Racism, Xenophobia, Antisemitism, and Islamophobia in European Football: Symptoms, Sources, and Solutions

This book examines the prevalence of racism, xenophobia, antisemitism, and Islamophobia in European football. It provides critical assessments of selected policies, strategies, campaigns, and initiatives that have been developed by various stakeholders aimed at combating these discriminatory practices.

Bringing together leading football researchers, this book opens with a discussion of the historical context for racism, xenophobia, antisemitism, and Islamophobia in European football and outlines the key terms and core concepts that frame the study of this topic. The book then offers ten in-depth case studies of European countries, including England, France, Germany, Italy, the Netherlands, Poland, Portugal, Scotland, Spain, and Sweden. Each chapter describes and analyses the various manifestations of racism, xenophobia, antisemitism, and/or Islamophobia against the specific socio-historical, demographic, political, and cultural contexts of the country before engaging with the responses of selected stakeholders. The case studies are followed by a critical account of supra-national responses, including the involvement of UEFA, the European Union, the Council of Europe, and Football Against Racism in Europe (FARE). The book is rounded off by a cross-cultural, comparative analysis drawing out the key themes that define the problem of racism and discrimination in European football today.

The most up-to-date study of one of football’s most disconcerting and enduring issues, this book is fascinating reading for any student, researcher, policymaker, or practitioner with interest in the sociology of sport, football and its fan cultures, issues of inclusion and exclusion in modern societies, European football, and the relationships between sport and wider society.

Udo Merkel is a German social scientist who spent most of his life working at HE institutions in England, UK. He has a keen interest in the political economy of football, politics and sociology of sport, mega sports events as a foreign policy and diplomatic tool, globalisation, comparative European sport studies and fan cultures. Now semi-retired, Udo is based in Spain and works as a consultant and independent critical scholar.