The Government believe that there is no place for homophobia in sport or in wider society. We fully support the work being taken forward by the National Governing Bodies of sport to ensure that equity exists for all.
The Government’s investment into sport, through the Whole Sport Plan process led by Sport England, enables NGB’s to produce robust and effective equity plans. These plans aim to tackle homophobia along with other types of discrimination.
The Equality Standard for Sport requires these bodies to demonstrate that they are addressing inequalities and making their sports more accessible to under-represented individuals, groups and communities.
I would like to take this opportunity to congratulate the London bid team on being awarded the right to host the 2008 International Gay and Lesbian Football Association World Championships. The week long tournament, which will take place at Regents Park in August 2008, will attract teams from all over the world and will have a positive impact on promoting unity and tackling homophobia.