Book contents
- Frontmatter
- Dedication
- Contents
- List of Tables
- Notes on Contributors
- Acknowledgements
- Introduction
- 1 Englishness and Football Cultures: Belonging, Race and the Nation
- 2 Antisemitism in Football
- 3 Spot Kick on Racism: Marcus Rashford and Criminally Damaging Penalty Shoot-Outs
- 4 ‘England till I Die’: Memoirs of a South Asian Football Fan
- 5 Racism in Football: Perspectives from Two Sides of the Atlantic
- 6 A Critical Analysis of Past and Present Campaigns to Challenge Online Racism in English Professional Football
- 7 Homophobia, Hate Crime and Men’s Professional Football
- 8 Women Footballers in the United Kingdom: Feminism, Misogynoir and Hate Crimes
- 9 Trans Exclusion in Football
- 10 Tackling Homophobia, Biphobia and Transphobia in Football: What (If Anything) Works?
- 11 Prosecuting Hate Crime in Football
- Index
6 - A Critical Analysis of Past and Present Campaigns to Challenge Online Racism in English Professional Football
Published online by Cambridge University Press: 03 April 2024
- Frontmatter
- Dedication
- Contents
- List of Tables
- Notes on Contributors
- Acknowledgements
- Introduction
- 1 Englishness and Football Cultures: Belonging, Race and the Nation
- 2 Antisemitism in Football
- 3 Spot Kick on Racism: Marcus Rashford and Criminally Damaging Penalty Shoot-Outs
- 4 ‘England till I Die’: Memoirs of a South Asian Football Fan
- 5 Racism in Football: Perspectives from Two Sides of the Atlantic
- 6 A Critical Analysis of Past and Present Campaigns to Challenge Online Racism in English Professional Football
- 7 Homophobia, Hate Crime and Men’s Professional Football
- 8 Women Footballers in the United Kingdom: Feminism, Misogynoir and Hate Crimes
- 9 Trans Exclusion in Football
- 10 Tackling Homophobia, Biphobia and Transphobia in Football: What (If Anything) Works?
- 11 Prosecuting Hate Crime in Football
- Index
Summary
Introduction
Inside Wembley Stadium, the men’s England manager, Gareth Southgate, huddles his players together for a final team talk before the players step up to take their penalty kicks. First for England is Harry Kane, who scores with a shot that is low and to the goalkeeper’s right. Next is Harry Maguire, who smashes the ball into the top right of the goal. However, Marcus Rashford hits the post and Jadon Sancho’s and Bukayo Saka’s efforts are saved by Italian goalkeeper Gianluigi Donnarumma. It is the final of the UEFA (Union of European Football Associations) European Football Championship (Euro 2020), held in July 2021 due to the COVID-19 pandemic, and England have been defeated on penalties. Sadly, the online racist abuse which followed soured what should have been a proud moment for English football, as the national men’s team had reached their first major tournament final since 1966.
After the penalty kicks, in the ensuing moments online, the three young England players who missed theirs were rendered Black and ‘foreign’ above anything else, thereby exposing people’s deeply held views concerning race relations. Of particular interest here is the fact that a Fédération Internationale de Football Association (FIFA) report released in June 2022 highlighted that more than a third of the online abuse during the final came from online accounts based in the United Kingdom (UK). To offer further context, the abuse mirrored online reactions a decade prior towards Black English players Ashley Cole and Ashley Young, who also missed penalties against Italy during Euro 2012 (Press Association, 2012). The Euro 2020 case illustrates both the ease with which online racism is expressed and its frequency – it sadly represents yet another chapter in the history of online racism within football. What is clear is that forms of hate and forms of racism are evolving, with much of this moving online. Indeed, while racist chants and insults, and even bananas, were once hurled at players inside football stadiums, we can now observe these epithets in multiple digital forms. Many strategies (past and present) have sought to challenge online racism in football, some being more effective than others.
- Type
- Chapter
- Information
- Hate Crime in Football , pp. 83 - 102Publisher: Bristol University PressPrint publication year: 2023