Racism In Football Research Paper

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Last April as Dani Alves, a forward from F.C. Barcelona, prepared to take a corner a fan, in a show of racism and disrespect a fan threw a banana at Alves. Now most people may have ignored this type of racism or even argued with the fan but Alves dealt with the situation with complete calm and humour. He proceeded to pick up the banana, peeled it and then promptly took the corner. Events such as these show both the unrelenting issue of racism in European Football and the ever growing resolve of footballers. These events also bring to light that racism is deeply rooted in European societies and continues to persist on and off the pitch. Football is by far the most popular sport in Europe and has a storied past. Racism in association football has …show more content…

The actual extent of racism is virtually impossible to measure as detailed statistics in this context are almost non-existent. Nevertheless, acts of football disorder, especially on the international scene, have frequently been referred to as 'racist’ or perpetrated by racist groups, and some clubs are now viewed as having an inherently racist support. In a recent survey 91% of English football fans surveyed think that racism exists in football but only 43% see it as a serious problem. This survey also interviewed fans from Scotland, France, Germany, Spain, Italy and the Netherlands about their attitude towards racism in football. The survey also asked its participants if enough was being done to tackle racism in football. In Figure 1, statistics show the percentage of fans polled that believe racism exists in football in their country. What is really interesting about this survey is the differences in percentages in countries surveyed. Many Spanish fans, who have faced criticism in the past for their racist behavior, believe that racism doesn’t exist in their country completely contrary to the Italian fans

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