Racism in professional football is regularly reported in the media. A new study by the University of Wuppertal shows that racism is also commonplace in German sports clubs. Eleven athletes of African origin report almost unanimously that they are exposed to various forms of racism. In contrast, the predominantly white members of sports clubs do not perceive the everyday subtle forms of racism as racism at all, ignoring or denying them. The problem hardly plays a role in discussions within the clubs; according to the authors of the study, racism is “more likely to be ignored than discussed”.
The findings are based on the research project “Racism and Anti-Racism in Club-Organised Sport”, which is based at the Department of Sociology of Sport at the University of Wuppertal. In-depth interviews were conducted with four women and seven men of African origin who are mostly active in football clubs in urban areas. In addition, a representative online survey was conducted among more than 3,000 predominantly white sports club members, about a fifth of whom hold honorary or full-time positions in their seven sports clubs.
Insults, jokes and prejudices
The athletes surveyed reported, for example, racist insults from opposing teams or the audience, racist jokes in the changing rooms, physical boundaries being crossed, such as unsolicited touching of their hair, and unequal treatment by referees and coaches. In addition, they were often denied their German identity or subjected to stereotypes: for example, that their African origins made them particularly fast, muscular or assertive, but less disciplined or reliable. They were also denied mental and tactical abilities.
Combating a lack of knowledge through training
The findings on how clubs deal with racism showed that “while individual cases of racism are often recognised, there is a lack of knowledge about structural racism,” according to Prof. Tina Nobis, head of the research project. There is still relatively little awareness of everyday, structural, subtle racism, especially among white club members. The authors of the study therefore suggest appointing trained contact persons for racist incidents and holding workshops on racism for key figures such as coaches, referees, volunteers and full-time staff. It must become a matter of course that structural racism is identified as such and combated at all times.
For the full final report of the study:
Report_Racism_and_Criticism_of_Racism_in_Club-Organised_Sport.pdf
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