E/CN.4/2006/16 page 18 50. Among more recent initiatives, the Special Rapporteur wishes to draw attention to the FIFA Executive Committee’s decision, at its meeting of 7 and 8 March 2005, to create a multiethnic “team” of FIFA Ambassadors against Racism, which brings together leading players and coaches both past and present.4 This team of ambassadors, the captain of which is the French player Thierry Henry, will be responsible for actively promoting the fight against racism by embodying the values of football, primarily through interviews, events and summits. 51. The Special Rapporteur also wishes to congratulate FIFA for the activities it has organized each year, since 2002, as part of its worldwide Anti-Discrimination Day. In 2005, FIFA organized the fourth Anti-Discrimination Day to coincide with the semi-finals of the FIFA Confederations Cup (Germany 2005), held on 25 and 26 June, and the quarter-finals of the FIFA World Youth Championship (Netherlands 2005), held on 24 and 25 June. The Day was marked by various activities designed to deliver a clear message against racism, not only in football but also in society as a whole. At these matches, before kick-off, the two team captains read a statement condemning and rejecting all forms of discrimination in football and society as a whole and firmly saying “no to racism”. For the FIFA World Cup qualifiers in June, FIFA also encouraged its member associations to help circulate this message against racism throughout the world by inviting them to participate in these actions on the ground. 52. UEFA has also stepped up its campaign against racism, which it conducts in close cooperation with Football Against Racism in Europe (FARE). Among the activities carried out, the Special Rapporteur wishes to highlight in particular that an anti-racism guide, published in July 2003, has been distributed to all the national federations, leagues and clubs in Europe and all UEFA referees, match delegates and stadium managers. 53. The Special Rapporteur also welcomes the ninth edition of the Anti-Racist World Cup, which was organized by UEFA and FARE in Montecchio, Italy, in July 2005 and was the first to receive FIFA backing. This tournament is a multicultural event which brings together groups of supporters, immigrants, local communities and anti-racist associations from more than 25 countries for five days of football, music and anti-racist activities. 54. The anti-racist campaign conducted by FIFA and FARE has continued to grow in recent years, as demonstrated by the fact that several national federations have submitted anti-racist programmes, namely the federations of Armenia, Belgium, the Czech Republic, England, Finland, Georgia, Germany, Iceland, Israel, Latvia, Lithuania, the Netherlands, Northern Ireland, Norway, the Republic of Moldova, the Russian Federation, Scotland, Slovakia, Spain, Sweden, Switzerland, Ukraine and Wales. Three programmes in Bosnia and Herzegovina, Hungary and the former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia are currently under study. 55. Despite the efforts already made and the success of these initiatives, the Special Rapporteur continues to invite member States to demonstrate greater commitment to fighting racism in sport, by conducting educational and awareness-raising activities and by very firmly condemning the perpetrators of racist incidents, in cooperation with national and international sporting bodies. 56. The Special Rapporteur continues to be of the view that national and international sporting bodies and the United Nations need to work together more closely. In his report to the Commission on Human Rights at its sixty-first session (E/CN.4/2005/18), he therefore proposed,