Solution to Racism: Eradicating Racism in Soccer

Imagine being a person of color, having to experience racism in the profession you love. Wouldn’t you want to let out all the anger and rage? Well, that’s the issue for the black community and people of color when it comes to soccer. For many years, soccer has served as an avenue for leisure. It has profited countries by helping serve as a means of job creations and provision of revenue. It has helped people from different cultures come as one and interact. The 'Solution to Racism in Soccer' essay examines some racist incidents in this sport and propose ways to solve this global issue. 

There are several racist incidents in the world of soccer, including abuse toward players of color. Behavior that once would have been discouraged is now allowed. Racism in soccer has been around for a while, and it doesn’t seem to be going. Not only is racism shameful, but it’s impolite; everyone should get treated with respect. This problem has only degraded the blacks in the community and has led players to make decisions they wouldn't have made if not for the mental and emotional effects this abuse has on them. This problem has a bad name on the leagues where it has occurred and the countries where these actions are. The persons and companies set up are not doing enough to curb this problem. It is increasing fast, and it’s at the stage where it has become a way of life in the industry. There should be punishments for every racist act that's happening. Governments and clubs should give severe penalties to offenders who discriminate against the black community. Soccer has turned into an avenue where players and fans contrast one another instead of bringing together countries and people from different cultures.

Soccer has become a beneficial sport. It instills responsibility in players by teaching them that progress takes effort and sacrifice. It coaches each individual to set goals and pushes them to work towards achieving them. In day-to-day life, players can apply the same goal setting and work ethic to improve themselves. Football promotes selflessness, teamwork, and the ability to assimilate at a group level. It builds leadership, self-discipline, and self-esteem and helps players feel they have a purpose. “If you don't get back up and keep trying, then you've lost the entire battle. “Teaches players to step up to the challenge rather than avoid it. Football teaches them to push through and keep trying, even when they fall or lose a game. Not only does it help the players and clubs, but also the economies that host the competition. The world cup that takes place every four years is now the biggest competition in the sports industry. Players have the opportunity to put themselves on this platform that hosts millions of individuals. By stats, a minimum of 1.5 million people who visit the host countries spends an average of $7000-$8 000 on necessities. Many tourist attractions will also be on the map and visited, giving people reasons to return for other vacations. FIFA can impact the economies of a small number of several, allowing them to host the World Cup. The organizations’ have monetary influence across the globe in each of its 209 members. Not only does soccer help in these ways, it provides jobs for people, which also increases the economic standards. According to statistics, when Brazil held the 2014 world, cup, Soccer created 14 million jobs. The provision of employment is enough to reduce the unemployment rate in any country drastically.

Although these soccer players make and gain a lot of money from doing their jobs in modern times, many are still forced to hide under shells and cannot play to their full potential due to racial discrimination. Racism in soccer didn't just start now but years ago. According to sources, there is no exact date given when racism in soccer started. Still, authorities couldn’t track discrimination back to 9th October 1909. Walter Tull, a 20-year-old apprentice printer, was the first to experience this. A section of the fans attacked him in the Northampton stadium in a shallow language. Racism in the past occurred in various types of ways. An essential aspect to consider when looking at the history of racism in soccer is that racist chanting at soccer matches was only made illegal in 1991. Almost the whole world has developed enough to understand that racism and discrimination are wrong.

However, there are arrogant, uneducated, and cruel people who do not understand the concept of treating others like they want. Examples of players who had to face racism in the early stages of soccer are Clyde Best and Jack Leslie. Clyde Best is the first black player of the modern era to establish himself in England's top division. The reaction he faced from fans on the terraces more than 40 years ago was extreme. Jack Leslie was not allowed to represent England, the country of his birth, due to his Jamaican parentage. Recent incidents have shown that racism is still a big problem in these more multicultural times. Racism in soccer occurs due to the cultural background or skin color of a person or player. The blacks are considered the minority while the whites, the majority. All these occur because the white people feel they are more superior than the blacks and therefore do as they please. Major European leagues have been living in a nightmare timeline of racial abuse. Racism is now a global disease worldwide, but when it comes to soccer, Europe has now gotten the spotlight for this problem and is now the number one continent where soccer players are racially abused. All countries in Europe have reported several cases of racism in which players feel mentally and emotionally attacked. One can only conclude that this is so because of the failed attempts to set up proper guidelines and efficient punishment to those who are being racists and attack people of color. The illusion of social progress often attributed to Europe has been steadily challenged by several racist incidents in European soccer. Instead of the soccer industry keep elevating and getting to higher heights, it only seems as if we are moving in a backward direction. Things might just seem as if it’s upgrading and developing so fast, but this one problem only makes it feel there is no improvement. Europe has now gotten the spotlight for this problem and is now the number one continent where soccer players are racially abused.

Now that racism is on an all-time rise again, the abuse has very drastic effects on the people who suffer against it. These soccer players voice out their cries to the public after soccer matches. During soccer matches, they explain their discomfort to the referees, who pass a message across to the stadium announcer to communicate that there is absolutely no room for racism. The pain and feeling don’t end on the pitch. Most of these soccer players are not happy that they still have to face racial discrimination in their profession in the modern age and time while doing what they know how to do best, which is playing soccer. Since these players can’t do anything physically about it as it would be considered immoral, they go to their social media platforms to cry out. Many of them go through mental discomfort and, most times, are even discouraged from going out to represent their teams. For example, Mesut Ozil retired from the German national team due to racist attacks. He felt he was not getting good treatment. The player believes that when the team wins, the Germans consider him one of them, but they remember He is Turkish of African descent when they lose.

In countries where soccer players experience racism, it has only helped hinder such countries from getting more stars. When soccer players notice racism in that country, they tend to try their best not to relocate to or even play soccer in such a country. It is only a disadvantage to such a country as it hinders them from hosting or having some of the biggest stars join their league. International soccer is one of the few things that the entire world has in common. The sport has been around for generations, with early versions of the game appearing 3,000 years ago in ancient China. Unfortunately, there have been examples of violence and xenophobia associated with it. Even institutionally, soccer has shown that it can bring negative consequences, such as World Cup stadiums in Qatar. Despite this, there are many benefits that soccer has to offer. Soccer can be used as a point of unification and unify countries on the international stage. Nelson Mandela used the Rugby World Cup to unify his country and stand up to injustice. In a polarized world, soccer provides an accessible medium for all to experience international pride. Soccer is just a game and isn't inherently good or evil.

Sport has the potential to play an important role in creating an inclusive society. European Union Agency for Fundamental Rights has researched racism, discrimination, and exclusion in sport. Relevant stakeholders can take measures at the EU and national level to fight and prevent racism, ethnic discrimination, and social exclusion in sports. This Guide of Promising Practices, Initiatives and Activities provides examples of successful activities that are transferable, in some cases inexpensive, and can give inspiration.”Hopefully, this Guide, in some small way, will ignite wider interest and encourage individuals and organizations to come together and promote the news negating racism through platforms they have adequate access to”. There have been multiple policies put in place to help fight racism in soccer. Several attempts seem like they aren’t working. Still, with these attempts, there have also been proposals and surveys passed across to thousands of people on the possible punishment racial abusers should be given. Racism group Kicks It Out and live-score app Forza Football surveyed 27,000 fans from 38 countries. 60% of respondents said they would support points deductions, while 54% said they'd support racist points deductions. In recent months the German Football Union was fined $28,000 for racist chanting during a friendly. The FA, our County FA network, or via our “dedicated anti-discrimination monitoring system,” reported a “racist or discriminatory chanting took place” in Russia. The survey found that only 28% of fans know how to report racist incidents appropriately. Football is a part of many things that make up what our society looks and acts like, so it has to show more responsibility and initiative towards doing what is right. It is hard and devastating to put into words how despicable it is to have a stadium announcer ask for a crowd to stop dehumanizing football players because of their skin color via racial abuse. To give them one opportunity, then another, and then one more, is completely pointless to me. A person being racially abused at their workplace is unequivocally worse than all of the other “crimes” listed above. It just shows what the likes of Fifa, Uefa, and even our own Football Association, value the most.

Black players have got to be proud and act like it. They should form a union and fight back with pride and performance. Blacks are constantly subjected to racism in leagues all over the world. Most of these Africans playing in these leagues are from west Africa. Our own local leagues suffer less attention or no attention at all from soccer fans. It is shameful that we support these clubs in all major leagues, and we are racially abused. A lot of players have been involved in racism over the past years. The FA should impose an automatic one-year ban on any player found guilty of such abuse. Mark Clattenburg has vigorously denied any wrongdoing, but he has been “stood down” for the time. The PFA has asked the FA to take swift action rather than have this matter also drag on for weeks or months. The best way to ensure such an incident will never happen again is if the FA changes its tariff of punishment for racial abuse and publishes it as soon as possible. If Clattenburg (or any referee) were found guilty of racial abuse, they should be banned from the live game.

For my research, I used two people as my source of extra information based on knowledge, expertise, and interest. One of them is an aspiring female soccer player, while the other is a soccer coach. I had picked these two to be my test subject because I wanted to get first-hand information from someone who is aspiring to be a soccer player in the nearest future and know what the possible effects racism has on her what she plans to be. Knowing if racial discrimination already affects her now that she is still at a developmental stage and knowing if this problem affects her mental health and wellness. I chose to interview a soccer coach and advisor to get a more mature opinion about the game and the racial discrimination experienced in it today in the modern era of the game.

The methods I used for this were both surveys and interviews. I chose to use surveys so certain questions that I needed responses for could be answered by multiple people. In contrast, I chose interviews to get personal opinions and beliefs in certain areas from my test subjects.

Many of my themes from my interviews were able to be crossed over. This came as a relation between the themes and some of the information from my outline. Those from my outlines were gotten from journals and various websites, while I got the information from the interviews from physical interactions via zoom. Themes stated in my analysis were: Impact of racism on the career of a player, The mental stability and wellness of the players, The impact of racism on aspiring youth soccer players, The influence of social media on racism, The experience of racism in soccer, and The solution to racism in soccer. I choose these themes because they were related to my paper and can help strengthen my thesis.

The first theme I went over with the female aspiring soccer player was “Impact of racism on a player's career.” This theme came about from my belief that racism in soccer has negative effects on the players' lives, and my question was, “ Do you believe there is? Do you think racism can affect the career of a soccer player? My respondent believes it will affect the career of soccer players; for instance, players are attacked on the pitch. Because they don’t feel good, they may decide to walk away from the pitch, resulting in cancelation or postponing the soccer match. This sometimes affects the team as a whole, and the rest of the team doesn’t feel good because they’ve seen what their member or teammate is going through. So, in this case, if racism in soccer is being curbed or reduced, nothing of such will happen again. When I analyzed her response, that soccer has an impact o the career of the player. This is because all players are human and have their own mental and emotional lives. Racism in soccer is not something that happens physically because it has its own mental effects, which can break a player's confidence. My Interviewee, Favour Peters, gave an example of a player who walked off the pitch after experiencing racial abuse. Such a player would probably go back into the locker room to rethink if soccer is actually benefiting him despite the high pay. Definitely, the sport is helping him provide for and take care of his family. Still, definitely, his mental and emotional health are equally important. When these things are considered, A player might be considering retirement or may lack confidence while playing soccer. This can be traced back to my research where I found a source with a very similar incident where a soccer player, Mesut Ozil, had to quit International soccer and give up on representing his country Germany because when he has a bad day at the office, fans and people use their social media to question him on why he is representing their country rather than his country of Origin Turkey which is in Africa. He questions why He is being picked on because his place of origin is an African country. Meanwhile, he has teammates whose places of origin are not Germany but countries in Europe, and they are not picked on. I have concluded that racism can affect a player's career as there are many more instances of similar or different incidents where players have to stop playing the sport they love either for a country, a club, or entirely.

The second theme I went over was “ The mental stability and wellness of the players,” and I made this a theme because I believe that racism in soccer affects a player's mental health. For clarity and to get an opinion from the second point of view, I asked my respondent if she believes racism affects a player's mental health. She said, “Yes, I do because attacking players during a soccer match can affect their mental health, so now let’s imagine curbing racism in soccer, not like it Completely goes away, but then mental disabilities or mental health problems from soccer players will reduce to a certain extent and will be better than before.” When I analyzed her response, my test subject believes that there is an effect on a player's mental health. This has turned out to be a serious case in the soccer industry now. Many players lack confidence when they are playing soccer matches because of the effect of racist actions such as chants and throwing of foodstuff on the players. Some players are forced to shut down or stay away from their social media platforms because of the impact that these platforms have and how they affect them. If we go back to my research, I have a section where I gave examples of players who have experienced racism either on the pitch, off the pitch, or through their social media platforms and how these players have come out to speak to broadcasting or news, or media companies on how it affects them and their mental health and how these actions have forced them to take steps that they have or will not have taken if not for racial abuse.

My next theme was “The impact of racism on aspiring youth soccer players.” This theme was to help prove my point that racism affects aspiring youth soccer players. My question to her was, “Does racism in soccer have any impact on the lives of the youth and younger generation? And if curbed, how will this also affect the youth?” My analysis of her response was that racism and discrimination in soccer could influence a child's decision or youth aspires to be a soccer player. My respondent believes that whatever a child or youth sees can impact them either positively or negatively. When they see good things, they will want to have it or wish it upon themselves, and when they see bad things, they will shy away from them. She believes that a child who watches soccer and then sees how the black people are treated or the abuse they have to face daily will not want to experience something similar when he is in such a position. I personally agree with this. Not everyone gives up on their dreams of becoming a soccer player, but this abuse can put an end to some people’s aspirations of playing soccer at a professional level.

The last theme for this particular interview was “The influence of social media on racism.” I chose this theme to prove that social media could influence racial discrimination either in a good way or in a bad way. My question to her was, “Do you think social media can help influence and pass across messages fighting against racism?”. My analysis of her response was that social media has the power to influence racism in soccer, either positively or negatively. As a result of social media and its platforms, people have the power to either spread the word against racism or use the platform to engage in racial abuse and discrimination. My respondent believes that organizations built to curb this problem through famous and popular social media platforms. Even people can use them as a medium to pass across a message negating racial abuse. She believes that individuals can be enlightened about the consequences and negative effects that racism has on the soccer industry with the use of social media platforms. I totally agree because, in my research, I have sections that talk about the impact social media has on the soccer industry and how players use these platforms as their speaking points to try to help curb and reduce the practice of racism in the soccer industry.

For my next set of themes, I had the soccer coach respond based on facts and his personal opinion. My first theme was “ The experience of racism in soccer” I chose this to prove my case that the black community experiences racism in soccer more than any other type of race. The question raised was, “What race do you think experiences racism the most in soccer?” My analysis on this was that soccer is a global sport involving a mixture of people from different backgrounds and races, and racism is a rampant issue in soccer, mostly directed towards black people and people of color who love playing the game. These people experience racism because the whites feel they are more superior than them, and they do not deserve to be given such a big platform. Some fans can take the slightest error of a black player and use it as a platform or an opportunity to throw racist words and actions at them just because they are of different skin color and feel more superior than them. This can be referred to back in my research where examples of some players like Romelu Lukaku and Moise Kean have faced different racist actions from fans and expressed their frustrations on the soccer pitch. Another example from my research was the incident between two soccer clubs, Psg and Instanbul, where all the players walked off the pitch because a match official used an inappropriate word on the black coaching staff of Instanbul.

My next theme was “The solution to racism in soccer,” and I made this a theme because I believe there is a way to curb racism in soccer. My question was, “Do you think any other organizations can be formed, and what do you think they should do to help fight or curb it if yes?”. My analysis of his response was that this theme, in particular, talks about the possible things that agencies can put in place to help curb or reduce racism in soccer. In this case, we take a little insight into the type of organizations that could be formed and what they can do to help reduce or curb this problem. As a result of this interaction, we’ve tried to analyze possible steps and procedures that these organizations could take to make everyone involved in the sport feel equal and have equal rights both on and off the pitch. My respondent believes making the blacks more involved in the game, for example, employing more black coaches and having more black players, is a start. He also believes that the mandatory presence of players from different continents should be present in teams so that they learn to move along with one another and either win, sticking together and being one, or lose, downgrading one another.

I made connections with some of my themes because they were related somehow or manner. With these connections made, it helps paint a bigger picture to show how serious racism in soccer has become in the modern era. Some of the themes I connected were “Impact on career and Mental stability and wellness,” which came together to form “Impact of racism on the career and mental stability and wellness of the player.” My connection to these themes came as a result of a conclusion that I made: racism impacts the career of a player. Still, before it can affect the career, it has a starting point: the mental stability and wellness of the player. The moment this discrimination affects a player's mental health, the only thing that is left will be the career. This is a choice that the player will have to make by himself. In conclusion, racism affects the career of a soccer player. Still, mental stability and wellness due to this abuse are the roots of why some players consider retirement and putting an end or a halt to their careers.

Next was “Discrimination has an impact on aspiring youth soccer players” and “Influence of social media on racism,” coming together to form “Social media can help affect the decisions of aspiring youth soccer players.” My connection between these themes shows that although racism in soccer may affect the mindset of aspiring youth and young players who want to play soccer at a professional level, social media can serve as a platform to help reverse or change the point of view of these youths by showing them that the social platform can help spread a message negating racism in soccer. To do this, the youths will have to realize that the efforts and actions of social media in helping curb these problems are actually coming out fruitful and positive. With the impact of social media, the message “say no to racism” can be passed across, which can help reduce the limit at which these events happen and change the minds of the youths who have almost given up on their dreams as a result of discrimination that is faced in the sport today.

I made the last theme from the combination of these two themes, “The experience of racism in soccer” and “The solution to Racism in soccer” which formed “Although many people experience racism in soccer, there can be solutions to this problem” The reason I have these two themes combined is that I know the black people and people of color experience racial abuse in soccer. Still, there can be solutions and policies that individuals and organizations can implement to help curb this problem. My respondent believes in using social media and laws to regulate and spread the message negating racial abuse. From my research, I found that some policies exist which can actually be effective means to curb this problem, but these policies are not just properly implemented and enforced.

“Racism in soccer is not an occurrence that should be allowed to slide without attention given to it. Soccer has turned into an avenue where players and fans contrast one another instead of bringing together countries and people from different cultures. The sport has been beneficial to the fans and the economy of countries that host its games. As a result of the good the game has on the countries, many people have shunned the bad that is ever-present in the game—racial profiling against the blacks, which has occurred for decades. To return the sport into a loved game, everyone must take action to curb the fatality that is fast rising. Through my research, I have obtained adequate information on the history of this problem, its development, the people who experience it, and the possible solutions to help get rid of this discrimination. With this information, I hope I have convinced anyone reviewing this topic in the future years to come that racism is still ever-present in the soccer industry. Although it is not tackled efficiently, several measures can be put in place to tackle this occurrence.

Works Cited

• John Simkin. Spartacus Educational, Spartacus Educational, spartacus-educational.com/Fracism.htm.
• Dobson, Stephen, and John Goddard. “Professional Football: Historical Development and Economic Structure.” The Economics of Football, pp. 22–124., doi:10.1017/cbo9780511493225.003.
• Ho, Ro. “CNN Documentary on the History of Racism in Soccer.” Originalpeople.org, 2 Sept. 2013, originalpeople.org/cnn-documentary-history-racism-soccer/.
• “How Football Is the Sport That Brings the World Together.” Aspiras Foundation, 6 Aug. 2019, www.aspirasfoundation.org/how-football-is-the-sport-that-brings-the-world-together/.
• “Racism and Football Fans.” Football Hooliganism, 2013, pp. 152–165., doi:10.4324/9781843926078-22.
• Tindall, Rob. “Does Soccer Bring Us Together?” HuffPost, HuffPost, 25 June 2017, www.huffpost.com/entry/does-soccer-bring-us-together_b_10640018.