The past few
months have witnessed a rather unsurprising upsurge in cases of racial abuse in
and around the world of soccer. With England’s, Manchester United fullback, Rio
Ferdinand being struck in the face with a coin by Manchester City fans on
December 9th, along with the pitched battle that took place between
the Under-21 teams of Serbia and England in Krusevac on October 16th,
the issue of race in the world’s game has once again been thrust under a
magnifying glass. The issue of racism exist in recent memory when, last year
the blatant racial statements made by Chelsea’s captain John Terry and
Liverpool’s Luis Suarez, headlined soccer news. Although the Union of European
Football Associations (UEFA) and the Football Association (FA), penalized the
players with fines and multiple match bans, many have come out against both
organizations for not instituting tougher punishments. The New Zealand Herald
reported on December 15th, that Rio Ferdinand has taken to the
twitter-sphere voicing his criticisms, “UEFA are not serious at all on racism.”
Ferdinand’s sentiments mirror that of the Professional Footballers Association
(PFA) who also vocalized about the ineffectiveness of anti racism efforts in
Football. The PFA have been active in campaigning against racism with supporter
groups and players alike, yet, there is still a surprising lack of effort being
exhibited by the clubs themselves. Critics claim that very little scrutiny has
been given to the “institutional hierarchy” of Football Associations around
Europe and similarly to soccer’s governing bodies around the world;
specifically into how they perpetuate racism, allow the problem to exist.[1]
This paper will demonstrate the extent to which racism in soccer is perpetuated
by the governing institutions of soccer and how institutional racism sits as an
underlying issue to racism in the world of soccer today.
Institutional
racism, and racism in general, has maintained a long-standing relationship in
the history of soccer. Evidence for this claim can be seen in the racist hiring
decisions that soccer clubs exhibited throughout the early and mid 20th
century in Brazil. The Brazilian soccer league, during the 1920s and 1930s, was
riddled with racial strife. Teams, such as Vasco De Gama and Flamengo, whom,
despite actively recruiting black players, perpetuated racist practices by
placing these players into stereotypical roles. While clubs like Fluminese and
Gremio, purposely prevented black players from being a part of their teams.[2]
It is important to state that, in soccer, the administration and the coaches of
the clubs maintain the ultimate decision on who plays and what role they would
play in. This power to choose where and when someone would play resulted in
either the outright rejecting black players or placing them in roles deemed “ethnic
territory” by the club.[3]
This bias of selection in Brazilian football, can be tracked to the 1950 World
Cup where, upon losing to Uruguay, the entirety of the loss was placed upon the
shoulders of the only black players on the team, Bigode, Juvenal and Barbosa.
Following that loss, the Brazilian national team never fielded an African
goalkeeper until 1995, based on the mentality that black players lacked, “fiber
and discipline.”[4] Barbosa, the
African goalkeeper that played in the 1950 World Cup final loss, received the
brunt of this resentment, where his lack of intelligence and fortitude,
necessary attributes for a central player, was questioned due to his blackness.
Barbosa, and the sentiment that Brazil felt towards him following the loss, can
be boiled down to, the image of black players as being unintelligent and
lacking mental tenacity. Europe also provided examples of this institutional
racism as seen in the way European coaches and managers have treated and
discussed black players. Clemens Westernof, the Nigerian national team coach
from the late 1980s, made numerous underhanded racist remarks about his
players, claiming them to be, ”immature and easily diverted.”[5]
Ron Atkinson, the famous English coach from the 1970s and 80s, was consistently
noted as perpetuating racial stereotypes and racist remarks. The most astounding
of these comments being, “Africans as lacking in professional nous, attributing
this to their recent descent from the trees.”[6]
The pervasive mentality of these managers and coaches is one that rejects the
intellectual abilities of black players and places these players into
peripheral positions in football, based on racist sentiments about black
people.
Franklin Foer
highlights this nature of institutional racism presented in the positional
stereotyping that occurs in the Ukraine, as apart of broader issue where
“football players are still blithely discussed in racial idioms.”[7]
Foer follows the career of a Nigerian, Edward Anyamkyegh, as he plays for
Karpaty Lviv in the Ukrainian soccer league. Historically, Ukrainian football
has been dictated by a style of play created by Valeri Lobanovsky, who built an
authoritarian soccer system around numbers; where players were rewarded for
their defensive intelligence and effective ball retention.[8]
Lobanovsky’s system placed an overwhelming emphasis on intelligent and solid
performances, giving very little room for creativity and ingenuity; a system that
is relatively representative of the other European styles of play during the
era. However, these tactics slowly became obsolete as European clubs began
importing South American and African players to give their teams the “natural
instinct and unstructured patterns of skills,” needed with the development of
new styles of play which place more emphasis on attacking over defending.[9]
Colin King notes that there was a stereotypical emphasis on the
‘unpredictability’ of black players by soccer clubs based in their lack of
intellect and physical prowess; which made them suddenly valuable in the new
attacking mentality of European clubs. Petro Dyminsky, the Karpaty Lviv owner,
could “see the thinking behind the Nigerian purchases made by his fellow
owners,” and reflected a type of institutional racism that selected black
players solely on racial stereotypes to fit these new roles.[10]
Edward, along with fellow Nigerian, Samson Godwin, both experienced bias as
they were marginalized, placed on “the wings and flanks, which tend to
emphasize skill and athleticism versus intelligence.”[11]
These players represent the many Africans that are placed into peripheral roles
today; a quick example being, all of the black players on English Premier
League giants, Arsenal, are placed on the wings.
Feor also alludes
to another type of institutional racism, where English black players faced
hiring discrimination and positional stereotyping. Stephen Dobson and John
Goddard remark, “instances of black players appearing in the football leagues
before the 1970s were isolated,” pointing to a trend in English soccer that
actively prevented blacks from joining.[12]
Even as soccer progressed into the 1980s and 90s, and the English League was
recognized as the best in the world, racist attitudes persisted in hiring
discrimination. England, during this era, was noted as “the top-level importer
of talent,” bringing in the best and brightest players from around globe,
including an influx of black players.[13]
Africans, as Petro Dyminsky noted, had became a revelation in the game, a
notion not lost on the English League which started to import scores of
players. The 1990s in particular saw a surge in African talent from Peter
Ndlovu, the Zimbabwian that joined Coventry City in 1991, to Lucas Radebe and
Tony Yeboah, who joined Leeds United in 1994 and 1995 respectively. The
underlying issue that Dobson and Goddard reveal, is that English teams were
more willing to import black talent then seek it out within the confines of the
United Kingdom. Not only was it noted that prior to 1996, there were very few
black players employed in England, but out of those that were, the majority
were from foreign countries.[14]
This then alludes to a form of hiring discrimination where, the English teams
would rather import a black professional then foster localized talent,
preventing social mobility opportunities for blacks in England. This made black
English-born players like, Viv Anderson, who played for Nottingham Forest in
the 70s and 80s, or Ian Wright, representing Crystal Palace in the 80s,
outliers in system where prejudicial attitudes of a club’s management resulted
in lower retention rates among black players and lower wages.[15]
Such prejudicial
attitudes also applied to those that sought work in the administrations of the
clubs. Colin King notes that only 4% of the coaching staffs in the 70s had
blacks present, and the numbers have not altered since where, there are only 4
black people working for clubs in the English top division, comprised of 20
teams.[16]
Chris Hughton, the current coach for Norwich City represents one of the few
black people that are present in clubs on an administrative level. Hughton’s
career as a coach has been riddled with racial discrimination, where, given his
short coaching stints with Newcastle United, Birmingham City, and Tottenham
Hotspur, it would seem that clubs removed Hughton at the slightest glimpse of
trouble. Despite soccer’s emphasis on winning, the shear number of teams, the
speed with which he changed teams, and the absolute control that the
administration has over the club, suggests that the clubs granted him less
leniency in his job. Outside the example of Chris Hughton, there are a scarce
number of blacks working for clubs. The barriers to entry rest on the ease at
which whites are able to join clubs through their connections, whereas “blacks
only enter the institution through whites.”[17]
Recently, people like Gordon Taylor, the current head of the Professional
Footballers Association, believe that a direct change needs to occur on a club
level to allow more blacks to work. The proposal would follow the Rooney Rule,
passed in the United States in 2003, which was an affirmative action ruling
imposed on NFL teams. The rule did not force teams to hire African Americans,
but did force teams to interview a certain percentage of African Americans for
job position. The Rooney Rule’s success has increased the number of African
coaches in the NFL from two to eight, numbers that PFA want European leagues to
have.
To conclude,
English soccer stadiums have received press for being hotbeds to all forms of
racism. However, Richard Guilianotti confirms that many anti-racism campaigns
were organized and started by spectator groups like the Anti-Nazi campaigns by
Hamberg’s St Pauli FC supporters.[18]
Then where exactly does racism in the modern game persist? The 1920s and 30s in
Brazil provided some of the first obvious signs of racial discrimination in
soccer with the hiring decisions of the clubs. Europe, more specifically
England, provide a further look into the mentality behind discrimination, where
it took the form of stereotyping and positional discrimination. Where, prior to
the 70s, there were virtually no black players to speak of in England; a fact
seen with Viv Anderson being the first black player to play for England’s
national team in 1978. However, as the 1980s and 90s emerged, so too did a form
of hiring discrimination, where English clubs squandered the opportunities of
local blacks in favor for importing them from Africa. Edward Anyamkyegh, and hundreds
of African players, help show the positional discrimination that occurs due to
the pervasive mentality of coaches and owners. The barriers of entry for black
managers in England show a system that “continually selects white coaches and
managers,” preventing blacks from either joining the clubs or progressing in
them.[19]
Racism in soccer has been and continues to be a large issue in the sport, as
fans frequently slander black players and clubs continually prevent blacks from
upward mobility, race will continue to be one of the most prevalent problems in
the modern era.
[1] King, Colin.
Offside Racism: Playing the White Man. 71.
[2] Goldblatt,
David. The Ball is Round: A Global History of Soccer. 283.
[3] King, Colin.
Offside Racism: Playing the White Man. 10.
[4] Goldblatt,
David. The Ball is Round: A Global History of Soccer. 294.
[5] Giulianotti,
Richard. A Sociology of the Global Game. 163.
[6] Giulianotti,
Richard. 163.
[7] Giulianotti,
Richard. 161.
[8] Foer,
Franklin. How Soccer Explains the World. 159.
[9] King, Colin.
Offside Racism: Playing the White Man. 11.
[10] Foer,
Franklin. How Soccer Explains the World. 143.
[11]
Giulianotti, Richard. A Sociology of the Global Game. 162.
[12] Dobson,
Stephen. Goddard, John. The Economics of Football. 239.
[13] Dobson,
Stephen. Goddard, John. 216.
[14] Dobson,
Stephen. Goddard, John. 246.
[15] Dobson,
Stephen. Goddard, John. 246.
[16] King,
Colin. Offside Racism: Playing the White Man. 15.
[17] King,
Colin. 71.
[18]
Giulianotti, Richard. A Sociology of the Global Game. 161.
[19] King,
Colin. Offside Racism: Playing the White Man. 12.
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