A/HRC/4/19 page 19 commitment to fighting racism in sport by conducting educational and awareness-raising activities and by strongly condemning the perpetrators of racist incidents, in cooperation with national and international sports organizations”. The Assembly reiterated these observations at its sixty-first session in its resolution 61/149. 49. In his general report to the Commission on Human Rights at its sixty-second session (E/CN.4/2005/16), the Special Rapporteur drew attention to the resurgence of racist incidents in sport, in particular in football. He noted that the increase in overtly racist violence is demonstrated not only by the actions of some supporters, particularly neo-Nazi groups, but also by the comments and behaviour of coaches of well-known teams who trivialize or legitimize racist or xenophobic incidents. Among the reasons for this resurgence, he stressed that the noble ideals of competition and mutual respect are being eroded by the exacerbation of the nationalist dimension of competitions and the overcommercialization of sport. 50. The Special Rapporteur wishes to thank FIFA for its activities to combat racism and discrimination in football during the 2006 World Cup, in association with the German Government, the European Monitoring Centre on Racism and Xenophobia, the Fédération internationale des footballeurs professionels (FIFPro), the Football Against Racism in Europe network and the Organization Committee of Germany 2006, as well as the Special Rapporteur. These initiatives are in the spirit of General Assembly resolution 60/144 in which the Assembly “invites … the Fédération internationale de football association, in connection with the 2006 and 2010 soccer World Cup tournaments to be held in Germany and in South Africa, respectively, to consider introducing a visible theme on non-racism in football”. The absence of any major racist or xenophobic incidents during this World Cup, despite alarmist and pessimistic predictions, is to the credit of the German Government and confirms the pre-eminence of political will in the fight against racism. The Special Rapporteur suggests that the experience gained on this occasion should not only bolster national efforts to combat racism, but should also be considered by the European Union, several of whose member States, such as Italy, Spain, and the Central European countries, continue to experience serious incidents of racism in football. 51. Among these activities, the Special Rapporteur draws attention to the dissemination of clear messages against racism at each match; the holding of the fifth International Day for the Elimination of Racial Discrimination during the quarter-finals of the competition; the implementation of a monitoring system for any manifestation of racism; the implementation of the “football unit” project, in which people of diverse backgrounds and religions carried out activities against racism during the competition; the organization of activities by associations of football supporters worldwide with a view to preventing violence, promoting the social integration of migrants and ethnic minorities and disseminating information about extreme right-wing movements and ways to counter them; and providing anti-racism training to the personnel working at the matches. The Special Rapporteur wishes to commend FIFA for the awareness-raising work carried out by its multi-ethnic “team” of ambassadors against racism, which includes the most well-known former and current players and trainers. He also commends FIFA on its adoption of an amendment to its Disciplinary Code, which provides for stricter measures to punish racist incidents, ranging from match suspensions to point deductions or the disqualification of the team.