FIFA Regional Director Europe Elkhan Mammadov has met Norwegian Football Association (NFF) President Lise Klaveness and other leaders in football, sport and business in the country’s capital Oslo to discuss the role of football in combatting racism within society. At a roundtable discussion initiated by the NFF, Mammadov presented FIFA’s zero tolerance stance to racism in football, and highlighted recent steps taken to reinforce its position. Unanimously approved at the 74th FIFA Congress in May 2024, the ‘No Racism’ crossed-arm gesture has been introduced in competition at the ongoing FIFA U-20 Women’s World Cup™ in Colombia.

The gesture, which is one of five pillars of action FIFA has asked member associations (MAs) to implement, complements the three-step procedure – introduced in 2017 – that enables referees to first stop, then suspend and ultimately abandon games following incidents of discrimination.

During this year’s FIFA Congress in Bangkok, Thailand, representatives of all 211 MAs also rose to their feet to take a global stand against racism, indicating a unified determination to rid football of what FIFA President Gianni Infantino has called “a scourge that exists in our society”.

“It was great to join the roundtable organised by NFF and its executives of stakeholders to discuss such important topics,” said Mammadov, who also saw Norway’s men’s senior team defeat Austria 2-1 in their latest UEFA Nations League game while in Oslo. “For FIFA is important to know that local stakeholders also would like to activate the campaign of global stands against racism and it was good opportunity to present the three-step procedure related to the No Racism gesture.”

In addition to President Klaveness, NFF General Secretary Karl-Petter Løken, former men’s national team captain Brede Hangeland, the President of the Norwegian Olympic & Paralympic Committee and Confederation of Sports, Zaineb Al- Samarai, and the Head of Norwegian Professional Football League, Jens Haugland, representatives of the Culture and Equality Ministry, Norwegian enterprise, street football and various states within the Scandinavian country were present with the goal of developing a joined-up approach to the issue across Norwegian society. “For the second time this year we gathered all relevant stakeholders in Norwegian football before national team games to roundtable discussions on how we can use the force of football to fight racism and discrimination in society,” said President Klaveness. “Stakeholders from business, government, sport, top clubs, grassroots, social sustainability projects and media shared ideas and best practices, and we all took great inspiration from FIFA’s anti-racism program that was launched at the FIFA Congress in Bangkok in May.”