‘Press Release: Different languages, one goal’: The Commission, UEFA and FARE kick off 2008-2009 football season with joint TV spot promoting tolerance through languages

In the context of the European Year of Intercultural Dialogue 2008, the European Commission, UEFA (Union of European Football Associations) and Football Against Racism in Europe (FARE) launched a joint TV spot highlighting tolerance and the role of languages as bridges between people. The spot shows three groups of football fans caught up in the excitement of a match: regardless of their cultural backgrounds, origins or languages, they all share their love of football and react in the same way in different authentic settings. Millions of TV viewers across Europe and beyond will see the spot since it will be aired during the half-time break throughout the entire season's televised UEFA Champions League football games, as of 16 September. This initiative came at a time when the Commission was about to present its new strategic Communication on multilingualism, making the case for language learning as well as preserving and promoting cultural and linguistic diversity.