A ground-breaking coalition of USA’s top football stars and clubs have come together with Common Goal to launch a new project to tackle racism in football.
Forged by a shared determination to act, they aim to fund and implement a toolkit designed by Black, Indigenous, People of Colour (BIPOC) experts across the U.S. soccer landscape that will provide anti-racist training for players, coaches, fans, club staff and executives from grassroots to elite level.
The Anti-Racism Project (ARP) has been created by Common Goal together with former USMNT player Tony Sanneh, Oakland Roots (USL), Chicago Fire FC (MLS), Angel City FC (NWSL) and U.S National Team supporter group, the American Outlaws.
“We have made some progress but not enough. Racism takes many forms,” says Sanneh. “We know what the problem is - now is the time to go and fix it.”
USMNT and Manchester City goalkeeper Zack Steffen is one the first players to pledge his individual support to the project.
“There’s been so much talk over the last months about racism in soccer and beyond, and enough is enough. It’s time to take action,” said Steffen.
The coalition is now calling on fans, players, teams and leagues to join the collective effort against racism.
Common Goal is a collective social impact movement that sees those in the game donate a minimum of 1% of their earnings to support high-impact initiatives.
Since its inception, more than 180 professional football players and managers from over 40 countries have joined Common Goal, including Serge Gnabry, Pernille Harder, Jurgen Klopp, Alex Morgan, Paulo Dybala, Juan Mata, Eric Cantona and UEFA president Aleksander Ceferin.