The Unpleasant Image of Football
The sport of 3.5 Billion people, the contest of more than 275 million players and the game of 200 nations is facing complications from inside. This is the story of unforeseen challenges that football world is facing in modern age.
The evolution of football from 1869 to 2022 has been remarkable, this sport has evoked a wide range of emotions among its lovers but at the same time it has also met racism, hooliganism and Islamophobia. This appeared in the face of evil tradition all the way back in the nineteenth century, where after defeats people used to shame players because of their skin tone, nationality, or religion in order to express their rage and frustration.
There is no denying that football has come a long way in its incredible history and some of the world’s most powerful organizations have collaborated with it to find a perfect way to put an end to this filthy side of this sport, but still, even in this era the world continues to experience highly unpleasant acts during sporting events, even during football matches.
Football players, both white and non-white, have long faced abuse in many forms. Insults, offensive chants, Nazi salutes, court cases against hiring certain players, and even structured refusal of opportunities to play or join football teams based on color or nationality have been among them. In the realm of football, racism comes in various forms — some are more prominent than others, but the aim is same: to discriminate against a person of a different color.
There was a 47% increase in hate & crime in English football in the 2018–2019 season — BBC Sport 19.09.19
The Major Targets of Racism
Racism in football is not just limited to the Premier League in England. Racism has also been documented in other major football leagues such as Spain’s La Liga, Germany’s Bundesliga, and France’s Ligue 1. Cases of racist abuse haven’t stopped there, as major tournaments, such as the FIFA World Cup and the UEFA Euros, have reported incidents of racism during matches, at the stadiums, and even in the build-up to events.
Generally, the biggest targets of racism and Islamophobia in football are players of color and different religion. Many high-profile incidents have been reported, and there are undoubtedly many more that have not.
Among those highlighted, Emerick Aubameyang, Raheem Sterling, Jerome Boateng, Mohammed Salah, and Marcus Rashford have all stepped out to share their experiences with racial discrimination.
Jerome Boateng came out about racism he suffered in school level football in Germany, in the same week that Frankfurt’s black players claimed racial abuse during a match.
He said “Though Germany may be less rife with racism in the stands than Italy or certain Eastern European nations, this does not mean that players have not encountered it on a personal and communal level”.
German star and Bayern Munich defender Jerome Boateng also shared his experience of recent weeks in an interview with his new lifestyle magazine Boa. He claimed to have encountered racism in football dating back to his days as a youth player.
“When I warm up on the edge of the pitch, I often hear supporters making monkey noises from the stands, despite I have played so many games for Germany,” claimed the 30-year-old.
The Bayern Munich defender also discussed Mesut Özil, whose controversial exit from the German national team following last year’s World Cup in Russia sparked a debate about racism in football. Boateng stated “It was evident to me after the tournament that we as a squad should have done much more for Mesut and publicly supported him,” “It’s a shame it didn’t happen.”
More recently, Raheem Sterling of Manchester City has recently spoken out about enduring racial abuse on and off the field. Two Manchester City fans pled guilty to racial discrimination against Sterling in a match in January 2018. The pair was first reported to club administrators when racial insults and statements were heard by members of the audience.
Manchester United’s Marcus Rashford reported around 70 messages of racist abuse and discrimination online during the 2021 Europa League final, which were also forwarded to local authorities for further investigation.
Aubameyang is an Arsenal F.C. player. He faced nonverbal racial discrimination and abuse during a match against Tottenham Hotspur F.C. When Aubameyang celebrated an Arsenal goal on the pitch, an enraged fan retaliated by tossing a banana peel at the striker.
However, racist abuse directed at football players is not restricted to Black players only. Mohammed Salah of Liverpool F.C. has also faced discrimination because of his race and faith, In August of 2019.
It is not only the male footballers that are affected by this, but female players also, Tottenham Hotspurs centre-back Renée Hector is one of the victims of racial abuse, she mentioned on her twitter that the noises were made by a Sheffield United player during Tottenham’s 2–1 FA Women’s Championship victory.
Offenders on Social Media
The privacy that many abusers have online allows them to say anything they want without fear of penalties, which many suggest should be removed to prevent re-offenders from making new identities, spamming players’ profiles, and avoiding digital accountability.
Platforms like Twitter, Facebook, and Instagram have defended themselves by claiming that they use anti-racism technologies and have staff who track online abuse. Despite this, it is impossible to restrict all abuse because words, emojis, and phrases have distinct meanings and interpretations in different countries.
As a result, instead of having the abuse automatically screened out and get eliminated, players are obliged to report it personally, which may be unpleasant and upsetting if the abuse is widespread.
In recent years players have reported experiencing racial harassment on social media sites more frequently. More than half of the approximately 3,000 abusive texts that were sent in 2020 featured some type of racial abuse. Approximately 282 instances of racial discrimination were recorded during the 2019–2020 season, a shocking 53% rise from the season before.
According to a Sky Sports survey, many individuals are concerned about seeing athletes being abused:
A YouGov study done for Sky Sports News shows, 62% of match-attending supporters think a player would be racially harassed; 60% believe racism punishments are not tough enough; and 73% of ethnically diverse fans wanting to visit a stadium are concerned about racist abuse.
The study also indicated that fans are divided on whether they would know how to report racism in a stadium, with 43% saying they do and 45% saying they do not. At the same time, the majority of supporters think they are likely to report racial abuse if they observe it during a game, compared to 32% who say they would not.
Islamophobia
While the media has highlighted incidents of racism against professional football players, grassroots hate has gone unnoticed .Muslim grassroots football players have accused football officials of neglecting to take Islamophobia seriously, despite focusing on the greater issue of racism in the game.
In the first study of its sort, more than 40 men and women from Muslim backgrounds described their experiences of encountering anti-Muslim sentiment from spectators, teammates, and opponents in Sunday league football.
Muslim women claimed how wearing a headscarf made them a target of online and offline harassment from spectators and other players, as well as being held back and not picked by their own squad.
It is true that the victims of Islamophobia in grassroots football may experience emotional, psychological, spiritual, and even monetary pain. After being subjected to this kind of abuse, a player by the name of Huma claimed she had self-confidence problems and felt insecure: “There are times I walk home after a match and cry.” A player named Kyle added: “I felt dejected after the previous incident.” As a result, I began visiting a counsellor.
The Football Association and other organizations are always prepared to offer the customary soundbites, but it’s time to look at the grassroots game seriously and admit some of these big shortcomings. This begins with tackling the underlying causes of systemic racism and inequality in our society as well as the entrance obstacles for aspiring young South Asian football players from inside our own borders.
According to the study, the absence of Muslims in professional football, “trigger events” like terrorist incidents, and unfavourable media coverage of Islam and Muslims are the main causes of Islamophobia.
Despite making up 7.5% of the UK population, Muslims are drastically underrepresented in English professional football, with only 0.3% of the top players having South Asian origin.
Standing against Racism
Racism in football was overlooked by football’s governing bodies for several decades until the early 1990s, when the first anti-racism organizations devoted to combating racist abuse in sport were established. The Football Offences Act of 1991 made “indecent or racialist chanting” a crime. It was a watershed moment in identifying and countering racism in football but perceptions don’t change immediately.
There was still wide — spread racial abuse on terraces throughout the 90s but this act generated a wave of panic among all the spectators.
In 1993 Piara Powar and Ben Tegg realized it needed to be done, and decided to form the anti-racist campaign group named Kick it Out. It was set up by Lord Herman Ouseley (right) as the ‘Let’s Kick Racism Out of Football’ campaign and launched by the Commission for Racial Equality and Professional Footballers’ Association (PFA). In 1997 they changed the name to Kick It Out with funding from the FA, Premier League, Football Foundation and PFA. Ben Tegg and Piara Powar became Kick It Out’s first two members of staff.
The organization operates within the football, academic, and community sectors to oppose discrimination, develop inclusive practices and strive for positive change. UEFA, FIFA, the Council of Europe, the European Commission, European lawmakers, and the British Council all have praised Kick It Out as an example of best practice on a global scale. Additionally, Kick It Out plays a key part in the Football Against Racism in Europe (FARE) network.
Kick it Out is now one of the most successful anti-racist organizations in sport. It has been well accepted at all levels of the game, and it has a large number of high-profile fans and patrons. Kick it Out’s recent success stories include convincing the FA to implement a three-year diversity strategy. The FA currently intends to have 20% of its coaches from black or minority ethnic backgrounds by the year 2021.
The Results
It might be claimed that after years of effort, it is now difficult for spectators to abuse the players on field because they are now afraid of being caught. The Union of European Football Associations (UEFA) and FIFA both emphasized the adoption of zero tolerance policy on racial discrimination and racism.
The Premier League’s football equality and inclusion groups, such as “kick it out” and “No room for racism,” have their main goals combating all types of inequality and racial discrimination that occur in football. The nonprofit organization offers training tools and resources that inspire teams, players, and supporters to oppose discrimination.
For the last few years, we have seen many positive results of booting racists out of the stadium and banning them, back in 2018 the crowd member who threw a banana peel towards Gunner’s striker Aubameyang received a four-year ban from football matches and a minor fee.
Two Manchester City supporters who confessed to racial discrimination against Raheem Sterling in a match in January 2020 were also banned. The pair was first brought to the club’s attention by attendees who overheard their racist slurs and insults. They were given a five-year ban from all football games by the Manchester Magistrates’ Court in addition to an indefinite ban from Manchester City games.
A football fan who altered images of Mohamed Salah to make him look like a terrorist and spread them on social media in August 2019 was also detained and charged with racially and religiously aggravated deliberate harassment.
Conclusion
Racism is still a blight on the game, although the present projects can serve as stepping stones toward racial equality, but much more must be done on a global scale to eradicate racism in football. The biggest social media platforms must also take action to protect users from online harassment and to penalize those who target them with long-term bans.
In order for football to continue being the international sport that unites people, fans and pundits must educate themselves about how to stop racial discrimination and make sure that they actively engage in, and advocate for racial debate, as Angela Davis said:
In a racist society it is not enough to be non-racist, we must be anti-racist
