SWOT NIKE
...was caught on camera using racist language to describe Henry himself as a way of ‘motivating’ Henry’s Spanish clubmate, Jose Reyes prior to an international between the two countries. "Racism is one of the biggest problems facing football across Europe. People think the problem has disappeared, but it hasn’t. The players on the pitch need the help of all fans to help drown out the racists and tell them their actions aren’t acceptable. It’s time to stand up and speak up,” Henry says. The Stand Up Speak Up campaign features a TV commercial with some of Europe’s best-known football players celebrating football but lamenting the increasing racist abuse. The players ask fans to help prevent the abuse. The commercial, filmed in five languages for various European markets, features Henry and Barcelona’s Ronaldinho, plus other players, including Rio Ferdinand, Ruud van Nistelrooy in the UK; Adriano and Fabio Cannavaro in Italy; Phillippe Mexes and Claude Makalele in France; Cristoph Metzelder and Otto Addo in Germany and Roberto Carlos and Carlos Puyol in Spain. The commercial will air across Europe from the start of February. “As football fans we were appalled by the recent resurgence of racial abuse in the game ...