Racism in European Soccer

BY MAX HANDLER

Dani Alves was fed up, fed up with the racism of soccer fans and the seeming indifference of soccer authorities. So on April 27^th, 2014, when a fan of the Spanish team Villarreal threw a banana at him, he took a stand: he picked up the banana and ate. His teammate Neymar and fellow soccer star Sergio Aguero followed suit, taking pictures of themselves eating bananas and posting them online. The resulting media attention put racism in European soccer in the spotlight.

Despite its newfound attention, racism remains a major unaddressed problem in soccer. In England, there were just five black club managers as of last year. Following the sacking of Chris Houghton, there are now no black managers in the English Premier League, the most prestigious soccer association in the world. Other leagues do not fare much better.

Leagues have stepped up efforts in recent years to combat racism. In England, this charge has been led by the Kick it Out campaign, which has been in place since 1997. Unfortunately, the campaign has been riddled with controversy, as many players have refused to support it due to the perception that the organization is soft on racism. English footballer Rio Ferdinand and his brother Anton refused to participate in the campaign following an incident in which Anton was verbally abused by then-English captain John Terry. Terry was caught on video allegedly calling Ferdinand a “f*****g black c**t,” an offense for which he received a four match ban and a fine.

Despite attempts to deal with racism in soccer, prejudice is still prevalent. Black players still have to deal with monkey noises and bananas, and the nickname of the Tottenham fan base continues to be the “Yid Army.” The conversations that have occurred in response to prevalent racism are mostly empty grandstanding; no real progress has been made. To solve the problem of racism, real substantive changes must be instituted. Soccer’s governing bodies should harshly punish teams whose fans are found guilty of racial abuse, and players themselves must face more severe punishments for their actions. The message that is being sent today is that racism is not a serious issue. Increasing the length of bans and the amount of fines would be a solid start. In addition, leagues across Europe would do well to institute something along the lines of the NFL’s “Rooney Rule,” which requires all teams to interview at least one minority candidate when searching for a new head coach. Until teams can prove that they can hire black managers on a consistent basis, something must be done to force them to do so.

The main issue with something like the Rooney Rule that even if the managers and players are minorities, most fans are not. Many European nations are overwhelmingly white, and thus the fan bases are as well. Players from nations as diverse as Cameroon, South Korea, and Brazil are playing by and large for white audiences. This makes the task of quashing racism especially hard. Being around minorities forces people to confront their stereotypes and assumptions. Thus, the best way to deal with racism is to increase diversity. Unfortunately, this is next to impossible in the real world. Therefore, it is time to turn to the next best solution: education. An increased focus on educating people on racism and its negative effects could help lead to a decrease in overall racism. Soccer is the most popular sport in the world, making it a perfect place to start a larger anti-racism campaign.

It seems that racism in soccer has become a microcosm of racism in Europe as a whole. Europe has no history of integration, so the globalization of soccer has forced the continent to confront its racist attitudes for the first time. This new conflict is exacerbated by the poor economic situation in many countries, as poor economies tend to lead to increases in racism as people look for a scapegoat. Anti-racism campaigns are therefore fighting an uphill battle, as they are trying to combat racism at time when it is increasing throughout Europe. Neo-Nazi parties like Golden Dawn in Greece and Jobbik in Hungary, as well as anti-immigrant parties like the UK Independence Party, are gaining popularity throughout Europe. In Greece, this resurgence of racist political philosophy overflowed onto the field itself, when in March of 2013 Giorgos Katidis celebrated a goal with a Nazi salute.

It is clear that we must attack racism at its source. As long as overtly racist political parties have support, there will be overt racism in public forums such as soccer. It is only through education and other reforms that racial attitudes can be changed.