Hate Crime in Football : How Racism Is Destroying the Beautiful Game

Rates of hate crime within football have been increasing, despite the visibility of anti-racist actions such as ‘taking the knee’. With a unique collection of testimonies, this book shows that hostility is a daily occurrence for some professional football players, ranging from online threats to physical intimidation and violence at football matches. Bringing a range of perspectives to this widespread problem, leading academics, practitioners and policy makers shed light on the best strategies to tackle racism, homophobia, transphobia and misogyny in football. Front Cover 1 Hate Crime in Football 2 Copyright information 3 Dedication 4 Table of Contents 6 List of Tables 8 Notes on Contributors 9 Acknowledgements 18 Introduction 20 References 23 1 Englishness and Football Cultures: Belonging, Race and the Nation 24 Introduction 24 Race making and football cultures 26 England, whose England? 30 Antiracism in football 32 Changing boundaries and identities 34 References 35 2 Antisemitism in Football 38 Introduction 38 Contested definitions of antisemitism 39 ‘Religious’ hate crime in England and Wales 41 Forms of antisemitism in England 42 Prevalence of antisemitism in English football 45 Nature of antisemitism in British football 46 Tottenham Hotspur and antisemitism 50 Conclusion 53 Notes 54 References 55 3 Spot Kick on Racism: Marcus Rashford and Criminally Damaging Penalty Shoot-Outs 63 Introduction 63 Euro 2020 66 Hate vandalism 67 Theorizing hate vandalism 70 Critical race theory 71 Prosocial acts of ‘repair’ 73 Conclusion 74 References 74 4 ‘England till I Die’: Memoirs of a South Asian Football Fan 78 Introduction 78 The kick-off 80 Supporting Liverpool 81 England ‘till I die’ 82 Social unity and sport 83 Reactive not proactive 84 Will we ‘walk alone’? 85 Notes 86 5 Racism in Football: Perspectives from Two Sides of the Atlantic 87 Introduction 87 How football governing bodies are tackling racism 87 Fédération Internationale de Football Association 87 Union of European Football Associations 88 Confederation of North, Central America and Caribbean Association Football 90 Race in English, American and Italian football 91 England 91 United States 94 Italy 95 Conclusion 98 References 99 6 A Critical Analysis of Past and Present Campaigns to Challenge Online Racism in English Professional Football 102 Introduction 102 Researching sport and online racism 103 Understanding online racism in football 106 Assessing responses to online racism in football 108 Kick It Out and the Klick It Out campaign 109 Social media boycotts 112 United Kingdom Football Policing Unit 114 Conclusion 115 References 117 7 Homophobia, Hate Crime and Men’s Professional Football 122 Introduction 122 Foundations of football: masculinity and sexuality 123 Football in a culture of hostility 125 A culture of inclusivity 127 Football in a culture of inclusivity 128 Combating homophobic hate crime 131 Kick It Out’s statistics on hate crime in football 133 Conclusion 135 Notes 136 References 136 8 Women Footballers in the United Kingdom: Feminism, Misogynoir and Hate Crimes 143 Introduction 143 Feminism and football 145 Feminism and hate crimes 148 Misogyny as a hate crime 151 The problem of performance 153 Conclusion 156 Note 156 References 157 9 Trans Exclusion in Football 162 Introduction 162 Trans participation in football 164 Equality legislation, football policy and exclusion 167 Impact of trans exclusion 170 Conclusion 172 Note 173 References 173 10 Tackling Homophobia, Biphobia and Transphobia in Football: What (If Anything) Works? 178 Introduction 178 Data on LGBTphobic hate crime 181 Policies on antidiscrimination and LGBT+ fans 183 The aims of LGBT+ fan group activism 184 Inclusivity 184 Visibility 185 Education 185 Influencing policy 186 Socializing 186 Progress to date, according to campaigners 186 Visibility 186 Inclusivity as a result of education 187 LGBT+ allies 188 Policy 188 Socializing and networking 189 Case Study: Liverpool Football Club and homophobic chants 189 The main obstacles for campaign groups 191 Conclusion 194 Notes 196 References 197 11 Prosecuting Hate Crime in Football 200 Introduction 200 What is hate crime and how does it impact on football? 201 Definitions and legislation 201 Footballing context 203 The role of the police, prosecutors and courts in dealing with hate crime 203 The history of hate crime in football and the response of prosecutors 204 Prior to 2000 204 2000 to 2020 205 Legislation 207 Pre COVID-19 207 The operation of the legislation 208 Prosecution policies and guidance 210 The situation post-COVID-19: does hate crime remain a problem in football? 211 Conclusion 214 References 215 Index 218