04th May 2000

Tangerines back anti-racism campaign

Dundee United players are backing a high profile national campaign designed to stamp out racism.

The Tangerines have thrown their weight behind the "Show Racism The Red Card" initiative aimed at tackling racism and intolerance through sport. The Arabs - one of the first Scottish football teams to support the SRTRC campaign - were persuaded to get involved by skipper Jason De Vos who has been an honorary patron of the anti-racism organisation since his playing days at Darlington.

De Vos's fellow patrons include Viv Anderson, Shaka Hislop, Gary Lineker, Paul Ince, John Barnes, Peter Reid, Graham Taylor and Martin O'Neil.

The United first team squad have produced 10,000 anti-racism posters which will be distributed to schools, youth clubs and community centres across Scotland.

"This isn't just about challenging racism in football - we want it wiped out everywhere," said Jason. "Things have started to change in football, but there is still a long way to go. We still have the situation where only one percent of fans who go to football matches are black; black managers and coaches are rare. Although thousands of Asians play football there aren't any Asian professional footballers.

"We want to encourage fans to follow the example of players who enjoy mixing with people from different backgrounds and celebrating each others culture. We've got an opportunity and a responsibility as professional sportsmen to lead the way. Football is a very powerful way of influencing young people and hopefully we can set an example to youngsters across the country."

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