‘Racism always has a place!’

Modern football is a cultural product of Victorian England. At the beginning of the 20th century, the game was exported all over the world by the European colonial powers. The aim was to use sport to civilise the ‘the colonised’ and make them docile. How strongly is today's football influenced by its colonial and racist origins? Which imperial images of masculinity live on? How was the game appropriated in Africa and Brazil? Who profits from player transfers from the Global South, and how global is world football really? And: Can football even be decolonised?

To discuss these questions with Ronny Blaschke, Bella Bello Bitugu and Henrie Dennis, the fairplay Initiative, ballesterer, the Vienna Libraries and Wir Frauen im Sport invited guests to Club 2×11.

Moderator Mareike Boysen, secretary general of Wir Frauen im Sport, began the panel discussion by describing an incident during an amateur football match in Upper Austria, when the ASKÖ Ebensee team walked off the pitch after one of their players from Senegal was racially abused by a spectator.

Ronny Blaschke, journalist and author of the book ‘Spielfeld der Herrenmenschen’ ('Playing Field of the Master Race'), responded that it is not that common for a team to leave the field because of racism. Often, the prevailing opinion is that you cannot simply give the racists the field. ‘This so-called three-step plan by UEFA is also wrong, because it gives racists two more chances, which is absurd. When something like this happens, it's actually far too late, because something has already gone wrong beforehand," replied Blaschke. The opposing team and the spectator in question were fined by the Football Association of Upper Austria, but the match was awarded 0-3 in accordance with the ÖFB's legal regulations. ‘It is important to recognise,‘ Blaschke continued, ’that racism has a place everywhere because we live in a racist system and racist structures. You can see this, for example, in the sports media, in the presidencies, in the decision-making positions, where white men usually sit."

Ideologies, institutions and football

For Bella Bello Bitugu, a sport for development expert at the University of Ghana and the first black referee in Tyrol in the 1990s, these are by no means isolated cases; rather, it is the structures of society as a whole that cause and trigger racist attacks: ‘The incidents in football do not originate there, but come from ideologies, from education, from the way behaviour is adopted by people from society. This then manifests itself on the football pitch.’

Henrie Dennis, founder of Afro Rainbow Austria, former footballer at USV Nappersdorf and football player for the Vienna Vikings Ladies, shared her personal experiences when asked by the moderator whether the increasingly brutal political debates and climate were leading to more racist and homophobic violence. Dennis said: ‘Racism has always been part of the “Institution Austria”, of the institutions, which influences migration policy, for example. There are many civil society organisations and many individuals doing a lot of good things, but that only scratches the surface of racism; unfortunately, it's not enough. On a personal level, it is this microaggression that I am confronted with again and again in everyday life and that I have to live with.’ She said that stronger action against racism must be taken at the level of society as a whole, and that anti-racism work cannot be the sole responsibility of those who are themselves affected by racism or other forms of discrimination.

Black bodies, white fan blocks and “integration” through goals

During his research trips, Ronny Blaschke heard from players that they had to expend a lot of energy fighting against stereotypes, advantages and expectations in order not to confirm them. The colonial powers had to justify the exploitation of other continents and, with the help of pseudoscience, invented ‘human races’. ‘Added to this is the hierarchy of white intellectual superiority and black physical superiority, for which there is no scientific evidence,’ says Blaschke. For him, it is also structural racism when the diversity of teams is celebrated, but this diversity is practically invisible in club and association structures or in the fan stands. Although football was brought to other continents through colonialism, it later developed into a place of anti-colonial aspirations. Talk of integration through football or sport is not correct: ‘The right approach is integration through success, through the goals scored.’ In Austria, this conclusion is still remembered in the headline of the Kronen Zeitung newspaper, which ran during the 1998 World Cup: ‘Ivo, now you're a real Austrian!’ after Croatian born striker Ivica Vastić scored the equaliser against Chile.

Bella Bello Bitugu added that football is a product that has changed significantly throughout its history: ‘In its early days, football was brought to other continents by colonialism. The aim of colonialism was always exploitation. And even in today's football, the structures do not benefit African players or societies. However, in many African countries, football was seen as a means of liberation. It was a place of gathering, a place of exchange and the founding of political liberation initiatives. The CAF was also a product of liberation from colonialism.’

For Henrie Dennis, it was evident that capitalism played an important role in football. Neither symbolic politics and signs nor symbolic gestures could change this; they were merely ‘empty performances’. She continued: ‘Activism in small groups, in safe spaces, has no power. Symbols and symbolic actions can also cause damage because they serve as a distraction. This will remain the case as long as the structures do not change, as long as Black people are not given active roles as coaches, on the board, as managers.’

Ronny Blaschke agreed with Dennis that such debates are unlikely to reach the top levels and managing positions of football; voluntary measures are not enough in this area: ‘Pressure is necessary. Other countries and other sports are already further ahead in this respect. For example, in 2003, the NFL introduced the Rooney Rule, which stipulates that when head coach positions are filled, at least one candidate from a minority group must be invited to interview. The English Football Association has adopted this rule, at least at the lower levels. This has not been adopted in Germany, and probably not in Austria either. People react allergically to the word ‘quota’. Actually, every Bundesliga club, which often has hundreds of employees, should have its own cross-departmental department for anti-discrimination, equality and sustainability. But we shouldn't be too negative; there are a lot of good people and many good initiatives.’

Bella Bello Bitigu concludes his remarks on a conciliatory note: ’I've had good experiences and bad experiences, but overall they have enriched my life.’

This event took place as part of the ‘Sport for Global Justice’ project and is largely funded by the Austrian Development Cooperation (ADA).