he conducted in the summer of 2023. By analyzing feedback from over 100 football stakeholders and Jewish representatives in 14 European countries, the analysis report explored perceptions, current activities, and future possibilities regarding tackling antisemitism, cultivating Holocaust remembrance , and fostering Jewish life in football. His analysis showed that a huge undiscovered potential lies in football organizations: adopting proactive strategies and building sustained partnerships with Jewish communities in order to effectively combat antisemitism and promote respect for Jewish life in sports.
Jana touched upon various aspects of the work done by ADEL, emphasizing their focus on lowering the threshold for less privileged children, such as the Roma community in the rural east of Slovakia, to enable them to take part in sport projects. Several participants from the audience took the opportunity to participate in this discussion by sharing personal stories of times when sport helped protect them from exclusion and, instead, brought athletes and communities together.
On the third day of the conference, experts from WJC partner organization Borussia Dortmund presented its annual activities working with professional football clubs in tackling discrimination, as well as the progress made amidst unprecedented challenges. Led by Founder and Co-Director of What Matters, Daniel Lörcher, the goal of the workshop was to exchange ideas between professional sports club leaders on how to conduct and carry out their own anti-discrimination projects. Daniel shared his experiences and lessons learned from years of working in this field. He explained the potential of turning anti-discrimination projects into something to be proud of; to engage sports managers, as well as the entire variety of sports staff and to create ownership among the employees. Singular activities can become much more effective if they are implemented in a multilevel strategy.
The last session, connected to the Building Bridges principle of Holocaust remembrance, explored the history of persecuted German and Polish Jewish athletes by utilizing their biographies for educational modules. Led by Founder and Co-Director of What Matters, Dr. Andreas Kahrs, the participants had the chance to read historical sources of two athletes that were both expelled from their sport clubs when the Nazis came to power in 1933.
Through collaborative methods between top sports league professionals, international scholars and local Jewish community leaders, the conference reaffirmed the Bridges project’s commitment to diversity and inclusion, equipping professionals with different backgrounds unified in the combat against discrimination through encounters, offering a chance to build sustainable bridges as partnerships across the continent.
About the Project:
“Building Bridges for Combating Antisemitism Together” – in short “Bridges” - is an EU-funded project that brings together Jewish communities, government representatives, professional networks, and experts to monitor, reinforce and implement the EU strategy on combating antisemitism and fostering Jewish life at different levels.
