For the Love of the Game?: Football and Hate Crime
Lead Research Organisation:
University of Brighton
Department Name: Sch of Sport and Health Sciences (SPHS)
Abstract
For the first time, For the Love of the Game? brings together a wide network of stakeholders, creative practitioners, and interdisciplinary academics to explore the manifestation of hate crime in football, such as racism, sectarianism, religious-hate, gender-based violence, and homophobia. It is timely because Black Lives Matter has initiated reflection on the impact of racism in society. Also, hate crime has increased during previous pandemics (eg HIV) and is likely to continue and change following covid-19. Innovatively, the project seeks to understand the role of masculinity in the reproduction of hate crime in football. Whilst there has been a significant reduction in the verbal expression of hate crime in stadiums, this does not mean that the phenomenon has disappeared, particularly on social media or in grassroots matches. As a globally popular cultural leisure pursuit, football gives us a critical space to engage with a range of participants.
To understand these manifestations, this timely project will pursue four core objectives: (1) to develop interdisciplinary and impactful networks beyond football associations, leagues and clubs; (2) use this network to build knowledge of the manifestation of hate crime in football, and how it can be challenged; (3) centralise the role of masculinity in the reproduction of hate crime in football and how it can be confronted (4) use creative approaches to facilitate production and dissemination of this knowledge.
The focus of this networking bid is players and fans of men's amateur and professional football in the British context, whilst drawing on specific expertise from Europe. The six workshops (see below) will provide a context for lively debate of current research and future challenges, bringing together academics, policymakers, football authorities, and fan groups. The workshops will take place across different parts of the UK (and Berlin) using creative activities to engage diverse participants, whilst prioritising local features of hate crime and responding to wider national and global trends. Workshops will involve artistic facilitators (Nike Jonah of Counterpoint Arts, fanzine producer Hamja Ahsan, and playwright Hassan Mahamdallie) who will use creative approaches (including storyboarding, drama, collage, cartooning) to identify the key issues, themes and potential solutions, and to inform two specific outputs (an illustrated fanzine and short films). The six events will explore the following inter-related themes:
1. Setting the parameters: hate crime in football (Brighton)
2. Hate crime in the stadium (Southampton)
3. Online abuse: social media and hate crime (Glasgow)
4. Hate in the grassroots game (Liverpool)
5. The European perspective (Berlin)
6. The way forward (dissemination event): how fans and authorities can tackle hate crime in football (Glasgow)
To encourage and gain insights from fan groups and policy makers, we have organised funding across all workshop sessions for these groups. In doing so we aim to provide a critical, yet policy relevant, forum in which the practice and impact of hate crime can be better understood.
To this end there will be several public, academic and policy-focused outputs. This includes a fanzine that will illustrate what is hate crime and how individuals can challenge its expression. Three short videos will be produced that highlight some of the key reasons how hate crime occurs across different spatial contexts (elite levels, grassroots, online), and how it can be tackled within institutions and cultural change within the game. In addition, an executive report and position paper will be produced to provide to provide clear guidance for policymakers. Alongside these public-focused outputs, an academic edited book will also be produced. Project details and outputs will be housed on a dedicated website for public dissemination.
To understand these manifestations, this timely project will pursue four core objectives: (1) to develop interdisciplinary and impactful networks beyond football associations, leagues and clubs; (2) use this network to build knowledge of the manifestation of hate crime in football, and how it can be challenged; (3) centralise the role of masculinity in the reproduction of hate crime in football and how it can be confronted (4) use creative approaches to facilitate production and dissemination of this knowledge.
The focus of this networking bid is players and fans of men's amateur and professional football in the British context, whilst drawing on specific expertise from Europe. The six workshops (see below) will provide a context for lively debate of current research and future challenges, bringing together academics, policymakers, football authorities, and fan groups. The workshops will take place across different parts of the UK (and Berlin) using creative activities to engage diverse participants, whilst prioritising local features of hate crime and responding to wider national and global trends. Workshops will involve artistic facilitators (Nike Jonah of Counterpoint Arts, fanzine producer Hamja Ahsan, and playwright Hassan Mahamdallie) who will use creative approaches (including storyboarding, drama, collage, cartooning) to identify the key issues, themes and potential solutions, and to inform two specific outputs (an illustrated fanzine and short films). The six events will explore the following inter-related themes:
1. Setting the parameters: hate crime in football (Brighton)
2. Hate crime in the stadium (Southampton)
3. Online abuse: social media and hate crime (Glasgow)
4. Hate in the grassroots game (Liverpool)
5. The European perspective (Berlin)
6. The way forward (dissemination event): how fans and authorities can tackle hate crime in football (Glasgow)
To encourage and gain insights from fan groups and policy makers, we have organised funding across all workshop sessions for these groups. In doing so we aim to provide a critical, yet policy relevant, forum in which the practice and impact of hate crime can be better understood.
To this end there will be several public, academic and policy-focused outputs. This includes a fanzine that will illustrate what is hate crime and how individuals can challenge its expression. Three short videos will be produced that highlight some of the key reasons how hate crime occurs across different spatial contexts (elite levels, grassroots, online), and how it can be tackled within institutions and cultural change within the game. In addition, an executive report and position paper will be produced to provide to provide clear guidance for policymakers. Alongside these public-focused outputs, an academic edited book will also be produced. Project details and outputs will be housed on a dedicated website for public dissemination.
Organisations
People |
ORCID iD |
| Mark Doidge (Principal Investigator) | |
| Aarti Ratna (Co-Investigator) |
Related Projects
| Project Reference | Relationship | Related To | Start | End | Award Value |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| AH/V010107/1 | 15/11/2021 | 30/05/2023 | £33,875 | ||
| AH/V010107/2 | Transfer | AH/V010107/1 | 31/05/2023 | 31/03/2024 | £19,829 |
| Description | How to re-imagine football fan culture is challenging as traditional supporter norms and values are cherished by many fans, and they would not want to give up those practices. But, the project of reimagining football requires "taking it apart" and rethinking what an inclusive fan culture would look like, and for whom. We cannot ignore that current conditions are conducive to breeding hate (and love), which makes hate ordinary/ acceptable, as those not impacted do not want the game to change. We position solutions to tackling hate crime in football as dynamic, requiring constant review and reflection. We also posit the solutions to be multi-sited and not just the responsibility of one group of people over another. Hence, we have split our key recommendations into three key interconnected areas: Structural. institutional (how the game os organised and by who); cultural (the norms and values which are predominant in football spaces of fandom); and personal (as it relates to the actions and interactions of individual fans of the game). Structural: We note the general deflection, minimisation and not dealing with hate crime at club levels of the game. There needs to be a greater responsibility on clubs to deal with hate crime reports. To enhance and improve definitions of hate crime as part of UK legislation (providing examples from a football fandom context for illustrative purposes). Bringing together the Football Spectators Act and hate crime legislation to ensure all forms of hate crime are reported in the game (and understood as harmful) e.g. misogyny. To support police officer training to recognise hate crime and not view it as football culture writ large. .To enable space for various grassroots organisations to challenge hate crimes in the game rather than privileging and sponsoring a select few groups only. There is no blueprint for how to achieve social change in the game - it requires constant monitoring and sensitivity to how hate in society is complex and changing. Cultural: It is hard to tackle "ordinary" aspects of hate, as over focus on overt/ obvious expressions of hate e.g. physical violence. We suggest there is a need to look beyond and beneath the "theatrics" of hate to sensitise and focus on ordinary manifestations of hate in the game (across time and space). As there is a fragmentation of resources and knowledge about how to tackle hate crime, many grassroots football activists cannot compete with "official" gatekeepers. There, we encourage networking with various organisations (representing different strands of hate crime) rather than working in silos). Fans are not passive - listening to their voices gives them representational power to also affect institutional change. Be critical of tokenistic measures of reform In football, there is a need to explore hate within "own" fan groups and not just concerning the opposing team. Recognise and tell stories about the history of exclusion and discrimination, to signal beyond "spectacle" of hate crime activism, why pride (for various groups of people) matters in football. Individual: Reporting is a strategy to tackle hate crimes but, as we found out, hate crimes are not always reported and even if they are, action to resolve them does not necessarily follow. We call on fans with power and privilege to perform allyship by speaking out to challenge (as it occurs) unacceptable practice/ abuse. To engage in conversations with others, and friends and family members, about hate crime and to draw attention to the impacts of hate crime on fans of the game. Developing such knowledge in and amongst fans, is also important for achieving cultural changes. |
| Exploitation Route | It is hoped that campaign groups, fan groups and governing bodies will take these outcomes and incorporate into their campaigns and policies. |
| Sectors | Leisure Activities including Sports Recreation and Tourism |
| Description | Final event - Manchester |
| Form Of Engagement Activity | A formal working group, expert panel or dialogue |
| Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
| Geographic Reach | Regional |
| Primary Audience | Public/other audiences |
| Results and Impact | This took place the day after submission, so there is no web record yet. This event was held at the National Football Museum and brought together some of the findings, plus some artworks and a spoken word performance that draws on the experiences of fans who attended the workshops. There was a panel discussing issues and solutions in football. There was aslo an exhibition of some of the artworks created for the project and some of Fans for Diversity's My City My Shirt campaign. There was also a stand from FC Autism. The panel comprised of Nilesh Chauhan, Fans For Diversity Campaign Manager, Khaya Nagar, a footballer at Loughborough University and Jamie Dapaah, Diversity and Inclusion Manager at Fulham FC. The panel was preceded by a brief outline of the findings by Mark Doidge and Dr Aarti Ratna, and a spoken word performance by the poet Julie McNeill. This was in partnership with Fans For Diversity. |
| Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2024 |
| Description | Glasgow event |
| Form Of Engagement Activity | Participation in an activity, workshop or similar |
| Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
| Geographic Reach | Local |
| Primary Audience | Other audiences |
| Results and Impact | The second event took place at Hampden Park, Glasgow. It had two keynote speakers, one about domestic violence at its links to football, and the other on sectarianism. This was followed by a workshop that explored issues of hate crime and possible solutions. |
| Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2022 |
| URL | https://blogs.brighton.ac.uk/footballandhatecrime/ |
| Description | Leeds workshop |
| Form Of Engagement Activity | Participation in an activity, workshop or similar |
| Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
| Geographic Reach | Regional |
| Primary Audience | Other audiences |
| Results and Impact | The launch workshop included a keynote talk by Professor Jon Garland (Surrey) about hate crime and football. This was followed by a panel discussion with three speakers representing Level Playing Field (a disability charity), Marching Out Together (Leeds United LGBT group) and Football Safety Officers Association. It was followed by a workshop of fans to discuss hate crime in football and possible solutions. |
| Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2022 |
| URL | https://blogs.brighton.ac.uk/footballandhatecrime/ |
| Description | Workshop 3 - Berlin |
| Form Of Engagement Activity | Participation in an activity, workshop or similar |
| Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
| Geographic Reach | International |
| Primary Audience | Professional Practitioners |
| Results and Impact | This was the third event of the series. Held at the Berlin fanprojekt, this brought together Football Supporters Europe, KOS (the umbrella organisation of fanprojekts), whatmatters (who do rememberance work with fans), F_In (female fan group) and Medif (the Reporting Centre for Discrimination in Football in Nordrhein). The aim of this workshop was to explore and understand how German authorities and fan groups managed hate crime, and the educational strategies use to prevent and deal with issues. |
| Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2023 |
| URL | https://www.lboro.ac.uk/schools/sport-exercise-health-sciences/hate-crime-in-football/learnings-from... |
| Description | Workshop 4 - Liverpool |
| Form Of Engagement Activity | A formal working group, expert panel or dialogue |
| Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
| Geographic Reach | Regional |
| Primary Audience | Public/other audiences |
| Results and Impact | The fourth event invovled an expert panel of Lindsey England of Just a Ball game and Miro Griffiths, a Disability Rights Campaigner. The focus of this workshop was disability and LGBT+ inclusion. Both speakers detailed their own personal journeys and the difficulties in engaging the policymakers, clubs and federations. They also highlighted the emotional labour that campaign work required, reinforcing the emotional underpinnings of hate crime. |
| Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2023 |
| URL | https://www.lboro.ac.uk/schools/sport-exercise-health-sciences/hate-crime-in-football/learnings-from... |
| Description | Workshop 5 - Partnership with Nottingham Forest and Lilian Thuram Foundation |
| Form Of Engagement Activity | A formal working group, expert panel or dialogue |
| Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
| Geographic Reach | International |
| Primary Audience | Policymakers/politicians |
| Results and Impact | This workshop was a partnership with Nottingham Forest, Harvard University, and the Lilian Thuram Foundation to hold a two-day event with players, former players, select journalist, academics and policymakers to discuss the issues around race and gender within football. The high profile partnership ensured high profile players to attend and also members of the European and International football governing bodies. |
| Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2024 |
| URL | https://www.theguardian.com/football/2024/jan/31/lilian-thuram-and-thierry-henry-lead-new-charge-aga... |