MIAMI (Saturday, March 2, 2013) – CONCACAF President and FIFA Vice President, Jeffrey Webb, has been appointed Chairman of the anti-racism task force that will oversee all matters related to racism in football.

“I am grateful for this appointment and eager to contribute by working towards creating an environment of cooperation that fosters football’s continuous journey to impart positive role models to society,” expressed Webb.  “You have my commitment to gear this task force through a documented strategy that will ensure the fulfillment of our pledge to eradicate racism from our fields.

Due to the high importance of dissipating damaging attitudes from the football arena, FIFA is establishing a task force to deal with all issues pertaining to racism within the football community, as expressed by FIFA President, Joseph Blatter, on the eve of the International Football Association Board (IFAB) meeting in Edinburgh.

“We have to work on it but we cannot do it alone,” said Blatter.  “It is a big, big problem also of education and understanding, and a little bit also of solidarity.  But we will do it because we have to kick it out.”

The football community has been long committed to social justice and racial integration.  Unfortunately, racism has been undermining the supreme qualities of social equality so intrinsic to the sport.  Even though there has been progress on this front, the abuse of players, officials and fans due to their skin color or ethnicity, racism still plays an active role as an unfortunate reflection of society within the game.

“Learning from my personal experience with racism and extended service to promote a society in which all individuals have equal rights will hopefully add strength to remove the discrimination barriers that steer the focus away from the game of football,” added Webb.

Webb holds responsibilities as Deputy Chairman of FIFA’s Audit and Compliance Committee and is also a former member of FIFA’s Transparency Committee.