Nike race row split

Spanish anti-racism football campaigner Carlos Ferreyra Nunez said: "The football authorities in Spain have a very bad attitude towards racism in football. They are not willing to tackle or admit the problem. We could desperately use funds to run a countrywide campaign and Nike's money is very tempting.

"But we have serious concerns over whether anti-racism campaigners should take money from such a large, multinational. We have reservations about it on ethical grounds."

Nike's wristbands, a much-sought-after fashion accessory, could generate £4million, the largest amount ever made available for the cause. It has produced

2.5m wristbands, of which 1.5m have been sold at £1.50 each. More than 700,000 have been sold in Britain with 65,000 arriving in sports shops each week. The campaign has been accompanied by a multi-million pound publicity drive with the continent's leading footballers speaking out.

Just over £1 from each wristband will be given by Nike. It insists any money it keeps is to cover costs. The money will be deposited in the Belgian-based King Baudouin Foundation and groups can apply for funding from the summer. One

of the reasons for the debate is that in Europe, many football anti-racism groups are also involved in wider political issues such as globalisation and anticapitalism and are closely linked with left-wing political parties.

A spokesman for Progetto Ultra, the main Italian football anti-racism group, said: "It is not right for groups like us to take funding from multinationals. The company stands to benefit most from this campaign. We are not just about racism within football, we are also concerned with wider problems within society. We would not be happy to apply for any money raised by Nike."

In Britain, Kick It Out, the main football anti-racism group, insists that most campaigners are happy at Nike's involvement but there are reservations.

Spokesman Piara Powar said: "We welcome the intervention by Nike and the key question for us is how much money this will raise. However, one of our main concerns is that this campaign will only last until the end of the season. Once Nike have exhausted the idea of selling wristbands then that will be the end of it."

Since the campaign's launch, Kick It Out has been receiving an extra 10,000 hits each week on its website. The coalition of European football anti-racism groups, represented through Football Against Racism in Europe, is to meet soon to discuss Nike's campaign.

Nike insists that it has nothing to gain commercially from its StandupSpeakup campaign and that it wants to leave a genuine legacy via its trust fund for the long-term fight against racism.

Charlie Brooks, Nike's football public relations manager for Europe, said: "If this was just about Nike then we would have just done an advertising campaign. We would not have had a fundraising element."

Nike says it is aware of the anti-racism groups' reservations. It says that many people will see the bigger picture and with racism in European football rising, the money will not go unspent.

Brooks said: "We are not imposing the money on any group. If they don't want to get involved then that's fine, they don't have to apply for it [the money]. There are groups in this area that have a political agenda but this whole campaign has raised huge awareness about racism in football. It has raised the profile of football anti-racism work and that can only be a good thing.

"Many of these groups work on small budgets and if they don't want to come to Nike then that's no problem at all. Everyone is entitled to their own views."