What if the world was a place where everybody could feel free, safe and confident in their own body, city or country - no matter gender, identity or sexual orientation.
Yeah, what if? Unfortunately that’s far, far from reality in several countries around the world. And Russia – host of the World Cup 2018 – is one of them.
At hummel, we believe we can help CHANGE THE WORLD THROUGH SPORT.
Sport is for everyone. Sport brings people and differing opinions together. Sport is a shared language across nationalities, religions and gender.
That’s why we again raise the rainbow flag and support The Russian LGBT Sport Federation with a range of initiatives during the finals. For good reasons we do that from a distance in Denmark. We support online. But we also support via presence at the Diversity House in Moscow and by supporting the Football For All Tournament.
As part of hummels focus on the issues with LGBT+ rights in Russia it was important for us to be present in Moscow to show our support during the World Cup. So…we packed a bag full off rainbow jerseys and set off to visit The Russian LGBT Sport Federation in Diversity House located in central Moscow just nearby The Red Square.
In Moscow we were welcomed by Alexander Agapov, President of the Russian LGBT Sport Federation. (The guy who bravely flagged the rainbow during the World Cup Opening Ceremony). Alexander took us to Diversity House that’s facilitated by the organization FARE (Football Against Racism in Europe). Through the full month of the World Cup Diversity House is the center for exibitions, events and conferences related to anti-discrimintation in a broad sense. The Russian LGBT Sport Federation has a presence at the venue and is part of arranging different events and actitivties. As a brand that actively support a variety of organisations and individuals it was great to see our friend and female soccer player from Afghanistan - Khalida Popal - portrayed as one of the Global Pioneers in Female Soccer.
We got the opportunity to watch the match Russia – Uruguay in Diversity House and had a good debate on the importance of celebrating diversity and meet people using football to create awareness and change. (Won’t mention the result of the match – but we are glad that Russia later in the tournament made it to the ¼ finals.)
Also got the chance to meet volunteers that would facilitate the LGBT tournament “Football For All” that was held in Moscow June 30th. The Rainbow jerseys that we brought along from Denmark were handed over to equip the participating teams.
FROM RED AND WHITE TO... WHITE AND ORANGE AND YELLOW AND BLUE AND PURPLE
The hummel delegation in Moscow was lucky to have tickets to the impressive Luzhniki Stadium for the Denmark vs. France game.
To celebrate our brand mission - CHANGE THE WORLD THROUGH SPORT – the hummel crew converted the traditional Danish red and white national colors into something a bit more colorfull during the match.
FOOTBALL FOR EVERYONE - IT'S FINALLY HAPPENING
In Moscow hummel was not only official sponsor for the Danish National Team. We also had the honour of supporting the LGBT+ football tournament arranged by The Russian LGBT Sport Federation. The tournament was celebrating the power of football as a universal language that can help spread the message of openness, tolerance, diversity and a healty lifestyle.
The legendary football magazine GOAL had reporters on the sideline and has generously allowed us to share their stories from the event in the link below. Check it out.
