Eradicate Hate Global Summit is based in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania where the deadliest anti-Semitic attack in U.S. history occurred in 2018 at the Tree of Life Synagogue. A heavily-armed gunman killed 11 worshipers. Several others, including a responding police officer were seriously wounded. In response, the community created an annual global summit that brings together leaders from government, academia, law, the non-profit sector, corporations, and journalism. The Eradicate Hate Global Summit is oriented toward finding effective solutions to hate-fueled extremism by forming year-round working groups that inform each subsequent
annual Summit gathering.

People around the world cheer on their favorite athletes and teams with incredible fervor. That fan loyalty and dedication imbues sports teams and athletes with a unique ability to shape viewpoints and to serve as global exemplars of the power of embracing diversity to counter hate speech. At a more basic community level, young people across the world engage in organized youth sports and less formal recreational sports, often imitating their favorite professional athlete or team. Around the globe, the power of sport can play a powerful role to counter hate, a cause that has never been more important than it is now.

It was proposed by keynote speaker at the 2021 Eradicate Hate Global Summit. Alice Wairimu Nderitu, the U.N. Special Adviser on the Prevention of Genocide, proposed that the Summit and the U.N. work together to form an action plan for sports organizations and fans to reduce hate speech, based on the UN Strategy and Plan of Action on Hate Speech. See interview here.

The co-chairs:

• Laura Ellsworth, Co-Chair of the Eradicate Hate Global Summit.
• Michele Rosenthal, a member of the Eradicate Hate Global Summit Executive Committee and the former head of Community Affairs for the Pittsburgh Steelers NFL team.
  • At the 2022 Eradicate Hate Global Summit, Ms. Rosenthal told a video interviewer about initial acceptance of the initiative.

• Some of the members of the Sports Working Group include:
• Major League Baseball (MLB)
• Major League Soccer (MLS)
• National Association for Stock Car Auto Racing (NASCAR)
• National Basketball Association (NBA)
• National Football League (NFL)
• National Hockey League (NHL)
• Women’s National Basketball Association (WNBA)
• U.S. Soccer Federation, USWNT

The team’s “Game Plan” is embodied in the acronym SPORT:

•  Speak openly and honestly about hate speech with athletes, employees, the public and those who are targeted by hate speech.
• Promote positive message practices policies and procedures to foster genuine respect and counter hate speech.
• Organize specific outreach to communities of fans and players (from backyards to stadiums) to educate them about hate speech and its consequences in an effort to intervene before violence and message of hate that may lead to incitement of violence can take root.
• Recognize, reward and report success stories and positive impacts of athletes and sports figures.
• Train at all levels to identify and address hate speech.

The Game Plan will focus not just on identifying and reporting hate speech, but on positive reactions that everyday people and famous athletes have taken (or are committing to take) to counter it. The Game Plan will bring an identifiable brand, and further serve as a statement of unity — specifically, that we should embrace our differences, which are too often the targets of hate speech and instead focus on what brings the global sports community together—a love of the game.