This book takes a close look at discrimination in football in order to illuminate our understanding of the interaction between sport and wider society, politics and culture, particularly in terms of the (re)production of identity. It presents insightful and diverse international case studies, including the shadow of fascism in Italian football; fan activism against racism, sexism, and homophobia in US soccer; migrant football clubs in Germany, and the use of football club history in the teaching of antisemitism. Together they demonstrate the damaging societal consequences of unchecked resentment and discrimination in football fan cultures but also the potential for fan activism as a socio-positive force. This is fascinating reading for anybody with an interest in football or fandom, the sociology of sport, cultural studies, or political science.

This study provides an account of the role of race, nation and identity within contemporary football cultures. Focused on four clubs, this work shows how different clubs understand and experience race in different ways.

Despite campaigns to educate and increase awareness, discrimination continues to be a deep-rooted problem in sport. This book provides an international, interdisciplinary and critical discussion of various forms of discrimination in sport today, with contributions from world-leading academics and high-profile campaigners. Divided into five sections, the book explores racism, sexism, homophobia, disability, and the role of media in both perpetuating and tackling discrimination across a variety of sports and sporting events around the world. Drawing on examples from football, rugby, cricket, tennis, climbing, the Olympics and the Paralympics, it offers a critical review of current debates and discusses the latest empirical research on the changing nature of discrimination in sport. Taking into account the experiences of athletes and coaches across all performance levels, it presents recommendations for further action and directions for future research. A timely and challenging study, Sport and Discrimination is essential reading for all students and scholars of sports studies with an interest in the sociology of sport and the relationship between sport, society and the media.

Despite campaigns to educate and increase awareness, discrimination continues to be a deep-rooted problem in sport. This book provides an international, interdisciplinary and critical discussion of various forms of discrimination in sport today, with contributions from world-leading academics and high-profile campaigners. Divided into five sections, the book explores racism, sexism, homophobia, disability, and the role of media in both perpetuating and tackling discrimination across a variety of sports and sporting events around the world. Drawing on examples from football, rugby, cricket, tennis, climbing, the Olympics and the Paralympics, it offers a critical review of current debates and discusses the latest empirical research on the changing nature of discrimination in sport. Taking into account the experiences of athletes and coaches across all performance levels, it presents recommendations for further action and directions for future research. A timely and challenging study, Sport and Discrimination is essential reading for all students and scholars of sports studies with an interest in the sociology of sport and the relationship between sport, society and the media.

European Football in Black and White offers an engaging interpretation of a disturbing phenomenon in Europe's favorite sport: football violence fueled by racism. While many fans across Europe have used football to further destructive ethnocentric agendas, there are also pan-European initiatives in the football stadium to combat the almost endemic problem. Christos Kassimeris analyzes political ideologies that have influenced football supporters, drawing attention to the increasing politicization of football and the footballization of politics. He also considers the contributions of nationalism, social class, and media coverage before assessing attempts by various groups, from the Football Against Racism in Europe (FARE) network to the European Union, to rectify the problem. Ultimately, he concludes that football needs to be dissociated from both racism and politics for the sport to flourish. Unlike more traditional attempts to explain football violence and racism, this book seeks to establish a Europe-wide as well as a national explanatory framework for racism from a political perspective. This study will draw the interest not only of scholars across the humanities and social sciences, but also of ordinary football supporters. Book jacket.

Racism and English Football: For Club and Country analyses the contemporary manifestations, outcomes and implications of the fractious relationship between English professional football and race. Racism, we were told, had disappeared from English football. It was relegated to a distant past, and displaced onto other European countries. When its appearance could not be denied, it was said to have reappeared. This book reveals that this was not true. Racism did not go away and did not return. It was here all along. The book argues that racism is firmly embedded and historically rooted in the game’s structures, cultures and institutions, and operates as a form of systemic discrimination. It addresses the ways that racism has tainted English football, and the manner in which football has, in turn, influenced racial meanings and formations in wider society. Equally, it explores how football has facilitated forms of occupational multiculture, black player activism and progressive fan politics that resist divisive social phenomena and offer a degree of hope for an alternative future. Focusing on a diverse range of topics, in men’s and women’s football, at club and international level, Racism and English Football extends and expands our knowledge of how racism occurs and, critically, how it can be challenged. This is an essential read for scholars and students working on race, ethnicity, sport and popular culture, together with those interested in the social and organisational dynamics of English professional football more generally.

The playing fields of football are built with the profound values of fair play, equality and mutual respect -- they sometimes also display unacceptable racist, xenophobic and intolerant views. To counter this challenge, UNESCO is acting across the board with all its partners. In 2009, the European Club Association signed, on behalf of its 144 members, a Declaration promoting the inclusion of anti-discrimination and anti-racism clauses in players{u2019} contracts. Since then, in multiple partnerships with football clubs {u2013} including Barcelona and Malaga FC (Spain), Ruby Shenzhen (China), Al Hilal (Saudi Arabia) and recently with Juventus Football Club (Italy) -- UNESCO has placed emphasis on the role of clubs in propagating the essential messages of tolerance, respect and inclusion. This Report offers the first exhaustive overview of the challenge and proposes good practice that can be taken forward by clubs everywhere. -- foreword.

While football does not generate discriminatory behaviour, it often replicates the very same social issues that concern any given society. Evidently, football has witnessed an alarming increase in the number of disturbing incidents on the grounds of racism, ethnocentrism, sectarianism, homophobia, and sexism. Given the variety of forms that discrimination can take, it is imperative that football addresses with effect all such anti-social phenomena in order to continue to promote notions pertaining to social inclusion, equality, and cultural diversity – all central to the game’s philosophy and overall popularity. Assessing the nature and causes of discrimination in football is key to identifying the much-needed remedies, but also because discrimination poses a serious challenge to long-established practices deeply rooted in democracy. Discrimination in Football provides a comprehensive and in-depth investigation into these key issues affecting football today. This new book will appeal to academics and students with an interest in social science, law, sport, and humanities as well as football fans and professionals in the football industry.

Anti-Racism in European Football: Fair Play for All challenges the issue of racism in European football, identifies the causes of the problem, and seeks its remedy.

The “beautifully written” biography of the first African American player to be drafted by the NFL, “a must read for any sports fan” (Warren Rogan, host of the podcast Sports’ Forgotten Heroes). As the first African American to play quarterback, George Taliaferro was a trailblazer whose athletic prowess earned him accolades throughout his football career. Instrumental in leading Indiana University to an undefeated season and undisputed Big Ten championship in 1945, Taliaferro was a star when many major universities had no black players on their rosters and others were stacking black players behind white starters. George Taliaferro would later rack up impressive statistics while playing professionally for the New York Yanks, Dallas Texans, Baltimore Colts, and Philadelphia Eagles. His athletic prowess did little to prevent him from facing segregation and discrimination on a daily basis, but his popularity as an athlete also gave him a platform. Playing professionally gave Taliaferro more opportunity to use football to fight oppression and to interact with other important trailblazers, like Joe Louis, Nat King Cole, Muhammad Ali, and Congressman John Lewis. Race and Football in America tells Taliaferro’s story and profiles the experiences of other athletes of color who were recognized for their athleticism yet oppressed for their skin color, as they fought (and continue to fight) for equal rights and opportunities. Together these stories provide an insightful portrait of race in America. “A portrait of a young man who overcame the obstacles of racism, the military draft, and the death of his father. His vehicle for climbing over obstacles was athletic prowess and inner strength.” —Jim Baumgartner, College Football Hall of Fame