Lewis Rathbone
English 1A
Due:12/12/14
Research Paper
In particular, men’s soccer intrigues and plays a major role in my life, as I am a studentathlete. From playing this sport, I have learned that racism is still evidently and massively
present in the game. With major controversy in men’s soccer, it is unfortunately over highlighted
in the media, therefore giving soccer bad publicity, which inevitably effects the sports overall
reputation. With a growing amount of different ethnicities and races around the world playing
the game of soccer, racist slurs and actions seem to be escalating. In addition, the research I want
to do to advance my knowledge of this issue will be researching about how racism has an effect
on men’s soccer and how, if possible, we can minimize the effects of racism in the game. More
so, the questions I will want to understand in greater detail through research will be the
consequences of racism in soccer; how the regulated officials in FIFA, FA, and UEFA deal with
such actions i.e. bans, fines, and how they recover reputations; what can minimize racism in the
game; what are the different forms of racism commonly present in this sport; and lastly why do
we, as players, coaches, and spectators, use racism in soccer. I feel these questions will help me
build important information and have a deeper understanding about racism in the sport I play
every day.
As soccer clubs try to buy the best players and the cheapest players from all over the
world, trying to recruit and build their teams with the best of the best, racism starts to come about
in this sport. For example, a black Englishmen could play in Serbia and more often than not, this
player will receive an incredible amount of racial abuse just because of his race; not surprising
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Serbia in particular has been in the limelight about racism. I feel, as soccer is such a competitive
sport, the fans, players, managers, and even referees are often lost in the atmosphere of the
stadium, making me strongly believe this has a major impact on racism.
From researching different sources related to racism and anti-racism I acquired a lot of
information for my annotated bibliography, this helped me answer a lot of my questions that I
desired to know, therefore this will also help me to make my research paper a lot more
interesting. I feel that from the sources I acquired I will now be able to answer my research
question “how does racism have an effect on men’s soccer and how we can minimize the effects
of racism in the game”. I have found the ideal book for this question which is called Racism and
Anti-Racism in football this book will help me expand on the point on how to minimize the
amount of racism that happens in soccer, by making me look into further detail into anti-racism
campaigns. Also, from my research I will be able to answer questions within that research
question, such as the consequences of using racism in soccer. The book that will help me with
this is called European football in black and white: tackling racism in football as this book will
help me find out where racism exists, therefore I will find out in particular what countries that
commonly take part in racism; the author then goes into further detail and explains the
consequences of racial abuse. Similarly, another question that I am able to answer is about antiracist initiatives within the game, and the different forms of racism from a victim’s perspective,
this article is called Racism in football: A Victim’s perspective, it will help me write about the
different forms of racism you can expect while playing soccer. For example, monkey noises,
throwing bananas and also racist chanting etc. This book really does put racism into perspective.
Another source that answers many questions that I have left unanswered is sports fans across
borders, this particular article will help me find out preventative measures that could avert
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racism from happening in European soccer matches; therefore it would answer my question with
regards to minimizing racism in soccer. Lastly, the article forgotten fields? Centralizing the
experiences of minority ethnic men’s football (soccer) clubs in England will help me form a clear
understanding of the progress being made against fighting racism, and the present day functions
of fighting against racism i.e. anti-racism campaigns such as “kick it out”.
From extensive research on racism in soccer, I feel that I have broadened my knowledge
in this area by a substantial amount, which will lead me to answer all the questions that I
couldn’t answer from my own knowledge of racism in soccer. The questions that I felt that I
couldn’t answer were, what can minimize racism in the game? What are the different forms of
racism? And why do we use racism in soccer? In particular, how does racism have an effect on
men’s soccer, and how we can minimize the effects of racism in the game?
I would like to start with the article Racism in football (soccer): A victim’s perspective,
Richie Moran. The author is the individual in the article that has been racially abused, therefore it
is very interesting to see his perspective of racism in soccer. Richie Moran speaks about the
challenges he faced being a ‘black’ playing the game, also he speaks in depth about his own
personal incidents being racially abused while participating in the sport. I feel sick of the thought
that Richie Moran decided to quit playing the sport he admired because of racial abuse, but it
makes the situation even more sickening as it was his full-time occupation. Furthermore the
author states “At amateur levels it is easier to leave it behind you, because you are playing only
for fun and not on a full-time basis, but when it becomes part of your everyday working life it is
impossible to ignore” (192). I understand the point the author is trying to make by using amateur
and professional levels of the game to describe how it feels when you are racially abused. But I
feel you should feel the same way when being racially discriminated, even if you are playing for
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fun you shouldn’t have to deal with the discrimination. Whereas, at a professional level I
understand it is you’re full-time job. Nevertheless, you should react in the same manner as
playing amateur level soccer, and there should be the same consequences to the fans that
participate in racially abusing the players at all levels of the game. Furthermore, a personal
incident that definitely caught my eye while reading this article was “It always disturbed me
when playing professional that when I looked up at the terraces, and saw the features of middleaged men contorted with hate racially abusing me, that self-same man was often standing with
his arm around his 8 or 9 year old son who was quite often calling me the same thing” (191).
This one incident is shameful as the parent of this young child is basically teaching him that it is
acceptable to racially abuse other ethnicities. The punishment for such action should be of a
severe consequence, as teaching their own child to racially abuse different ethnicities of your
own should be worth a jail sentence. However, the people that racially abused him that day
probably got away with it.
Moreover, the author states “I should make it quite clear that I did not quit professional
football (soccer) because I could not tolerate what was going on, but because I felt that I didn’t
have to tolerate it” (194). I feel this is how Richie Moran uses his own anti-racist initiative by
withdrawing himself from the sport, as he felt that he shouldn’t have to tolerate the racism that
comes with the sport. I feel that it depends on the character of the person you are with regards on
how you deal with racist abuse, as for Moran I feel he could of done more for himself i.e. the
people that racially abused him in the “terraces” (stadium) should receive punishment of some
sort, I feel if he would of referred the matter to his club or the football association then the matter
would of got dealt with. Because soccer players normally get a lot of attention in the media,
therefore he could have pointed this incident out to the media, additionally, and it could have
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been published in the public eye. I feel when racism is often in the media’s spotlight that the
incident will actually get the attention it deserves, and that there will be some justice for the
people that receive discrimination. But why should soccer players feel the need to stop playing
the game they love because of racial discrimination towards them.
The second article Racism and anti-racism in football (soccer), Dave Whiteside. This has
helped me understand racism a considerable amount, and also has taught me a great deal about
anti-racism. This article gives you further knowledge of the facts that you need to know that
surrounds racism and anti-racism; the author feels that effective efforts have been made to
eliminate explicit forms of racism, i.e. anti-racism campaigns. The author states “that great
strides have been made (for example, to reduce racist chanting)… by stating that racism not only
exists in football (soccer), but it still remains undisturbed” (92). From using the word
‘undisturbed’ the author is trying to implement that the authorities such as the football
association, EUFA and FIFA are aware of racism but they don’t necessarily always take
affirmative action. I feel from this information it reflects unprofessional on the organizations
such as FIFA and EUFA as they should be there to represent any soccer player that receives
racial abuse. Therefore if the players feel that the organizations of the soccer platform are there
to support them, this will affect their decision to confront racism, leading to more justice for the
players who are racially abused.
Furthermore, the author also states “Anti-racist work would have to look at what is
happening in dressing rooms, executive boxes and even boardrooms” (92). This solution may be
hard to implement on every soccer club as everyone has to be involved, but I feel that it would be
a positive anti-racism step, as the people higher up in the organization such as representatives for
FIFA would see the background of the soccer club, this would also give them an understanding
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of the club to see if they are supportive against racism. The author is “skeptical about whether
football (soccer) could be harnessed as a progressive force for social change” (93). Specifically,
they claim that strategies used in soccer context would less likely to work in spheres, as it is too
simplistic to claim that football (soccer) could act like a role model just because of the success of
black players.
The third article is called European football in black and white: tackling racism in
football, Christos Kassimeris. This article covers different aspects of racism in Europe, such as
how racism disturbs soccer matches, violence fuelled incidents through racism, and the different
cultures targeted. It will also give me an insight on where racism exists within the sport.
Therefore I will find out in particular what countries take part the most in regards to racism; this
will also lead me to find out the consequences of racism. The author chooses to examine the
arenas of sports, particularly in soccer. He also decides to look at the “evolution of the attitudes
of superiority based on biological characteristics” (301). Furthermore, he states “Novel
expressions of racial discrimination pertaining to cultural, economic, political and social
eversion’s have now emerged” (301). He also states “more specifically fascist and neo-fascist
political formations in several European countries” (301). He then speaks about “constitutes a
grave concern to long-established democratic practices in Europe” (301). I feel that from this text
the author conveys the idea across that violent related incident’s towards different ethnicities has
a greater threat because of the “emerging multi-cultural nature of European society” (301).
In addition, the author speaks about the “footbalisation of politics” in other words
suggesting that as the European Union’s strive to overcome national differences, soccer is an
outlet to settle their differences between each other in the arena. For example, in an international
soccer game, e.g. England vs. France, both supporters of these teams could be racially-abusing
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one another based on ethnicity, race and religion. Moreover, the author speaks about clubs and
players from different countries and how they have suffered through anti-Semitic activists. The
author provides examples such as “Austria Vienna, Bayern Munich and AS Roma” (302). Which
are now considered to be Jewish clubs, specifically in Germany, Italy and Austria. On the other
hand, in Northern Ireland the main rivalries are through Catholic and Protestant teams. But ever
so recently, Muslim people are thought to be the easiest target for being racially-abused. As the
author introduces these anti-racism campaigns, we can assume that he feels by using these
campaigns that it would be very beneficial to prevent further racist behavior in soccer arenas.
More so these campaigns work by educating soccer fans to make them realize the impact that
racism has on the game.
‘Kick it out’, the most respected anti-racism campaign in the United Kingdom, it is
known for their substantial efforts to prevent racism happening in soccer. However, the most
important point is, how the soccer authorities deal with the punishments of using racism in
soccer. The author focuses on FIFA as they have revised the Article 55 of the disciplinary code
to hand out more severe punishment to offenders, then he offers a second governing body such
as ‘UEFA’ he establishes that EUFA published a guide to good practice, ‘Unite Against Racism
in European Football’ (soccer) and they later produced a ‘Ten Point Plan’ of action against
professional football clubs which suggested that the clubs take action against racist behavior
from their own supporters.
To conclude, it is evident that we cannot diminish racism from the game completely, but
as individuals we can decrease the number of incidents happening in the arena of the game, by
simply controlling our emotions, however, as an individual you can have an impact in the
environment in the arena by voicing your personal opinion on anything you feel that is
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inappropriate behavior such as stopping someone throwing a banana. The passion in the game is
a considerable part of soccer, but overruling this with racist gestures, chanting and behavior
destroys the game, as well as giving the sport a bad reputation. As a consequence, using
discriminating terms or gestures in the arena of a soccer game will lead to severe consequences
such as lifetime bans or further prosecution depending on the level of the racism. Nevertheless,
the punishment of being banned for life may seem exaggerated, but it is the right affirmative
decision to remove the individuals that ruin the game. Furthermore, the preventative measure is
to decrease the amount of racism in soccer, so we can help through supporting anti-racism
campaigns all over the world, for example ‘Kick It Out’. This campaign in particular is a wellrespected campaign in the UK, as it has the backs for players who do get racially discriminated,
to support them through the tough times. However, they also do a massive degree to help
advertise anti-racism, therefore providing schools, fans, players, and manager’s with great
knowledge and education to stop racism in soccer.
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References
Burdsey, Daniel. "Forgotten Fields? Centralizing The Experiences Of Minority Ethnic Men's Football
Clubs In England." Soccer & Society 10.6 (2009): 704-721. Academic Search Premier. Web. 10 Nov.
2014.
Chakraborty, Subhas Ranjan. "European Football In Black And White: Tackling Racism in Football, By
Christos Kassimeris." Soccer & Society 12.2 (2011): 301-303. Academic Search Premier. Web. 17 Nov.
2014.
Lusted, Jim. "Playing Games with 'Race': Understanding Resistance to 'Race' Equality Initiatives
in English Local Football Governance." Soccer & Society 10.6 (2009): 722-739. Academic
Search Premier. Web. 17 Nov. 2014.
MARKOVITS, ANDREI S. "Sports Fans Across Borders." Harvard International Review 33.2 (2011):
17-22. Academic Search Premier. Web. 10 Nov. 2014.
Moran, Richie. "Racism in Football: A Victim's Perspective." Soccer & Society 1.1 (2000): 190.
Academic Search Premier. Web. 10 Nov. 2014.
Whiteside, Dave. "Racism and Anti-Racism in Football (Book)." Soccer & Society 3.2 (2002):
92-93. Academic Search Premier. Web. 17 Nov. 2014.
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