Resources

Football has been shown to be a mirror of society, it may also be viewed as providing a temporary suspension of reality for an interlude of high emotion and idealized hopes and dreams. Football’s public transcends differences of age, gender, culture, religion, and socioeconomic status to unite in support of their team. The broad diversity of backgrounds of football players represents tangible evidence of equal opportunity and meritocracy. The sport itself has team solidarity, fair play and mutual respect among members and for opponents ingrained within its rules and practices. Yet, the ‘beautiful game’ is one with an imbedded paradox. Football is also a game that may in many vaguely resemble war, where opponents face each other in a struggle to win over the other side, with the noisy and emphatic support of the spectators. An ‘us’ and ‘them’ mentality is an integral part of trying to help a team reach the objective, which is to win the game. This setting naturally produces a desire by supporters to intimidate the other side by encouraging their team and expressing both confidence and superiority through their words and actions. When the ‘us’ and ‘them’ mentality turns into symbolic exclusion of others, language of disparagement and insult based on racism or discrimination, or physical confrontation, the ‘beautiful game’ is debased. The existence of racism and discrimination in football is not a secret, but it is a shame on the game. Although much is already being done, both observers and experts feel too many problems persist and measures to tackle them have not been effective enough. This report was commissioned by UNESCO within the framework of UNESCO’s partnership with Juventus. It focuses on discrimination and racism in professional football and to some extent the amateur clubs that funnel into the leagues. It provides an overview of the historic and theoretical background. It reports on the state of affairs on the ground. It summarizes what has been done and is being done to mitigate racism and discrimination in domestic and international football, how the effects of these actions may be evaluated, and which new avenues for further, complementary action are promising. The report is based on a literature review, desk research, regional reports from the Unesco network and a field survey among a purposive sample of experts and actors in a number of countries. The report has a somewhat European focus, in its sources and examples. Europe has a unique position Executive Summary in the world of football, with its leading competitions, championships and clubs. It is the region where racism and discrimination in football has been most intensively researched. A number of civil society organisations from Europe have played a pioneering role in the fight against racism and discrimination in football. Moreover, the pressure that comes with the money invested in and generated by western European football, as well as its exposure in the media, has also made clubs, federations and UEFA particularly sensitive to the negative impact that discrimination can have on the game and its image, within Europe and worldwide. Europe must therefore occupy a central role in a study of the fight against discrimination in professional football and in determined policies to mitigate racism and discrimination related to football wherever they occur. The examples of incidents of discrimination and racism, as well as of existing measures to combat them have been selected to be as wide-ranging as possible. The authors do not, however, claim the report to be a comprehensive listing. Similarly, the examples of best practice have been collected through extensive reading and contacts, but must be looked at as an overview rather than as a directory. They are chosen by the authors to illustrate types of actions and institutions with the potential for greatest impact. The report also does not deal with the methods of allocation of resources to football, with issues of employment, or with womens’ football. While these are significant topics on which concerns can be expressed, the necessary focus of a report of this type means that they are alluded to without being treated in depth.