FARE / Diversity House

In 2018 Russia hosted the World Cup. Football Against Racism Everywhere (FARE) approached Field.Studio to produce a diversity guide that included information on the 11 cities to football was being played, was mobile first in its approach and included integrated access to WhatsApp for users.

The site included content on each city, a calendar of the FARE events being held throughout the tournament, and the addresses of the two FARE buildings (Moscow and St Petersburg).

The use of WhatsApp was key to the project. The FARE WhatsApp account acted as a helpline, place for advice and a safe contact for people in trouble. WhatsApp was used because it didn’t rely on the reliability of Russia’s networks, is encrypted end to end, and couldn’t be intercepted by the FSB as it uses WIFI.

A day after the site went live, the IP address was blocked by Russia. This made it impossible for people to access the site. The Field.Studio team moved the site to another server that wouldn’t be blocked by Russia. The site remained live for the rest of the tournament.