Pesaro, December 28th, 2008. Scavolini Spar Pesaro and Fortitudo Gmac
Bologna in the basketball game against racism.
Before the game the speaker announced the presence on the terraces of Roberto Malini from EveryOne Group and a large number of representatives from the Roma community living in Pesaro who had received free tickets.
The Pesaro team triumphed, winning 99-72. The representatives of the Roma community applauded the skills of Hicks, Curry, Akindele, Hurd and Myers. The “Vuelle” fans applauded in their turn the red and white banner bearing the words “The Roma of Pesaro and Scavolini against racism”. Before the game the speaker announced the presence on the terraces of Roberto Malini from EveryOne Group and a large number of representatives from the Roma community living in Pesaro who had received free tickets.
After this announcement some children walked around the hall holding a banner with the slogan of Scavolini’s antiracist campaign: “All different, all the same”. In a few days’ time the players of the Pesaro team will visit the derelict factory where some of the Roma families of Pesaro live in poverty, but with great dignity. “The visit means a lot to us”, said Rodolfo Filippini, who is in charge of relations with schools, “because our team wishes to become an example of tolerance for the younger generations: without these values, sporting victories would lose their meaning.
News about the “anti-racism basketball game” has travelled around the world, aided by the most important networks representing the Roma in the EU, like “O Nevo Drom” and “Roma Virtual Network”. A dossier on the initiative promoted by Scavolini Spar, in collaboration with EveryOne Group, has already been sent to the European Commission and the UN’s Committee on the Elimination of Racial Discrimination (CERD).
Scavolini Basket represents the soul of Pesaro and now we hope that the local institutions follow the team’s example and undertake a serious project of integration of the Roma of Pesaro who are living in conditions of great hardship.
In the photo taken by Steed Gamero, members of the Roma community in Pesaro with Roberto Malini and Dario Picciau of EveryOne Group.
Gruppo EveryOne
Tel: (+ 39) 334-8429527 (+ 39) 331-3585406
