@farenet.bsky.social
Italy 🇮🇹
In Italian youth football, a Vivai Rauscedo-Gravis player is being investigated after racially abusing an Union Martignacco opponent with the phrase “go back to the cotton fields”. The player is potentially facing heavy sanctions.
France 🇫🇷
Daniel Bravo has been suspended after making sexist remarks about Gaëtane Thiney on beIN Sports. Clubs and players, including Sakina Karchaoui, voiced support for Thiney, underlining that misogyny still shapes football media culture and must be challenged.
Northern Ireland
Cliftonville have condemned sexist, threatening and abusive conduct towards Management Committee members, saying it has no place at the club. The club warned action will be taken where guidelines are breached.
Germany 🇩🇪
In an op-ed, journalist Anno Hecker argues that football still does not consistently feel safe for LGBTQ+ people, but is slowly changing, pointing to a recent moment in Cologne where a referee proposed to his male partner in front of 50,000 fans.
France 🇫🇷
Four amateur referees in France have described routine sexism, racism and abuse in grassroots football, but also say officiating builds confidence and resilience, exposing a wider culture that still tolerates violence against officials.
USA 🇺🇸
In an op-ed, sociologist Ellis Cashmore has questioned whether the 2026 World Cup should remain in the U.S., citing ICE killings, civil unrest and civil rights concerns, and argued FIFA’s inclusivity claims clash with staging its flagship event there.
www.fairobserver.com/culture/shou...
Spain 🇪🇸
The mural honouring Nico and Iñaki Williams in Barakaldo has been vandalised again with racist and hostile graffiti, before being quickly restored, in another attack on a symbol standing against racism.
Germany 🇩🇪
A grassroots football project in Frankfurt has been created in response to a series of antisemitic attacks against Jewish children and teenagers at a local pitch, transforming a space of fear into one of supervised, inclusive play and community rebuilding.
Mexico 🇲🇽
The city of Puebla has announced mass football classes, community tournaments and 300 World Cup-themed murals as part of Mundial Social México 2026, using football to boost participation, culture and local development.
England 🏴
Grimsby Town has confirmed reports of sexist abuse towards a match official at Saturday’s home fixture against Milton Keynes Dons, restating zero tolerance for discrimination and warning offenders may face removal and bans.
USA 🇺🇸
The Soccer Tournament (TST) has launched a $1m mixed-gender seven-a-side tournament in the U.S., adding to its men’s and women’s events with equal prize money, as Hope Solo and Wrexham Red Dragons are set to feature.
Mexico 🇲🇽
At least 56 people have been killed at amateur football pitches in Mexico since 2018, with a recent mass shooting in Salamanca forcing match suspensions and exposing how organised crime is turning community sport spaces into deadly sites.
UK 🇬🇧
Brown Girl Sport is expanding its work to support South Asian women and girls in football, launching a women of colour supporters’ club and ambassador programme to tackle isolation, racism and barriers to inclusion.
Sportswriter and broadcaster Bomani Jones has sharply criticised the NFL, saying the league has a “cancer of racism” when it comes to hiring at the highest levels, placing responsibility squarely on owners and decision-makers who ultimately control appointments.
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USA 🇺🇸
The NFL is once again facing scrutiny over racial diversity in coaching after completing a head coach hiring cycle in which no Black coaches have been appointed and only one minority coach has been hired across 10 vacancies.
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A major scientific review has found that transgender women may not retain a meaningful fitness or strength advantage over cisgender women after undergoing gender-affirming hormone therapy, challenging claims often used to justify blanket bans on trans athletes in women’s sport.
04.02.2026 13:30 — 👍 1 🔁 0 💬 0 📌 1
France 🇫🇷
Lens have condemned racist abuse directed at new signing Allan Saint-Maximin online after his children were previously targeted in Mexico, forcing him to leave Club América. The club has closed comments and pledged full support.
CONMEBOL has announced the launch of a new institutional campaign aimed at combating racism, violence and discrimination in football stadiums across the region, with the stated goal of making South American football “a safe place for everyone”.
04.02.2026 13:00 — 👍 0 🔁 0 💬 0 📌 0
USA 🇺🇸
Los Angeles World Cup 2026 Host Committee has unveiled a wide-ranging programme of fan and community initiatives designed to extend the FIFA World Cup beyond stadiums and into neighbourhoods across the city.
Journalist Nick Miller has praised Manchester City manager Pep Guardiola for continuing to speak publicly about humanitarian crises and state violence, despite predictable accusations of “whataboutery” and moral inconsistency linked to Manchester City’s ownership.
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The Athletic has situated Guardiola's comments within a wider history of Guardiola publicly backing Catalan independence, defending political prisoners, wearing symbols of protest despite FA sanctions, and supporting refugee-rescue organisation Open Arms.
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Guardiola has also condemned the killings of Renee Good and Alex Pretti by U.S. federal ICE agents as indefensible.
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England 🏴
Manchester City manager Pep Guardiola has publicly spoken out against ongoing wars and humanitarian crises in Sudan, Ukraine and Palestine, stressing that the scale of suffering demands a moral response focused on protecting human life.
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Germany 🇩🇪
The German FA has fined 1860 München €10,000 after a supporter directed racist monkey chants at an Energie Cottbus player during a 3. Liga match on 1 November 2025. Up to €3,300 of the fine can be reinvested in anti-racism prevention.
Italy 🇮🇹
Reuters has reported that transgender athletes can compete at Milano Cortina 2026 under federation-led rules, with eligibility varying by sport. With no universal IOC policy yet, the Games are expected to be the last held under a fragmented system.
Scotland 🏴
Olympic curler Bruce Mouat has reflected on coming out as gay and how it transformed his life and career. Ahead of another Olympic bid, he urges young athletes to embrace difference, saying self-acceptance can be a powerful strength in elite sport.
www.bbc.com/sport/articl...
USA 🇺🇸
Fear of ICE raids is forcing girls out of hockey in Minnesota, with diverse programmes seeing attendance collapse and some shutting down. Community leaders warn enforcement practices are reversing hard-won progress on access and inclusion in youth sport.
Mexico 🇲🇽
The state of Chiapas has been confirmed as national host of the Indigenous and Traditional Games, bringing together Indigenous communities to preserve ancestral sports. The event aims to safeguard Indigenous sport against cultural erasure.
