Elements of Racism in Football - Essay Example

Racism in Football Like many other fields in life, sports is one area in which competition as well as rivalries lead individuals to often take the low road rather than the higher paths which support justice equality and virtue (Carrington and McDonald, 2001). This is particularly true of sports such as football where sports clubs and even mangers have been accused of racism in general terms. In fact, even the fans themselves have been used of using racist abuse and racist slurs against some players (Jarvie, 1995). The history of this racism begins in the 80s, when large numbers of black players started coming into English football leagues in and it was common to hear team managers and others officials of the team say that blacks had a lot of skill in terms of their game, but they lacked the courage which other players displayed (Jarvie, 1995). These were certainly racist comments but no one paid much attention to them at the time as discussed by Szymanski (2000) who reports that this problem of racism is still not over. In fact, it has become more evident with the fans of the game in an overt manner (Moran, 2000). Even though football is the most popular sport in the world, it is still influenced by long standing biases and the stereotypes that the fans live with (Carrington and McDonald, 2001). Of course, the idea of stereotypes and biases has certainly taken a backseat in the real world simply because education, awareness and understanding has continually been developed by social scientists, yet in moments of passion such issues may surface quite clearly. To understand how racism in football affects the game, the players and the fans, it is important to examine how and why racism manifests itself in football. The basic reason for fans being racist connects directly with the hooligan culture that has developed along with football in England. A secondary reason is the higher level of racism in general when it comes to regions that have high immigrant population levels as described by Crabbe (2004). Of course, laws are in place and punitive actions have been taken by many organisations to correct the behaviour of players and fans who have engaged in racist behaviour (Carrington and McDonald, 2001). Players have been fined and fans have been banned due to racist behaviour but this may not be enough to take the evil of racism away from the sport. The analysis done by Crabbe (2004) in relation to racism indicates that football officials would rather ignore the issue rather than try to solve it. Even though the situation concerning racism from fans and players against other professional players in England has improved, it still leaves a lot to be desired. Describing the situation, he says that: In England, the cradle of football hooliganism, the debate over racism in football has evolved. Overt racism among supporters and abuse directed at black players, both of which flourished in the 1970s and 1980s, have declined steeply in recent years in the face of vociferous public campaigning, though residual prejudices against foreign players have evidently been unaffected (Crabbe, 2004, p. 38).” So while the homegrown minority population players have achieved some level o acceptance, foreign players still face a lot of issues when coming to play to a stadium which is full of hostility against them. For example players such as Vieira were singled out for racist comments not because of him being black, but because he is a Frenchman. The same issue was faced by other French super stars such as Emmanuel Petit and Eric Cantona (Crabbe, 2004). Being foreign is apparently worse than being black when it comes to modern football. The experience of the players has certainly been mixed simply because what may seem like a racist comment to one player could actually be nothing more than a joke for another. For example Vieira was playing against West Ham in a match where a defender for West Ham called him a French prat and said that he could smell the garlic. While the association fined the player and asked for disciplinary action, Harry RedKnapp, the manager for West Ham said that such fines were taking things too far as the defender was only making a joke. According to the manager, the statement was just sporting banter and should not be taken seriously by anyone (Crabbe, 2004). It seems that the management of some clubs and even the players themselves do not understand the issues surrounding the debate which means that is it even more unlikely that the fans could understand the issues. Disciplinary measures, fines or even punitive actions will not have a serious impact since the fans will not be quietened down nor will the players be silent when it comes to using racist banter. As described by Burdsey (2004) racism can be expected to plague football until concrete steps are taken which can remove racism itself from our social system. Even beyond England, when we consider the stadiums of Europe, football matches become places where fans as well as players are free to show their bigotry. In fact, Crabbe (2004) suggests that the sport of football becomes an outlet through which sporting rivalry is converted into racist ideals that are usually kept dormant or hidden by society in general. The rivalries run high and the passions held by the fans are quite strong about a sport such as football. Therefore, racist comments will continue until the very social fabric is altered to a point where racism becomes a thing of the past. Burdsey (2004) arrives at the same conclusion when he says that the problem is with the social setup in Europe since it is impossible to identify one racist individual within a crowd of thousands of fans. It may be easier to spot a racist in a team of twenty players but more difficult to prove it. He writes, “While we know that there is racism in football, do we really know exactly where, how and by whom it is instigated? (Burdsey, 2004, p. 297)”. The simplest answer is that we do not know who instigates it therefore it is very difficult to punish someone for the crime they are merely suspected of. However, it can be hoped that as the world becomes more enlightened, racism in every area of life will no longer affect us as a society. Works Cited Burdsey, D. 2004, ‘Obstacle race? Race, racism and the recruitment of British Asian professional footballers’, Patterns of Prejudice, vol. 38, no. 3, pp. 279-299. Carrington, B. and McDonald, I. 2001, Race, Sport & British society, Routledge. Crabbe, T. 2004, ‘Garlic, knives and banners: footballs racist faces’, UNESCO Courier, vol. 53, no. 11, pp. 38-40. Jarvie.G. 1995, Sport, Racism and Ethnicity, The Falmer Press Moran, R. 2000, ‘Racism in Football: A Victims Perspective’, Soccer & Society, vol. 1, no. 1, pp. 190-201. Szymanski, S. 2000, ‘Unfair play’, Economist, vol. 356, no. 8181, pp. 55-56. Read More