By Dominic Casciani BBC News Online community affairs reporter

Emile Heskey: Targeted during Slovakia game

London is hosting Europe's first-ever football anti-racism conference months after England internationals sustained a torrent of abuse from the terraces.

Ten years after the English Football Association and the Commission for Racial Equality began a campaign against terrace racism, the sport's European body, UEFA, is bringing together clubs to discuss what they can learn from the UK's example.

Last year, two of England's top players, Ashley Cole and Emile Heskey, endured a tirade of racist chanting while playing against Slovakia in the European Championship qualifiers.

It was an incident which shocked the sport's administrators.

The conference, partly a response to that game, is being held at Chelsea Football Club, one of the England teams which has worked hardest to keep racism out of its stadium.

"The conference is going to challenge racism in football and re-examine the ways clubs and associations can deal with this difficult problem which has re-emerged in recent months," said a UEFA spokesman.

"After the conference we will be launching a good practice guide for all the football clubs," he added.

DEALING WITH RACISM: When there are only a few hundred people there, you can hear what they say - I remember getting the ball and then hearing monkey chants Former player Earl Barrett Click here to read his story

That plan comes after UEFA was accused of not doing enough to combat racism at international and club level.

Following England's match in Slovakia last October, both the players targeted and their team mates were visibly shaken by the abuse.

UEFA find Slovakia's football association �60,000 Swiss Francs (�27,000) for the racist chanting - but later cut this and told the team to keep the fans out for one game.

The federation also launched a 10-point plan amid last season's rise in racism, though the English Football Association said it needed to be tougher.

Emile Heskey and Ashley Cole were among a string of players to face an increase in racist chanting in European games.

French international and Arsenal striker Thierry Henry, due to speak at the conference, was targeted by PSV Eindhoven supporters in the Netherlands last year. Campaigners condemned the club's �13,000 fine.

During 2002 other players for Liverpool, Fulham, Blackburn and Ipswich complained of racist abuse at matches in Spain, Serbia and Montenegro, and Bulgaria.

Trevor Phillips, the new chairman of the Commission for Racial Equality (CRE), said that the landscape of football has changed in the 10 years since the first football racism campaign was launched.

Speaking as he took office this week, Mr Phillips said that there had been a time when he had stopped watching Chelsea because of racist chanting.

"There was a time that I could not go to my own football club because you did not know if you would be assaulted or what would be said in front of your children," said Mr Phillips.

"I stopped going to Stamford Bridge for a long time. But after the campaign to kick racism out of football, behaviour [on the terraces] changed.

"It's now possible for me to go to Chelsea, as it is for minority Britons up and down the country."

Even so, that campaign's own survey two years ago found every black player and official interviewed had suffered abuse. A recent FA survey also suggested a large number of black and Asian fans stay away because of fear of what will happen on the terraces.

Kick it Out

One of the first known anti-racist statements in European football came in 1992 at the German club of FC Shalke 04 when some of its fans raised a banner denouncing fellow supporters for targeting Ghanaian international Tony Yeboah.

Many of these countries have not challenged the problem - they are in the same place we were 30 years ago Piara Powar, Kick it Out

A month later all the top sides in Germany put slogans anti-racism slogans on their shirts.

The English FA and CRE launched the Kick it Out anti-racism campaign 10 years ago and it has been long regarded as one of the most successful anti-racism campaigns in public life.

Its work at grassroots and national level is now being replicated around Europe through an international network, Football Against Racism in Europe.

"The aims and objectives are very practical, we are hoping to set out clear guidelines for football practice," said Piara Powar, of Kick it Out.

"We will also provide examples from different countries about how they have attacked the problem so other nations can use them."