University continues its support for eradicating homophobia in sport

With racist chanting having already been heard at the Euro 2012 Championships in Poland and Ukraine, it would appear that bigotry is still a problem which needs to be tackled in the world of football. The fact that there are no openly gay footballers playing the sport professionally in the UK, suggests that this bigotry is not confined to race. In order to tackle homophobia in the beautiful game, The Justin Campaign has been set up in the name of the former Nottingham Forest player and world's first openly gay footballer Justin Fashanu. The organisation now spearheads attempts to challenge the stereotypes and misconceptions that exist around LGBT&Q (Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, Trans and Questioning) people and work towards a future where the visibility of said people in football is both accepted and celebrated. Combating homophobia To support their work, staff at The University of Nottingham have organised the third annual Justin Campaign Nottingham Football Tournament, preceded by a free discussion event entitled Homophobia in Sport: Exploring the Challenge. Taking place at Jubilee Campus from 10am-2pm on Friday 6 July, the discussion event will explore the challenges of combating homophobia in sport, the work already taking place to do so and the importance of this work during a year which features the London Olympics and Euro 2012. The football tournament will then take place from 12pm-4pm on Saturday 7 July at The University of Nottingham Sports Centre on University Park.