A timely and interesting book on the football-racism nexus

Jan Andre Lee Ludvigsen,
Liverpool John Moores University, UK

When attempting to understand the overt and covert racist social relations and structures that exist in sport, an important task is to interrogate the historical conditions, and contexts, that lie beneath them (Giulianotti, 2015). Journalist and author Ronny Blaschke’s new book Football and Racism: How Colonialism Shaped the Modern Game is a timely and well-researched book in this regard, aiming to create a deeper understanding of the causes of racist structures and thinking in football and, in doing so, contextualize these structures’ relationship to colonialism and its (in)visible legacies. While the book remains concerned with the ways in which these structures have been created or enabled by states, football authorities or clubs, ever since football in its current form emerged, another key aspect of the book is also the author’s bottom-up focus; on the ‘people who stand up against discrimination with courage and expertise’ (p. 11).

The book’s nine main chapters – situated between shorter introductory and concluding chapters – draw upon over 120 interviews that the author conducted between 2020-2024 across five continents. Whilst the book is clearly written for a more mainstream readership than an academic one, the text, and its arguments, are also often rooted in academic sources on the topics.

At the same time, the book tells important stories about how individuals and groups within the book’s contexts resist, and challenge racism, discrimination, and seek to enforce social change by reclaiming their voice.

Each chapter is set up around the football-racism nexus in relation to one country, context, or former empire. The chapters focus on the UK (Chapter One), Germany (Chapter Two), Portugal (Chapter Three), India (Chapter Four), France and Algeria (Chapter Five), Namibia (Chapter Six), Brazil (Chapter Seven), Chile (Chapter Eight) and the US (Chapter Nine). Whilst space restrictions mean that each chapter cannot be discussed in detail in this review, the chapters are all packed with important historical contextualization, discussions of how colonial legacies live on in present-day football, and the voices of experts, academics, reporters, activists, ex-players and coaches.

In Chapter Three, titled ‘The Illusion of Friendly Oppressors’, the case of Portugal is unpacked. Here, the author covers how the regime sent clubs on ‘pilgrimages’ to African colonies in attempts to make their ‘ruling system appear somewhat less strict’ (p. 78), but also in order to ‘civilize’ local populations, and scout for talented players (some of whom were brought to Portuguese clubs, where they ‘earned less money than their white colleagues’ [p. 78]). Blaschke also demonstrates here – a theme that reoccurs in other chapters in the book, too – how Black athletes are commonly described in public discourses in terms of ‘the animalistic’ and their alleged ‘physical superiority’. The chapter also tells the story of, and provides insights from Blessing Lumueno, one of few Black top coaches in Portuguese professional football. The chapter hence discusses the connections between historical conditions, overt, and more institutional forms of racism, in form of under-representation in leadership positions.

Chapter Five provides an interesting account of French football in light of the country’s invasion of Algeria that started in 1830. On the one hand, the chapter demonstrates how, even today, symbols and chants inside Algerian stadiums commemorate colonial crimes and injustices. On the other hand, it demonstrates how, in France, players of Algerian origin are located at the core of debates regarding migration, identity and ‘Frenchness’ and whether, as Blaschke writes, ‘the French [national] team is actually French’ (p. 142). This chapter powerfully unpacks those tensions that exist around footballers with biographical links to former colonies, such as Senegal, Algeria and Morocco, whose success is often framed in terms of ‘Frenchness’, but as one of Blaschke’s interviewees states: ‘their misdemeanours are blamed on their origins’ (quoted on p. 117).

Then, Chapter Nine primarily explores the under-representation of Latinos in men’s and women’s football in the US – in form of players, coaches and in leadership positions. Though, parts of the chapter also focus on anti-Asian racism and barriers that keep Asian Americans away from football. Set against the backdrop of Los Angeles, the author investigates here how football remains a sport for the middle-class given the consistently high fees for membership, transport (to practice/matches), and equipment. As Blaschke notes, ‘[r]acism, purchasing power and social participation are closely linked in the USA’ (p. 219) meaning, in turn, that many Hispanic families are unable to send their children to sports clubs. In this chapter, we are thus introduced to new community and grassroots level projects that seek to reduce barriers for participation through sustained efforts, such as ‘Street Soccer USA’.

The concluding chapter returns to the question of how football can be decolonized. The author makes the argument that ‘clubs and associations should also take a self-critical look at where and how Black footballers have been marginalised in their environment’, but acknowledges that this ‘would only be the beginning’ (p. 250). Blaschke also makes the case that football – given that it ‘provides an understandable framework’ (p. 250) – can assist wider debates and efforts speaking to decolonization at the current juncture.

Overall, in Football and Racism, Blaschke demonstrates how racism in football is deeply rooted in colonial legacies that continue to shape football – as an amateur and professional game, as an industry, and as a popular cultural phenomenon. Its insights underpin how top-down, anti-racist campaigns are often limited or fail to ‘dismantle the structural inequalities that restrict and impact participation in the game’ (Kassimeris et al., 2022:831). At the same time, the book tells important stories about how individuals and groups within the book’s contexts resist, and challenge racism, discrimination, and seek to enforce social change by reclaiming their voice. Thus, the text adds to important and current debates both within and beyond football. Its global scope and attention to historical detail are impressive. The book is well-written, packed with unique insights from several interviewees, and should be of interest to readers generally interested in football and sport, but also postcolonialism, and anti-racism initiatives.

Copyright © Jan Andre Lee Ludvigsen 2025

References

Giulianotti, R. (2015) Sport: A Critical Sociology. Cambridge: Polity.

Kassimeris, C., Lawrence, S. and Pipini, M. (2022) Racism in football. Soccer & Society, 23(8): 824-833.