Racial Discrimination in Soccer - Essay Example

Racism in Football (soccer) Introduction It widely accepted that football is the most popular sporting activity on the planet and a very beautiful game. However the game has been tainted by cases of very uncouth behaviour that include violence, hooliganism, bullying and worst of all the insults that are meant to discriminate peoples races (racial discrimination). These practices have been very common in England and the activities that are indulged in here include drinking, assaults, throwing objects on the fields, shouting insults. Last year alone, the National Intelligence services on Crime indicated that the cases of racial discrimination had increased by 8.1% despite the efforts to root out this vice. Basically race and football presents itself in several forms. Since the early years of the last century, many fans have used their football matches to express their racial chauvinism though it has been discovered that these were just a minority of the population but causing great trouble. It's very critical how the minority groups could become very dangerous to coaches, players, and fans. Basically the problem could be worse than implied because many respondents perceive not to give bad impressions. This research will study the extent of racial discrimination in football especially at international and professional levels, and the strategies to alleviate this problem. Literature Review Racism as the Problem Racism is a big concern in the world of football all over. In essence, racism is not simply aimed at undermining or intimidating football players because of the colour of their skin (Russell 1997). In recent times, coaches, officials and even fans have fallen victims of racial discrimination particularly based on their nationality, ethnic origin and religion. Some people are targeted because they are associated by their opponents rather than the colour of skin and ethnicity (Back & Solomos 1998). There have also been cases where people have been individualized and insulted by their own fans, the most notable incidence was that of John Barnes. Racism is a major problem especially in the European nations and a very critical factor in the cases of hooliganism in football. The real degree to which racism is practiced is virtually difficult to measure since there is no detailed information as evidence or important data and statistical analyses are non existent (Russell 1997). Nonetheless, the activities of disorders in football are particularly on the international level are often referred to as racists or they are perceived to be perpetrated by a groups of racists and currently even some clubs are being considered as being inherently supporters of racism. Types of Racism Racism in football takes a variety of forms and some of them are not clearly seen as discriminatory. However chanting against a team, player, coach, football official or fans has been a common form of racist activity. This was very common especially in the English football in the period around 1970s and 1980s. A crowd of some fans usually made some funny noises at players; in England, fans made monkey noises to intimidate black football players on the field. Some other cases included even more personalized abuse and insults (Back & Solomos 1998). A outstanding case is that of Deptford fire where thirteen black players in their youthful ages were burnt by a mod to death, while chanting insulting songs- ' niggers burning better than petroleum' could be heard even as far as Milwall. There have been anti-Semitic songs targeting for instance the Tottenham Hotspurs fans. Other songs are patriotic and connected to country's national anthems. Due to the increasing number of cases of racist chanting during football matches, a law was enacted in 1991 termed as the football offences act which made these chants during soccer matches an illegal activity but this law is still inadequately effective in its definition of chanting; chanting is defined as 'utterances of any words made repeatedly or making of some sounds in unison with one or a group of individuals'. This law consequently cannot penalize an individual who shouts racist insults on his/he own (Back & Solomos 1998). He or she can only be held responsible under the order act of 1986 for using what can be described as obscene language or foul utterance at a soccer pitch. This has been a very bad loophole that has allowed a lot of criminals to get away with offences of racism at soccer matches. Racism Incidences Many of the instances when racist activities have been identified are with the crowds particularly in Europe where this vice is more common than any other place in the world. Over the past years, the common expressions have been that against black players where bananas have been thrown at them and also the crowds making some monkey gestures (Russell 1997). Specific cases include these discrimination activities include that against John Barnes. This player who is a Jamaican born was the first target of racists, bananas were usually thrown at him and animal sounds made from the crowds whenever he touched the ball. In Italy, particularly Rome and Milan, Lazio was discriminated by fans who used swastika flags on his photos. In the Dutch league, anti-Semitic chants are very common (Russell 1997). Other players that have been discriminated by the crowds include Marcel Desailly, Thierry Henry and Samuel Etoo. Anti-Racism Initiatives Over the recent years, a number of initiatives have been pout in place to try and eradicate the vice of racial discrimination especially in the international football fraternity. Several organizations have come up to lead the process of combating racism in football (Back & Solomos 1998). Several other initiatives have come from the football clubs themselves. Some of the critical players in the effort to eradicate racism include Football Supporters Association, Campaign for Racial Equality and many more others. The afore mentioned bodies launched the campaign tagged kicking racism out of football, which was aimed at highlighting anti-racism and fair chance for all in the football context. The campaign included a ten point plan that was presented to clubs explaining new measures than included zero tolerance to racism (Russell 1997). FARE - Football Against Racism in Europe has been very active in fighting xenophobia and racism in the region having full support of FIFA and UEFA. This body uses high profile players like Etoo, Henry and other football officials like Robinson to spread the campaign message and effecting the course action of their project (Carrington & McDonald 2001). Players have also joined the campaign by launching their own initiatives and one such campaign is the Stand Up, Speak UP initiates that were put forward by striker Thierry Henry in collaboration with sponsor Nike and other crucial players including Christiano Ronaldo, Rio Ferdinand, Adriano and Wayne Rooney. Henry protests included invitation of fans to air their grievances against racism (Back & Solomos 1998). The campaign symbol is a double wrist band of interlocking black and white wrist bands. Methodology Several methods of data collection will be applied and they include, key informant interviews, electronic correspondence with some of the officials from each sports organization, focused group discussions with subjects from sporting organizations to obtain necessary information on the approaches that have been established to combat racism as a problem to football and also find out the efficiency of these approaches (Carrington & McDonald 2001). Examples of necessary information that every organization has implemented to promote approaches that use sporting activities and sports personalities to communicate a message of cultural acceptance of diversity (races) and the non- favouritism were collected. The data collected other evidences like brochures, reports, strategic plans, reports and submissions per year, brochures and case studies (Kassimeris 2007). The researchers also compiled appropriate promotional strategies like videos, cards, flyers, posters, stickers, and DVDs. Other information was collected from the internet particularly the national and state websites for football as well as other documentation evidences like yearly reports, speeches, codes of conduct, and protection policies for members, development plans, policies on harassment, and policies of racial vilification, articles from news papers, reports from preferences, strategic plans, processes of complaints and submissions made by governments (Carrington & McDonald 2001). The researchers held meetings with important sports commissions in football organization and management. Generally the study concentrated in England because this is where cases of racial discrimination are very prevalent. Consultations were held with all the state departments and territorial sports institutes plus those commissions on equal opportunity (Russell 1997). Community organization and non governmental organizations also provided some also provided some crucial information. Snowballing technique was the method of choice in the collection of data from the selected football organizations and listed contacts whereby only appropriate information, projects and strategies were put forward. Just to ensure that the information obtained was accurate, copies of the draft reports were sent to the sports organizations and the governmental agencies and the comments that were obtained back were also included in the final report. Results The outcomes of the study indicated that there are several initiatives that are aimed at eradicating racism in football. Most of these initiative are based in Europe since from the beginning of the project it was clearly indicated that European nations were the worst affected by this form of hooliganism. Several football or rather sporting organizations are involved in the fight against racism in Europe and this has also encouraged local clubs which have also joined the struggle to fair play policy of the football federation (Russell 1997). EUROFAN: this is an organization that is funded by European Union and other public as well as private organizations. This initiative works to coach fans and run racial discrimination projects (Kassimeris 2007). The aim of the organization is to promote exchanges and disseminate the good practices and prevention of hooliganism as directed by Eurofan networks. FARE- these are initials for Football Against Racism in Europe; this body is committed to eradication of uncouth behaviour like hooliganism and totally combat racism in the football of the European nations either amateur or professional and also at international level. This initiative was established in 1999 and is composed of many other supporters of European football (anti-racist non-governmental organization, players unions, football associations, supporters (fans) and ethnic minority (Garland & Rowe 2001). The network carries out campaigns to discourage racist behaviour and it also organizes other anti-racism activities apart from campaigns. This organization works in 13 nations and it is supported by UEFA and European commission. Currently, clubs, NGOs, support groups and some immigrant organizations from 25 nations take part in FARE networks. Several European nations have also come up with initiatives to fight racism. United Kingdom was the first one to take this action. It fully supports other initiatives from clubs, and players like the kick it out strategy (Kassimeris 2007). Kick it out works with individual players and even clubs to create strategies against racism. Anti-racism week is a very well timed solution. The Commission for Racial Equality: this organization also fights racism in concert with other players like PFA- Professional Footballers Association. The kick racism out of football campaign is the first initiative to succeed in the attempts to eradicate racial discrimination and this success is attributed to the fact that it was endorsed by top players in the sector (Kassimeris 2007). Other critical findings include the campaign by players which was launched by Thierry Henry- Stand Up, Speak UP Discussions It is evident that football creates while racism destroys, this is the basic reason why several initiatives had to be put in place t solve the problem of racism which was very evident in the European nations. Several organizations came together to implement what they believed was the best strategy to weed out racism. A ten point action plan was created for clubs to use in their pursuit of racism free football (Back et al 2001). This plan was very important in history of racism in the world. It has been the basis of eliminating racism as many of the upcoming initiatives all aim at expanding or fulfilling the anti-racist practices as described. In the European league, racism has been against the ethnic minority which is mainly the blacks and Asians. Statistics reveal that black British fans are less than 0.8 percent of the entire active fans population. Black players were only 12 to 15 percent of the total professional players' population. This could be the reason why racial discrimination was so wide spread and still has been difficult to eradicate. Racial discrimination was common even in those areas that the ethnic minority were dominant. Regional disproportion and in cases of matches between strongest clubs like Manchester United or Arsenal, the attendance is higher. Racism in such instances remains elevated and a big problem to some degree (Garland & Rowe 2001). This can be evidenced by the fact that, last year, about 27% of the fan who voted in the FA premier indicated that they had witnessed racism directly being targeted to the footballers during their games and 8% noted racism aimed at the crowds (fans). Highest levels of racism are reported in blacks and Asian fans compared to the white fans. Furthermore, clubs that are known for signing black players and particularly the ones with positive working relationships and also involving players from the minority groups attract a lot of fans from the ethnic minority and show the least degree of racism. Best examples include Wimbledon and arsenal which have the lowest incidences of reported racist behaviours while Everton, West Ham and Sunderland record highest levels of racism (Back et al 2001). It's also evident that young fans are more likely to use foul language and shout insulting racism slogans during the game and hence need for education and campaign against racism would be very important to them. Many fans a re now satisfied with the efforts their clubs have taken to combat racism. Sensitivity to racist behaviour is fair normal across the age groups of the fans unlike the use of fouls language while is common is younger populace. There are campaigns that are targeting fans that air out their views on what they think about racism in football (Garland & Rowe 2001). This strategy is timely because it reaches out to the targets directly. The fact that many of the are usually endorsed by high profile players like Thierry Henry of the Stand Up, Speak Up campaign (Back & Solomos 1998). Young people re more likely to be attracted to the initiatives and would want not to disappoint their favourite players and by this way they would be able to change their minds and focus on anti racist activities (Back et al 2001). The findings that fans are very sensitive to foul language and usually gets offended could imply that they are also likely to initiate a response to the insults. Initiatives that focus on educating fans are the best alternatives. Conclusion Being the world's best and most liked sporting activity, football can be used as a unifying fact meaning that people can be brought together to play regardless of their background, to watch, play and enjoy. This can be used to breakdown obstacles that were created by prejudice or due to ignorance. Being In support of the initiatives that have been put in place to alleviate racial, the discussions in this paper will ensure that all the football fans and players can watch or play soccer without any fear of racial discrimination or abuse in either expressed or implied form. Football in itself is a powerful tool that will be used to deliver anti-racism message and also organize other events to promote anti-racism interactions. Working in collaboration to eradicate racism in football is very important and this calls for collective responsibility which is already in place and so far FARE has proved to be succeeding. Still a lot has to be done as racism is deeply rooted in people's mind as witnessed last premier league season; there were some form of racial discrimination attempts at Patrice Evra of Manchester United at Stamford Bridge. References Back L. & Solomos J. (1998). Racism in Football. Patterns of Continuity and Change in Brown A. (ed). Fanatics. Football and Popular Culture in Europe. Routledge Back L. et al (2001). The Changing Face of Football. Berg Carrington B. & McDonald I. (2001). Race, sport, and British society. Routledge Garland J. & Rowe M. (2001). Racism and Anti-Racism in Football. Palgrave Kassimeris C. (2007). European football in black and white: tackling racism in football. Lexington Books Russell D. (1997). Football and the English. Carnegie Publishing. Preston Read More

 

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