The worldwide digital campaign which was created by Peace and Sport in 2015 is to help celebrate the International Day of Sport for Development and Peace. In contrast with the red card a referee holds up in sport which is a negative and criticising gesture, the white card is to mean the opposite. The purpose of this symbol is inclusion, equity and peace.
‘White Card’ takes its name from ‘Carton Blanc’, an acclaimed photo exhibition by Maud Bernos. The international organisation, Peace and Sport, commissioned these photographs to highlight the faces of children in conflict and post-conflict zones and their daily sporting activity. The photographer captured the transformation of these areas by the children, for example making playing fields out of abandoned and post-conflict zones. The exhibition highlighted how sport can contribute to create spaces for equity, inclusion, human development and light up the road to peace.
Since then, the White Card campaign has reached millions upon millions of people. In 2018 alone it reached more than 90 million people when endorsed by the likes of Yohan Blake (Sprinter), Didier Drogba (Football player) and Rony Lopes (Football player).
The European Judo Union hope to continue to spread this incredible message of peace and unity through sport and do so through our own brilliant athletes.
#WhiteCard
Judoka
Author: Thea Cowen