The date for the inaugural WWSET Futsal Tournament in support of Football v Homophobia’s Month of Action – which occurs every February – is set for Saturday 19th February 2022.
Participating teams – which will consist of members of the LGBTQIA+ Community and Allys alike – will meet at Wycombe Leisure Centre at midday for the tournament and then hotfoot their way to Adams Park for Wycombe Wanderers v Cheltenham Town at 3pm, where they will be warmly welcomed by the club.
The tournament supports the Football v Homophobia (FvH) charity, and their selection of February as their Month of Action. The event will kick off with all players making a pledge to ensure that players of all sexual orientations, gender identities and gender expressions will be welcomed in their team.
In a recent study by outonthefields.com, 80% of gay and lesbian football players have witnessed or experienced homophobic abuse whilst playing, and 78% of people surveyed believe that an openly gay or lesbian fan would not be welcome at a football match.
WWSET and the whole Wycombe Wanderers family passionately believe that nobody should be discriminated against because of their sexual orientation, or for any other reason and that everyone should be welcome at Adams Park.
That’s why we set up our EqualiTeam in February 2022. The WWSET EqualiTeam is an internal working group that meets fortnightly to hold ourselves accountable, take a step back and make sure that our processes – both internal and external – are adherent to our ED&I targets, and that we are being as inclusive as possible. In September, we published our ED&I Action Plan.
We also established the All Quarters project, the aim of which is to hold a monthly meeting in which we actively engage with people from four traditionally underrepresented groups of football fans in order to improve the matchday experience at Adams Park for existing and new supporters.
Football v Homophobia is an international initiative that exists to challenge discrimination based on sexual orientation gender identity and expression at all levels of football. We have been communicating with Football v Homophobia in recent months to launch this tournament and we are delighted they are supporting us.
They strive to see football take a clear stand against homophobia and transphobia so that everyone can enjoy the beautiful game, and so that football leads the way in removing discrimination and prejudice based on sexual orientation and gender identity.
This year’s Futsal Tournament is sponsored by our ‘Friend of WWSET’ and Digital Marketing Partner, Big Gun Digital. Based just down the road in Bourne End, the Big Gun team are passionate in their pursuit of delivering high-quality digital solutions for their clients. With an impressive portfolio of satisfied clients, we are excited to work with them and have them support this event.
They said of the event: “Big Gun Digital are delighted to be able to give our support to this event which highlights a very important message. To make a clear stand against homophobia and transphobia within the game. Having been a friend of WWSET for half a season now we see the important work that the WWSET team does on a daily basis not only on the football pitch but also within the community. We are proud to be a ‘Friend of WWSET’ and will continue to offer our full support to their projects.”
If you want to sign up for this year’s tournament, you can enter here, or for further information, you can email WWSET Head of Health Simon Wears at simon.wears@wwfc.com.
We are hoping that this will become an annual event, and will be looking to run the tournament even bigger and better in 2023. Keep your eyes peeled for more information as we progress through the year.
