A/69/340 51. The Special Rapporteur also welcomes the good practices and initiatives of national sports federations to prevent racism in their area of concern . In the United States of America, the Rooney Rule was established by the National Football League in 2003 to foster diversity at the management level of professional American football. 45 The rule was established to ensure that minority coaches, particularly African Americans but also other ethnic minorities, are considered for high -level coaching positions by requiring clubs to interview at least one candi date with a minority background during the process of replacing head coaches . Before the rule went into effect, the League had had only six minority coaches in more than 80 years of existence. Since the rule has been put into practice, 12 have been hired . 46 As of 2009, the Rooney Rule requirements apply to all vacancies for senior positions in American football operations within the National Football League . 47 52. The Special Rapporteur also notes the recent measures taken by the Brazilian Football Federation to prevent racism in football games and increase the awareness of and social acceptance for all on the field and in the stands. On April 2014, the Federation launched its campaign entitled “Somos Todos Iguais” (We Are All Equal), comprising a series of actions to be taken on and off the field. 48 A smartphone application was developed to enable supporters who witnessed any act of discrimination to forward their complaints to the authorities during a match . 49 The application also features videos and texts by B razilian athletes and sports journalists speaking up against racism and encouraging fans to do the same . With a focus on social media, supporters are encouraged to take pictures of themselves with special sports gear which is distributed prior to the game and displays anti-racist slogans. Prior to every game, the announcer briefly reads out the ethics of the campaign, while banners with anti-racist slogans are placed around the stadium. 53. The Royal Netherlands Football Association initiated the “Football for everyone” initiative, an action plan to foster acceptance in national league clubs . 50 Following research which had found that most clubs did not have specific policies for the integration of players from minority communities, the Association compiled an 11-point action plan as a first step to counter racism, discrimination and homophobia in the game. The action plan has a strong formal education emphasis; as such, the Association revised its training material and expanded the criteria for the certification of youth, amateur and professional training courses to include education on discrimination and sexual orientation. Incorporated in the action plan is an innovative measure whereby several feedback mechanisms have been created at the national level to ensure that the policies implemented are effective on the ground. For instance, the Association created confidential advisers in its district offices with a twofold objective: to act as an advisory body for clubs, providing technical assistance in project implementation; and to act as a sounding board for __________________ 45 46 47 48 49 50 14-59616 See http://www.nfl.com/news/story/0ap1000000128397/article/dan-rooney-the-rooney-ruleworkable-can-be-tweaked. See http://espn.go.com/nfl/story/_/id/8903044/black-former-nfl-coaches-say-rooney-rulebroken. See http://sports.espn.go.com/nfl/news/story?id=4260724. See http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9CwP8jfATvM (in Portuguese; accessed 21 July 2014). See http://www.fbf.org.br/noticias/2841,somos-iguais-campanha-da-cbf-contra-o-racismochega-a-bahia.html (in Portuguese; accessed 21 July 2014). See http://bin617-02.website-voetbal.nl/sites/voetbal.nl/files/Football%20for%20everyone% 20action%20plan.pdf (accessed 21 July 2014). 17/21