By James Crook

July 8 - The Confederation of North, Central American and Caribbean Association Football (CONCACAF) have presented their vision to "Embrace Diversity" through football as the first match of the biennial Gold Cup kicked off at the Rose Bowl in Pasadena between Canada and Martinique.

The "Embrace Diversity" campaign will be shown on advertising hoardings throughout the period of the tournament, which is contested between the North and Central American nations, along with those from the Caribbean to determine the regional champions.

"We have a special responsibility in the way we can impact football and society," said CONCACAF President and chairman of FIFA's Anti-Racism and Discrimination Task Force Jeffrey Webb during his opening remarks.

"CONCACAF has the opportunity to lead the way by implementing its first awareness campaign that supports the basic social principle of integration among cultures, religions, genders and races.

"We need to recognise that we have a great deal to learn about each other and must embrace this opportunity for the evolution of our beautiful game."

CONCACAF general secretary Enrique Sanz added: "Even though we have come a long way in the pursuit of integration, discrimination still plays an active role as an unfortunate reflection of society within our game.

"The CONCACAF family is committed to enhancing the benefits of embracing diversity within our region in our quest to eliminate any type of discrimination from our fields.

"These are the first steps into a broader global mandate led by President Webb."

The Member Associations of FIFA approved the new anti-racism and discrimination resolutions at the annual FIFA congress in Mauritius this May, and CONCACAF hope that the initiative will help get the wheels in motion on combating racism and discrimination on a global scale.

Webb and Sanz unveiled the campaign at the first game of the biennial Gold Cup, which is currently underway

The resolutions proposed by FIFA's newly-formed Task Force, led by Webb, were developed to promote equality of rights to all people and eliminate race-based discrimination in every region and every country where football is played through sanction, education and prevention.

"I am extremely pleased that the football family has finally united with a firm stance to provide a strong, effective and influential voice against all forms of racism and discrimination through focusing on education, prevention and sanctions," said Webb.

"I am honoured to have been asked to chair this crucial task force."

The future of the campaign could include educational and awareness activities, coalition campaigns and prevention and legislation that can facilitate the referral of concerns around discrimination incidents within football.

"By safeguarding the basic principle of respect amongst all individuals in our stadiums, we hope to contribute to remove discrimination barriers within society," continued Webb.

"Ignorance and prejudice are the ill of humanity.

"We want to make sure that nothing steers the focus away from the game of football.

"Needless to say the challenges are numerous, but creating an environment of cooperation and establishing a clear roadmap to the desired goal will surely advance football's continuous journey to fostering integration within the football community."

A lacklustre Canada side were on the receiving end of a shock 1-0 defeat in the match that succeeded the unveiling of the campaign as 37-year-old midfielder Fabrice Reuperné rifled home a winner from 25 yards out in the dying seconds of injury time to hand Martinique the first points of the tournament.

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