Inclusivity Principles for Club Identity
Football Federation Australia (FFA) announced its repeal of the National Club Identity Policy and its replacement with Inclusivity Principles for Club Identity.
The change reflects the move to a principles-based approach to deal specifically with the issue of club identity – e.g. name, logo, principles and actions. These new principles are not intended to be enforceable regulations, however they are designed to assist clubs be more inclusive and welcoming of people from all cultural backgrounds.
With the repeal of the NCIP, there is no longer a national policy prohibiting clubs associating with a particular nationality, for example, by displaying a foreign national flag on club uniforms. However, please note that Football NSW will continue to apply its own criteria for approving playing strips, including compliance with the Football NSW Equipment, Commercial and Media Regulations.
Concurrently, the FFA has also made amendments to the Spectator Code of Behaviour. Of significance is that there is no longer a blanket prohibition on the display of national flags (or other signs, banners, emblems or insignia) at matches. However, the change does provide some flexibility for a Competition Administrator to prohibit the display of flags in circumstances where the Competition Administrator has determined the flag may vilify certain people, or may offend or incite hatred or violence (which may be the case, for example, at high security risk matches).
Specific links to each of the documents are set out below:
• National Spectator Code of Behaviour – Click Here
