A/69/340 skin colour, ethnicity or religion as the basis for achievement . 1 As such, sports have the capacity to demystify racial superiority discourses, making them an important and practical instrument for combating racism and proving that athletes succeed in sports independent of their skin colour. Such was the case with the 1936 Olympic Games in Berlin, in which the participation of athletes of multiracial backgrounds exposed the fallacies of racism and supposed-Aryan superiority promoted by the Nazi regime at the time. 2 Furthermore, sports can be used as a positive symbol for social acceptance by conveying the image of multi-ethnic teams representing one nation and competing for a common goal. 16. Regrettably, modern sports continue to be afflicted by incidents and patterns of racial violence, racial insults and racial intolerance on the field and in arenas, as well as outside them. In recent times, not only have team events that appeal to large numbers of the public, such as football, rugby and basketball, been affected but individual professional sports, such as tennis and golf, have also been marred by racist acts (see A/58/313, paras. 27 and 28). The largest share of data and examples of racist action comes from Europe, mostly owing to the large number of human rights bodies and civil society organizations dedicated to cataloguing such incidents.1 17. The Special Rapporteur notes that racist acts during sporting events are prevalent throughout the world. The most common are in the form of racist abuse aimed at players and supporters, as well as the display of racist banners and flags . In Europe, there have been many cases of bananas thrown at players of African descent during football matches in national leagues and regional competitions. 3 Most recently, in 2014, a football player was the target of monkey calls and had a banana thrown at him during a match. 4 Another football player had been the target of a similar incident during a Euro 2012 match. 5 Racism by sports fans, however, is not confined to one region, and fans have been seen carrying banners and flags with far-right and ultra-nationalistic slogans and symbols in many parts of the globe. Recently, a football player was subjected to racial insults during the 2014 World Cup soccer tournament after having injured a player from the opposing team during a qualifying match. 6 18. Similarly, other sports have witnessed racist insults and attacks by fans . Serena and Venus Williams, both top-ranked tennis players in international tennis, have reported being subjected to racially motivated boos and cat -calls from spectators during tournaments. 7 Jo-Wilfried Tsonga, another tennis player, reported that during his career he had received several letters containing racial abuse. In his autobiography, the former captain of the South African rugby team, Corné Krige, __________________ 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 6/21 See European Union Agency for Fundamental Rights, Racism, Ethnic Discrimination and Exclusion of Migrants and Minorities in Sport: A Comparative Overview of the Situation in the European Union (Vienna, October 2010). Available from http://fra.europa.eu/sites/default/files/ fra_uploads/1207-Report-racism-sport_EN.pdf. See James P. Barry, The Berlin Olympics, 1936: Black American Athletes Counter Nazi Propaganda, A World Focus Book (New York, F. Watts, 1975). See http://www.cbsnews.com/news/barcelona-star-eats-banana-thrown-at-him-as-racist-taunt/. See http://www.bbc.com/sport/0/football/27316855. See http://www.theguardian.com/football/2012/may/30/euro-2012-mario-balotelli-italy. See http://www.nytimes.com/2014/07/08/world/americas/neymars-injury-sidelines-effort-to-endworld-cup-racism.html?_r=0. See http://abcnews.go.com/Sports/story?id=99759. 14-59616