Nike Stand Up Speak Up Bracelet Wrist band Football Soccer Anti Racism 

++ Items are over 15 years old so some may have slight imperfections. ++

Supported by:

Thierry Henry, Rio Ferdinand, Wayne Rooney, Ronaldinho, Cristiano Ronaldo and Adriano.

Stand Up Speak Up was a Europe-wide campaign that was launched in January 2005 by the French Football player Thierry Henry following an increase in reports of racist incidents in football across Europe. Together with Nike and other top European players, he protests against this continuing problem inviting football fans to voice their opposition to racism.

The symbol of the campaign is two interlocked wristbands, one black, and one white. About 5 million of these wristbands have been sold all over Europe. The wrist bands are no longer being sold and there is no intention to reproduce them. All the funds raised are passed on to a central Stand Up Speak Up fund that will look to support initiatives that aim to combat racism in football through a variety of programmes and initiatives, that raise awareness, challenge behaviour and strive to change attitudes. This successful campaign included footballers such as Thierry Henry, Rio Ferdinand, Wayne Rooney, Ronaldinho, Cristiano Ronaldo and Adriano.

Thierry Henry and fellow players call on fans to fight racism.

January 27, 2005

(27 January, 2005) – Following the recent increase in reports of racist incidents in football, Arsenal and France striker Thierry Henry has joined forces with other top players from across Europe in a new campaign protesting against this continuing problem.

The campaign - called Stand Up Speak Up - aims to encourage the silent majority’ of non-racist fans to speak up against racist abuse in stadiums. The symbol of the campaign is two interlocked wristbands, one black, one white, which will be worn by players across Europe from the end of January. Initially, 2.5 million of the wristbands will be available to fans across Europe from 6th February.

In return for the wristbands, fans are invited to make a donation of €2 (£1.50 UK), which will go towards a central Stand Up Speak Up fund. This fund will be administered by an independent, not-for-profit organization - the King Baudouin Foundation, based in Brussels - which will conduct extensive research into the problem of racism in football and distribute the money raised to organizations across Europe working in this area.

The campaign, which is created by Nike, features a TV commercial in which different players hold written cards that demonstrate their joy at football, but their anger at continuing racist abuse. The players in the commercial emphasise that they need the help of other fans to prevent this abuse. The Commercial was filmed during December 2004 in five different languages. Every version features Thierry Henry and Ronaldinho, but the following other players feature in the different language versions:

English - Rio Ferdinand, Ruud Van Nistelrooy French - Claude Makalele, Phillippe Mexes Spanish - Carlos Puyol, Roberto Carlos German - Christoph Metzelder, Otto Addo Italian - Adriano, Fabio Cannavaro

“Racism is one of the biggest problems facing football across Europe. People may 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” - Thierry Henry