Sport Against Racism Ireland (SARI) promotes cultural integration and social inclusion through sport. It runs education programmes in schools, organises large-scale sporting events and creates mentoring schemes in order to combat racism, sectarianism, xenophobia, homophobia and other forms of discrimination. SARI was founded in July 1997 as a direct response to an increase in xenophobia amongst a small but vocal number of individuals. SARI is an agent of social change in a country where issues and conflicts surrounding the integration of new communities remains a challenge.

Ireland has recently seen an increase in immigration. These ‘new communities’, as they are commonly called, mainly come from Africa, Eastern Europe and parts of Asia. An oft-cited view in Ireland that racism is not a problem fails to take into account a small but active section of the population that engages in racist attacks, graffiti and hate mail. The dangers of ignoring this segment of the nation became even clearer on April 2nd 2010, when fifteen-year-old Nigerian-born Toyosi Shitt-abey was stabbed to death in a suspected racist attack that shocked the nation.

SARI operates on several levels: through lobbying, an annual football tournament and an educational youth sports integration project, it aims to reach every segment of Irish society.

Count Us In is a programme for young people aged 9-16 that runs in youth clubs and schools across Dublin. Consisting of two phases, the project helps young people understand the values that exist in sports such as football, and shows them that these values can and should be applied to daily life.

Phase one of Count Us In is an education module that uses a range of exercises and SARI’s United Through Sports DVD as a catalyst for dialogue around integration. The DVD features professional athletes and young sports enthusiasts from a range of backgrounds to demonstrate the cultural diversity of the wider sports community and the potential of sport to foster social integration. Throughout the module, students learn and discuss terms and ideas around integration, racism, fair play and respect.

The Count Us In Inter-school Sports Day then brings all students from participating schools together to play football and to get to know each other in a safe, fun environment. The event provides students in the programme to put what they learned in the first phase into practice. To ensure that the project is as effective as possible, SARI creates mixed teams with students from several schools. National sports organisations provide staff and information.

Soccerfest, SARI’s annual football tournament, was established in 1997 and is now the largest intercultural football tournament in Ireland. The event promotes integration and encourages participants aged 13 and above to come together and enjoy their shared passion for the game. Cultural activities and live entertainment that represent participants’ backgrounds run alongside the tournament. SARI is a founding member of Football Against Racism Europe, and was integral in lobbying organisations such as the Football Association Ireland to incorporate UEFA’s 10 Point Plan against racism. The organisation has been instrumental in forming the Football Intercultural Advisory Group and seeks to bring new communities into the game at all levels.

By adding an institutional focus to its work, SARI reinforces the message of social integration throughout professional and amateur football, thus creating positive influences for football fans and players alike.

SARI remains flexible and responsive in its approach to the social inclusion of young people. Following the attack of April 2nd and the subsequent release on bail of a suspect, SARI kept tensions down in the community by mobilising its network of football coaches. Coaches were dispatched to explain the Irish legal system to young players and ensure players remained calm rather than reacting violently and escalating the situation.

SARI participants face daily challenges within Ireland and much of SARI’s work revolves around helping individuals from new communities connect to the Irish system. The organisation provides advice on immigration and housing issues and liaises between the police and new communities. Many of SARI’s participants struggle for recognition as citizens, let alone as football players; SARI therefore strives to enlist elite athletes to act as role models and representatives for communities.

SARI facilitated the development of Insaka-Ireland AFC, the football club of the All Africa Diaspora Youth Movement. This has resulted in several young players breaking through to top flight football in both their adopted country and abroad. Coupled with the formation of a coaching bank that provides free coaching by African coaches to young people from working class areas, SARI provides role models for young migrants at all levels. Insaka-Ireland AFC coach James Igwilo was recently appointed as a Dublin City Ambassador of Sport.

Soccerfest regularly attracts a large crowd from a range of backgrounds. Over 4,000 people visited the 2009 event, which featured 46 teams. For the organisation, merely finding a way to encourage interaction between different communities represents a major step forward in fighting the social exclusion of young people in Ireland. The ethnically based football squads—including Somali, Ivorian, Ghanaian and Chinese groups—that have emerged out of the event have all benefited from SARI’s expertise in social inclusion, conflict resolution and cultural mediation and are now members of New Communities Partnerships, an organisation that empowers and represents ethnic minorities in Ireland.

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