Piara Powar has been announced as the fifth of a total of 11 members of the jury for the inaugural FIFA Diversity Award. Powar, one of the most respected voices in the fight against discrimination in sport and a partner of FIFA in the groundbreaking anti-discrimination monitoring system for the 2018 FIFA World Cup Russia™ qualifiers, serves as the executive director of Fare (Football Against Racism in Europe).

The anti-discrimination monitoring system includes the deployment of Anti-Discrimination Match Observers to monitor and report issues of discrimination at the games and sanctions have already been imposed on several football associations.

“Each confederation has different challenges; different focus," Powar said. "It’s an ongoing process. We look at all matches and aspects. In essence, we look at the history of the football fans in a country - a particular rivalry, perhaps social developments that may lead to acts of discrimination in a specific stadium.”

Watch the interview above to learn more about the monitoring system.

For more information on the FIFA Diversity Award, please click here. A comprehensive document listing FIFA’s overall work in the field of diversity and anti-discrimination is also available here.