International Day Against Homophobia - Paris Saint-Germain at the forefront of the fight against all types of exclusion

International Day Against Homophobia

For the last ten years, Paris Saint-Germain has established itself as one of Europe's most committed clubs in the fight against exclusion.

In the shape of Paris Saint-Germain-Les Enfants d’abord, which brings together Paris Saint-Germain's foundation and endowment fund, the club comes to the aid of society's most vulnerable members. In conjunction with charities and hospitals, it offers help to people with disabilities, and through its two Rouge & Bleu Schools, located in Paris' 19th arrondissement and Mantes-la-Jolie, and its Paris Saint-Germain Holidays initiative, it also supports socially disadvantaged youngsters. The club is also committed to equal opportunities for young women through the Go Girls (Allez les Filles) programme and its vocational development programme. More than €10m has been invested since 2000 in support of genuine social inclusion.

All the club's entities are driven by the fierce desire to keep championing ethics and inclusion. This year, Paris Saint-Germain became the first club in Europe to appoint an ethics advisor and to create a charter of rights, which forms part of the employment contract of each of its 800 employees. Civic-minded and supportive, the club from the French capital puts a firm emphasis on respect in everything it does.

This commitment Is reflected in the fact that for the last ten years Paris Saint-Germain has pursued a policy of zero tolerance at the Parc des Princes with regard to incivility and all types of anti-social behaviour in general. The Rouge & Bleu stadium welcomes more than 1,300,000 spectators every season, and it is vital to the club that every fan is protected from any kind of verbal and physical aggression. This regulation forms part of the general terms and conditions of the sale of tickets and provides for the exclusion from the stadium of any person who breaches it.

The club works in close collaboration with organisations that fight against discrimination, violence and homophobia, among them Sos Racisme, Sportitude, La Licra, and Rouge Direct, with volunteer observers attending each match and keeping an eye out for any kind of violence or racist and homophobic language.

An internal training and public action programme has also been rolled out to promote citizenship and social engagement among youngsters at the club's training centre and the Paris Saint-Germain Academies, and among the children who take part in the initiatives organised by Paris Saint-Germain-Les Enfants d’abord.

As the club continues to expand in the international market, so it has become increasingly committed. Working in tandem with its partner charities, it provides support to migrants and distributes food and first aid kits in Central African Republic with Action contre la faim and in Indonesia with Secours Populaire.