07/12/2012 | Writer: Nevin Öztop
There is a new case of homophobia in Croatian sports, this time in synchronized skating, which points out to more diverse problem than several individuals in the leadership of national football association.
There is a new case of homophobia in Croatian sports, this time in synchronized skating, which points out to more diverse problem than several individuals in the leadership of national football association. The discrimination is embedded in the system that denies its existence and refuses to see it as a deeper and wider problem, writes our collaborator Željko Blaće.
Using precedent of media reporting of discrimination in sports
Last Sunday, November 25, 2012, on International Day for Elimination of Violence against Women, while European institutions issued statements promoting a wider consensus on this topic, a new case of homophobia in Croatian sports was reported. Rather unexpectedly, it was discovered in the sport of synchronized skating (after previous cases in football and tennis), in an interview given to the sports beat reporter of Jutarnji List daily Predrag Žukina. It is an important precedent for both media and sports, not only for our region but all over the world – having in mind that the majority of such cases (exceeding just homophobic statements) reported in the past come from the U.S.
Using precedent of media reporting of discrimination in sports
Last Sunday, November 25, 2012, on International Day for Elimination of Violence against Women, while European institutions issued statements promoting a wider consensus on this topic, a new case of homophobia in Croatian sports was reported. Rather unexpectedly, it was discovered in the sport of synchronized skating (after previous cases in football and tennis), in an interview given to the sports beat reporter of Jutarnji List daily Predrag Žukina. It is an important precedent for both media and sports, not only for our region but all over the world – having in mind that the majority of such cases (exceeding just homophobic statements) reported in the past come from the U.S.
Synchronized skating (photo Wikipedia)
V.S., 24-year old skater (she insists on her anonymity in fear of further discrimination in her workplace) talks to the daily about the loss of position in the strongest synchronized team in Croatia, the Zagreb Snowflakes, which came after her colleagues saw photos of V.S. and her girlfriend in the Zagreb Pride march. In the article, she names the individuals in the team and members of management that forced her to give up her sport but also those who supported her. She speaks in more detail about skater Buga and Davorin Orban, at the time the co-captain and president of technical committee as the two most malicious persons who incited other to discrimination, too. (Read more in the segment of the Jutarnji List report available on the web).
This is the first case of a Croatian sports-woman to talk to the media in a case of sexual, not gender-based discrimination. She chose not to take the slow legal path with a complaint to the club’s administration, than the Ombudsman and ultimately the Supreme Court (as in other cases of homophobic statements) since her internal complaint in the club was dismissed with derision, and the national skating association dragged her around, from one disciplinary commission to another to this date.
Through the media, she provided insight into the concrete situation where, with support from some team-mates and board members, as well as her coach who, indeed, filed the first complaint with the club, and yet, V.S. did not get protection or find justice inside the existing system. Unfortunately, the case escalated and made further sports activities difficult – she gave up skating and the case has been with the Skating Federation disciplinary commission for a year without any notice. When we contacted the Federation, the secretary was upset about “stirring up the dust”.
In the meantime, the president of the Skating Federation Morana Paliković Gruden (Vice-President of the Zagreb City Council for HNS party) made it to the position of Vice-President of the Croatian Olympic Committee, and this case will be the first test of social sensibility and engagement in her new office. The reelected President of the Croatian Olympic Committee Zlatko Mateša remains focused on the national results in elite sports – which doesn’t really apply to homophobia.
When a discrimination case makes it into courts or the media in order to be rectified, it is already too late for elite sportsmen and sportswomen and their collectives – in the process, their identity and sexual orientation get into the public domain and social and psychological pressure by the media grow into an obligation that no top athlete can afford. Facing that situation, one has to ask: which are the institutional positions and instruments for prevention and protection, as well as sanctioning of discrimination in sports on grounds of sexual orientation? Which options and alternatives are available to persons discriminated in sports and is it possible to maneuver inside those options? I shall attempt here to give a brief overview of recent experiences and examples from the immediate region.
Structural Institutional Support
Two weeks ago, I took part in a regional gathering on social aspects of football in Bar, Montenegro, which, quite atypically, dealt with the issue of gender equality and more typically with intercultural dialogue in the region focused on national and ethnic conflict. The event, organized by CoE’s sports body EPAS, regional (Balkan Alpe Adria Project) and local (Montenegro Football Association) partners, gathered close to 30 participants. Most of them were featured speakers and there was almost no audience.
This is the first case of a Croatian sports-woman to talk to the media in a case of sexual, not gender-based discrimination. She chose not to take the slow legal path with a complaint to the club’s administration, than the Ombudsman and ultimately the Supreme Court (as in other cases of homophobic statements) since her internal complaint in the club was dismissed with derision, and the national skating association dragged her around, from one disciplinary commission to another to this date.
Through the media, she provided insight into the concrete situation where, with support from some team-mates and board members, as well as her coach who, indeed, filed the first complaint with the club, and yet, V.S. did not get protection or find justice inside the existing system. Unfortunately, the case escalated and made further sports activities difficult – she gave up skating and the case has been with the Skating Federation disciplinary commission for a year without any notice. When we contacted the Federation, the secretary was upset about “stirring up the dust”.
In the meantime, the president of the Skating Federation Morana Paliković Gruden (Vice-President of the Zagreb City Council for HNS party) made it to the position of Vice-President of the Croatian Olympic Committee, and this case will be the first test of social sensibility and engagement in her new office. The reelected President of the Croatian Olympic Committee Zlatko Mateša remains focused on the national results in elite sports – which doesn’t really apply to homophobia.
When a discrimination case makes it into courts or the media in order to be rectified, it is already too late for elite sportsmen and sportswomen and their collectives – in the process, their identity and sexual orientation get into the public domain and social and psychological pressure by the media grow into an obligation that no top athlete can afford. Facing that situation, one has to ask: which are the institutional positions and instruments for prevention and protection, as well as sanctioning of discrimination in sports on grounds of sexual orientation? Which options and alternatives are available to persons discriminated in sports and is it possible to maneuver inside those options? I shall attempt here to give a brief overview of recent experiences and examples from the immediate region.
Structural Institutional Support
Two weeks ago, I took part in a regional gathering on social aspects of football in Bar, Montenegro, which, quite atypically, dealt with the issue of gender equality and more typically with intercultural dialogue in the region focused on national and ethnic conflict. The event, organized by CoE’s sports body EPAS, regional (Balkan Alpe Adria Project) and local (Montenegro Football Association) partners, gathered close to 30 participants. Most of them were featured speakers and there was almost no audience.
BAAP International Workshop "Stronger Together" (Photo Zdravko Cimbaljević)
Naturally, if women are in minority in panel discussions dedicated to gender issues, and if any individual institutional progress, percentage-wise, regarding women participation is presented as excellent step forward towards the distant future of gender equality or even neutrality in sports – the picture of institutional dynamics is suddenly much clearer. Gender discrimination has been reduced by the fact that it turned into a topic where political correctness was given a minimal politically correct place, but remains far from the focus of discussion.
The situation is similar with anti-racism and multiculturalism (institutional supplements to less popular anti-fascism and anti-nationalism), which were also allocated their institutional quotas, budgets and visibility, and with the mostly outsourced NGO sector which is, occasionally, quite opportunistically ready to produce “positive examples” and uncritical “good practices”. The questions of discrimination on grounds of sexual orientation and gender identity remain far and away from holding such positions in most institutions. For EAPS, this was the topical year of dealing with LGBT discrimination. The appropriate manual will be produced after a series of conferences, and the question remains how the situation may develop in 2013.
Piara Powar presented the positions of the FARE network in the panel. Over the past several years, the FARE grew from a grass-roots anti-racist network in football into an organization with activities and agenda expanded into empowering discriminated and marginalized social groups, especially the youth, immigrants, ethnic minorities, LGBT community and women. Sonia Parayre, speaking for EPAS, said that this year, all employees were given training in gender and sexual discrimination (it is not that women per se needed the support, but everybody needed education), and that women shouldn’t and can’t be treated as a minority because they are not, in fact, a minority.
Discussing regulation of sports, she detected a change of climate and discomfort once homophobia is separated from the “package” of all other forms of discrimination, demanding special measures.
Patrick Gasser from UEFA talked about positive progress, for example, the fact that Michel Platini introduced a minimal quota of at least one women in the UEFA’s Board of Directors which has 15 members, the campaign against discrimination in football before the EURO 2012. But the political correctness of the RESPECT campaign video offers no hint of inclusion of LGBTQ population into football or other persons that don’t fit the stereotypes of athlet’s physical appearance. UEFA remains far more vigilant to sanction wearing improper clothes (non-sponsored) than homophobic and racist statements.
It is worth noting that football federations from the region: Montenegro, Macedonia, Bosnia and Herzegovina, and Serbia in particular, presented programmes for wider inclusion of women in football structures and equalization in terms of resources and organization, at least with youth categories and national teams.
Jovana Mrkić, member of the under-20 national team of Montenegro talked about the beginnings of women’s football in the country three years ago. Serbia, on the other hand, introduced positive discrimination for girls that want to play football, to be able to practice with their peers and up to two years younger boys – which should, allegedly, help in the work with youth categories.
Marko Begović presented the study on the status of women in sports in Montenegro, conducted by a group of academic researchers in cooperation with the leading organization in the field –the Women’s Sport Foundation – which presents disappointing findings in a number of sports.
None of the federations in the region mentioned discrimination of LGBTQ persons as a topic, and the advisor to the Government of Montenegro on minority affairs did note the great importance of the gathering and his support to the first appearance of LGBT athletes in the EuroGames 2012 in his opening address, only to disappear just 20 minutes after his arrival. He was late in the first place. The extent to which some sports officials view that work as marginal at best is amply illustrated by the fact that there were almost no local participants or media representatives. The representative of the Croatian Football Federation (HNS) was absent.
Anyway, there is at least formal institutional support against discrimination in some places, but prevention and protection instruments are mostly missing, while sanctioning instruments remain weak and total non-functional. The fact that UEFA collected the fines it imposed for Marković’s and Barić’s homophobic statements directly from its own subsidies to HNS and not from them personally may be the most striking examples. Abroad, there are the positive examples of support offered by Canadian and Norwegian olympic committees, which employ experts and run programmes for LGBTQ sensibilisation and support for individual persons.
Social Support
What gay athletes today hope and try to create is the social support in their immediate environment, where his or her otherness will not be seen as grounds for discrimination. In the EU, there is increasingly available support from professionals and organisations that work in specific areas of LGBTQ persons in sports, or protection of LGBT professionals in the workplace. With continuous achievement of excellent sports results, elite athletes could, eventually, achieve the stable financial status that would enable a relative freedom of selection where they will practice sports and then create, in their micro-environment, relations based on informed views and direct experienced instead of prejudice and ignorance.
The situation is similar with anti-racism and multiculturalism (institutional supplements to less popular anti-fascism and anti-nationalism), which were also allocated their institutional quotas, budgets and visibility, and with the mostly outsourced NGO sector which is, occasionally, quite opportunistically ready to produce “positive examples” and uncritical “good practices”. The questions of discrimination on grounds of sexual orientation and gender identity remain far and away from holding such positions in most institutions. For EAPS, this was the topical year of dealing with LGBT discrimination. The appropriate manual will be produced after a series of conferences, and the question remains how the situation may develop in 2013.
Piara Powar presented the positions of the FARE network in the panel. Over the past several years, the FARE grew from a grass-roots anti-racist network in football into an organization with activities and agenda expanded into empowering discriminated and marginalized social groups, especially the youth, immigrants, ethnic minorities, LGBT community and women. Sonia Parayre, speaking for EPAS, said that this year, all employees were given training in gender and sexual discrimination (it is not that women per se needed the support, but everybody needed education), and that women shouldn’t and can’t be treated as a minority because they are not, in fact, a minority.
Discussing regulation of sports, she detected a change of climate and discomfort once homophobia is separated from the “package” of all other forms of discrimination, demanding special measures.
Patrick Gasser from UEFA talked about positive progress, for example, the fact that Michel Platini introduced a minimal quota of at least one women in the UEFA’s Board of Directors which has 15 members, the campaign against discrimination in football before the EURO 2012. But the political correctness of the RESPECT campaign video offers no hint of inclusion of LGBTQ population into football or other persons that don’t fit the stereotypes of athlet’s physical appearance. UEFA remains far more vigilant to sanction wearing improper clothes (non-sponsored) than homophobic and racist statements.
It is worth noting that football federations from the region: Montenegro, Macedonia, Bosnia and Herzegovina, and Serbia in particular, presented programmes for wider inclusion of women in football structures and equalization in terms of resources and organization, at least with youth categories and national teams.
Jovana Mrkić, member of the under-20 national team of Montenegro talked about the beginnings of women’s football in the country three years ago. Serbia, on the other hand, introduced positive discrimination for girls that want to play football, to be able to practice with their peers and up to two years younger boys – which should, allegedly, help in the work with youth categories.
Marko Begović presented the study on the status of women in sports in Montenegro, conducted by a group of academic researchers in cooperation with the leading organization in the field –the Women’s Sport Foundation – which presents disappointing findings in a number of sports.
None of the federations in the region mentioned discrimination of LGBTQ persons as a topic, and the advisor to the Government of Montenegro on minority affairs did note the great importance of the gathering and his support to the first appearance of LGBT athletes in the EuroGames 2012 in his opening address, only to disappear just 20 minutes after his arrival. He was late in the first place. The extent to which some sports officials view that work as marginal at best is amply illustrated by the fact that there were almost no local participants or media representatives. The representative of the Croatian Football Federation (HNS) was absent.
Anyway, there is at least formal institutional support against discrimination in some places, but prevention and protection instruments are mostly missing, while sanctioning instruments remain weak and total non-functional. The fact that UEFA collected the fines it imposed for Marković’s and Barić’s homophobic statements directly from its own subsidies to HNS and not from them personally may be the most striking examples. Abroad, there are the positive examples of support offered by Canadian and Norwegian olympic committees, which employ experts and run programmes for LGBTQ sensibilisation and support for individual persons.
Social Support
What gay athletes today hope and try to create is the social support in their immediate environment, where his or her otherness will not be seen as grounds for discrimination. In the EU, there is increasingly available support from professionals and organisations that work in specific areas of LGBTQ persons in sports, or protection of LGBT professionals in the workplace. With continuous achievement of excellent sports results, elite athletes could, eventually, achieve the stable financial status that would enable a relative freedom of selection where they will practice sports and then create, in their micro-environment, relations based on informed views and direct experienced instead of prejudice and ignorance.
That was the situation of a rather happy Slovenian athlete, member of a national team that I met recently, who informed, last year, his team-mates and fellow athletes about his sexual orientation. He was lucky to have spent the bulk of his sporting career in the same team, so that he has the support and maintains closer relations so uncommon in contemporary competitive sports. Will he make the next step and inform the public and the media about his situation, turning into a role-model for young LGBT athletes? That will depend on the wider constellation of social dynamics and the available support infrastructure. To just call professional athletes to out themselves makes little sense. Most sports legends that are now “Out & Proud” were outed while active, mostly not by their own choice, or waited to end their competitive careers to do that.
To what extent is Croatian society prepared to catch up with progressive legislations on sanctioning of discrimination and proactive protective and support measures for marginaliyed persons in sports? Possibly the best illustration would be to say that over the past year, the situation in sports changed only if there was a political will and initiative to clear-up financial shenanigans in football (the case of arrest of corrupt referees where the Police took action in cooperation with a whistle-blower). However, lobbying by football agents prevailed and they managed to keep their positions of power, even if only in reconfigured coalitions, while the Prime Minister himself retreated a bit from the statements he gave at the beginning of his term in office.
At the moment, alas, it is more likely that the economic crisis, not the state system or pressure from above, may narrow down the sources of revenue and indirectly change the relationships of power that be.
To what extent is Croatian society prepared to catch up with progressive legislations on sanctioning of discrimination and proactive protective and support measures for marginaliyed persons in sports? Possibly the best illustration would be to say that over the past year, the situation in sports changed only if there was a political will and initiative to clear-up financial shenanigans in football (the case of arrest of corrupt referees where the Police took action in cooperation with a whistle-blower). However, lobbying by football agents prevailed and they managed to keep their positions of power, even if only in reconfigured coalitions, while the Prime Minister himself retreated a bit from the statements he gave at the beginning of his term in office.
At the moment, alas, it is more likely that the economic crisis, not the state system or pressure from above, may narrow down the sources of revenue and indirectly change the relationships of power that be.
Written by Željko Blaće
Tags: life
