The UN official, writes on her release: “the forthcoming…World Cup in South Africa provides an opportunity for a fresh look at the issue of racism in sport, and to enhance sport’s tremendous potential to undermine racism, xenophobia and similar forms of intolerance in wider society.”

According to her, the symbolism of the game taking place in an African state for the first time and in South Africa, where racism was institutionalised is important.

“It is also a factor in the choice of this year’s sports-related theme for the International Day for the Elimination of Racial Discrimination commemorated every March 21… marking the anniversary of the Sharpeville massacre, when dozens of peaceful demonstrators, protesting against the ‘pass laws’ of the apartheid regime were killed by the South African police,” Pillay states.

While advising sports administrators to copy the example of FIFA and UEFA, credible sporting institutions noted for designing serious campaigns to eradicate racism from sport, Pillay mentioned that “racism within sport remains a problem in many countries…”

She expressed disgust that, in recent years, there have been a number of disgraceful incidents in football stadiums when fans of one team have abused footballers of opposing teams on the basis of their race. “FIFA rules allow for the deduction of points where clubs have not taken sufficient action to combat racism and similar forms of bigotry, but national leagues often shy away from applying these rules,” Pillay observed.

The UN official said consistent disincentives including stadium bans and point deduction must be enforced by football associations and authorities, adding that if not, the lofty goal of eradicating racism in football will not be achieved.

However, she was upbeat that “despite the continuing problems still confronting football, it must be recognised that the sport has, in a number of countries, been engaged in serious decades-long struggle against racism, which has produced significant achievements with the help of some…NGOs initiatives and the active participation of some star players.”

Pillay posited that though players from racial minorities are increasingly being entrusted with captain ban, minorities are still disturbingly under-represented at the managerial level. “The role of sports in changing attitudes towards racism is potentially immense, especially sports like football which attract huge and passionate live and TV audiences.”

She was optimistic the 2010 World Cup will not only be a successful and joyous event but that it will re-energise existing efforts to eradicate racism from sport.

This year’s International Day for the Elimination of Racial Discrimination had as theme: “Disqualify Racism.”

Ending racial discrimination is a priority of the UN Human Rights Department.