Fifa has ordered broadcasters to stop zooming in on attractive women in the stands at World Cup matches, to help tackle sexism in football.
Before the tournament kicked off there were concerns that Russia 2018 could be tarnished by homophobia and racism – but sexism has arguably been the biggest issue.
Asked about the cameras focusing on telegenic female fans, Fifa’s diversity boss Federico Addiechi said: “Some cases arose and they were pretty evident.”
Sexism crackdown
He defended the stance by football’s governing body, saying it wants to stamp out sexism.
Addiechi stopped short of saying it was now official policy to outlaw the telly practice, but he admitted: “This is one of the activities that we definitely will have in the future. It’s a normal evolution.”
He said it was not yet part of a “proactive campaign” but added: “We’ll take action against things that are wrong.”
Harassment
The anti-discrimination group Fare Network has been working with Fifa to monitor behaviour at and around World Cup matches and its executive director Piara Powar said sexism has been a real problem at Russia 2018.
Speaking to reporters before England’s semi-final against Croatia, Powar said his team have “documented more than 30 cases” of mainly Russian women being “accosted in the streets” by male fans, and believes the real number of incidents is likely to be “ten times this”.
Powar also said there have been several cases of female reporters being grabbed or kissed whilst on air.
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