Fighting Racism in Football: England as a Case Study

Abstract

The present dissertation focuses on the issue of racism in football which impaired the game for decades. It first provides the major reasons behind discrimination and racism, and underlines the suffering of victims in different roles in the world of football. It, then, considers the roots of racism in football and the anti-racist responses at the European level. Next, the work examines racism in England’s professional football. It deals with some racial incidents within stadiums, and highlights the role of English authorities and non-governmentalcampaigns to limit the issue among football fans, players, clubs and professional bodies. The central theme of this study concerns theemergence of local, national and international anti-racismcampaigns and initiatives designed to combat racism in football, and their effects on eradicating racism in English football. The dissertation concludes with the assessment of the efficacy of anti-racist organisations, and confirms that, while considerable improvement has been achieved in confronting some forms of racism in football, there are still many levels of racism and discrimination within the game that are frequently very difficult to detect on the surface.