Nytkisin ja EWL:n vetoomus Palloliiton puheenjohtaja Sauli Niinistölle

Torstai 1.7.2010 klo 12:07

Dear Mr. Sauli Niinistö, President of the Football Association of Finland,

We are writing to you on behalf of the Coalition of Finnish Women’s Associations (Naisjärjestöt Yhteistyössä NYTKIS ry), which is a member of the European Women’s Lobby (EWL), representing more than 2500 women’s organisations from across the 27 European Union (EU) Member States and three EU candidate countries, working to promote women’s rights and equality between women and men.

We would like to bring your attention to the EWL recent Statement on the occasion of the 2010 World Cup in South Africa. The EWL is highly concerned by the attention given by the media in the weeks preceding the event to plans made by both public and private actors to entertain male supporters and athletes outside the stadiums by means of prostitution.

In the enclosed Statement, the EWL calls on international, European and national sporting organisations to develop codes of conduct respectful of women’s rights and gender equality. The FIFA website displays the FIFA Code of Ethics, which comprises provisions on the protection, respect and safeguard of personal rights, and many provisions on loyalty, ethical attitude, allegiance to FIFA, etc. Article 7 of the FIFA Code provides that officials and players ‘may not offend the dignity of a person or group of persons through contemptuous, discriminatory or denigratory words or actions concerning ethnicity, race, colour, culture, language, religion or gender.’

International organisations, such as the United Nations, have developed codes of conduct for their civilian and military personnel, which state that sexual exploitation and sexual abuse are acts of unacceptable behaviour, violate women’s human rights and discriminate against women and girls. The FIFA is known worldwide and together with its national member organisations, it has extensive power to influence people thanks to the popularity of football. We therefore believe that the FIFA should be a key actor in promoting women’s rights and ensuring equality between women and men. For this reason we urge you to include in both your national Code of Ethics and FIFA Code of Ethics a specific provision on the respect of women’s human rights, calling on all officials and players to prevent sexual exploitation and not to engage in any act of sexual abuse or exploitation, including prostitution, or other form of sexually humiliating, degrading or exploitative behaviour.

We welcome the forthcoming FIFA U-20 Women’s World Cup Germany 2010, on the occasion of which we doubt we shall hear of plans to sexually entertain female supporters and athletes. We should like to see the same general respect in the context of all future major sport events, including those of FIFA and FIFA members, and we thank you in advance for your commitment to convey the importance of gender equality and women’s rights in the football world.

Sincerely yours, 

Minna Sirnö
Chairperson

Tanja Auvinen
Secretary General