Abstract

Excerpted From: Shauhin A. Talesh and Spencer L. Levitt, A Mile Wide but an Inch Deep: Pervasive Racism in International Football, Symbolic Compliance, and a Substantive Path Forward, 27 University of Pennsylvania Journal of Law and Social Change 131 (2024) (300 Footnotes) (Full Document)

It is undisputed that football [American Soccor] is the most popular sport in the world. With over 240 million registered players and billions of fans, football is woven into cultures, a source of pride for nations, and a multi-billion-dollar industry. Cutting across racial, ethnic, religious, and geographic lines, football is one of the most diverse sports in the world and conventionally seen as a “mirror of society,” even at the highest levels. Two major factors supposedly pave the way for this diversity. First, football is a competitive sport where athletes demonstrate their value by performing on the field, independent of social, racial, or economic factors. Second, it is founded on notions of fair-play, where the same rules and sanctions are supposed to apply to all players, clubs, and leagues alike. Underpinning these structural forces that are purported to make the game equitable for all, the Fédération Internationale de Football Association (“FIFA”) has codified principles of non-discrimination into their governing statutes: “[d]iscrimination of any kind against a country, private person or groups of people on account of ethnic origin, gender, language, religion, politics or any other reason is strictly prohibited and punishable by suspension or expulsion.”

Yet the “beautiful game” has a problem--racism and discrimination are pervasive across the sport. From individual bigoted fans to discriminatory structural barriers, players have consistently experienced prejudice on account of their identity. Some instances of racism may seem unintentional, while others are vitriolic, but its ubiquity has upheld a system of inequality. Anecdotes of racism are endless. Examples include fans throwing bananas and chanting monkey noises at Black players, the “stacking” of Black athletes into positions valued for speed rather than intellect, and fascist symbols being flown on flags throughout the stadium.

In response to these abhorrent conditions, FIFA, other football governing organizations, players, and fans have repeatedly called out such atrocities and demanded these actions stop. Moreover, remedial efforts have been pursued by organizations and individuals. Spanning from international and regional bodies implementing regulations to specific leagues and individual clubs endorsing a self-monitoring approach, prior anti-discrimination attempts appear rigorous.

Despite widespread recognition and continuous reforms, racism continues to plague the sport. Of course, individual and systemic institutionalized racism across the world is likely the primary cause of this pervasive and endless problem in football. However, we suggest that the problemis also rooted in how organizations craft and respond to regulations in ways that weaken legal rules' impact. Rather than addressing the various causes of racism, this Article focuses on the organizational predicates that have allowed racism to thrive in football. We outline specific organizational conditions that enable football's governing bodies to institute reforms that appear to address the issue, all while racism remains steadfast.

We rely on new institutional organizational theory to explain how football's governing bodies and related actors have engaged in largely symbolic gestures of compliance without undertaking effective solutions to curtail discrimination. New institutional theory, and a particular sub-strand of “legal endogeneity theory” developed by Lauren Edelman, help explain how and why this problem continues to reproduce itself. Using a sociological perspective anchored in organizational theory, Edelman explains how, despite ambitious goals of curbing discrimination in the workplace, the Civil Rights Act of 1964 did not produce the intended impact on discrimination in workplace settings and hiring practices. Deriving largely from empirical work in the civil rights context, Edelman highlights how ambiguous civil rights laws led employers to develop symbolic forms of compliance that were more attentive to managerial ideals and preferences than to legal ideals. These symbolic forms of compliance were eventually incorporated into judicial decisions interpreting civil rights laws.

We draw from Edelman's theory to explain why football organizations have repeatedly fallen short in their responses to discrimination. Yes, as critical race theorists have explained for decades, racism is the root problem and is pervasive across the world. Racism is pervasive across various institutions, including sports. But football's major governing organizations have not ignored the issue and the attention it receives. Consistent with new institutional literature, we argue organizational dynamics have led football organizations to interpret rules meant to regulate them and develop internal policies and procedures in response--in this case, anti-racism policies--that reflect their perspectives and values. These policies are afforded considerable deference despite not curbing racist behavior. Stated differently, football organizations attempt to address this problem by creating policies and procedures that exude legitimacy to the public but maintain managerial discretion and control among organizations. Policy preferences of these organizations shape how compliance is approached globally on this issue. Enforcement of anti-racism policies by football organizations remains weak and, too often, the racist behavior and cultural environment are given the benefit of the doubt. Ultimately, organizational responses and actions have been mere window dressing and failed miserably. By deflecting responsibility, football organizations let racism fester throughout the game. Talking the talk of anti-discrimination--but refusing to put words into action--reproduces this centuries-old problem.

Football as an institution of employment is an example of a larger pervasive problem of how organizations reproduce racially unequal structures in society despite espousing allegiance to goals of equality. By identifying the organizational predicates that have allowed racism to reproduce in football, this case study is useful for understanding the larger question of why anti-racism policies in other workplace settings--healthcare, education, banking, government, and financial institutions--have failed. Like much of society, sport is structured around organizations, and these organizations are critical mechanisms for defining the content and meaning of legal rules and shaping what compliance means on the ground. After all, most people work for organizations and want to work in a racism- free environment. But the unique context of football--its global nature, the overlapping authority of its governing bodies, and the principles of fair play and competition--makes this a powerful example for analyzing how organizations try, and fail, to confront racism. Organizations also play a particularly important role in football's anti-racism fight because legal approaches from courts and legislatures outside of football have failed. We recognize that the solutions we offer will not end racism in football. But identifying and remedying the conditions that have allowed racism to reproduce is a necessary endeavor within and outside of the football context.

To our understanding, this is the first legal Article to systematically analyze the regulatory failures surrounding racism in football and explain why organizational efforts have failed. While other studies have examined the long history of racism in football, documented how actors have diffused responsibility, and categorized anti-discrimination efforts into reactive and proactive categories, this Article draws upon new institutional organizational theory to understand how, but also why, football organizations--at the international, regional, and club levels--have been ineffective at curbing racism. This Article seeks to explain why racism has persisted in football, why previous anti-discrimination efforts by European football governing organizations at every level have fallen short, and what can be done to curb this problem in the future. Part of the answer, we suggest, lies in how organizations craft and respond to legal regulations; and we offer recommendations for how to improve the situation.

The scope of this Article is limited in three ways. First, while discrimination in football exists in a variety of forms and across multiple forums, we focus on anti-Black racism as a particularly salient issue. Second, although football is a global sport, we focus on anti-Black racism in European football because it is particularly well-documented and European football organizations have responded with remedial efforts that are ripe for evaluation and analysis. Third, we use the term “association football,” which refers to the organized team sport as a whole, and encompasses local, club, regional, and international teams and competitions.

This Article proceeds as follows. In Part I, we trace the history of racism in football with a particular emphasis on Europe. While the cause of deeply embedded racial bias is beyond the scope of this Article, understanding the many ways racism manifests in football is necessary to craft effective regulatory solutions. We also discuss the campaign to end racist practices in football. In Part II, we introduce sociological theories that examine organizational behavior and decision-making processes to understand how organizations respond to legal regulation. Part III analyzes prior anti-discrimination efforts by football organizations and connects our analysis to new institutional theory. We describe the iterative process through which ambiguous anti-racism mandates led organizations to create policies and procedures to address such a problem in a way that exudes legitimacy to the public but ultimately allows football organizations too much discretion. Part IV concludes by offering a series of interconnected proposals that will likely move us closer to substantive compliance. These suggestions attempt to transform anti-racism efforts from futile gestures to impactful initiatives.

[. . .]

The challenge of getting organizations to engage in substantive, as opposed to symbolic, compliance concerning anti-racism initiatives in workplace settings goes well beyond football. Workplace settings in organizations across the world face this challenge on a daily basis. We use football as a case study to identify the organizational predicates that allow racism to reproduce in football and to offer a pathway for reform moving forward. We encourage scholars and policymakers concerned about anti-racism initiatives to draw upon, extend, and refine the framework in other institutional settings. Whereas most accounts of discrimination in football focus on the outcome, noting that prejudice has continued despite these major anti-discrimination efforts, we argue that the process through which these regulations are crafted and implemented is flawed.

New institutional organization theory provides a pathway for understanding how and why anti-discrimination efforts by football organizations have failed. Organizations purport to stand against racism in football but refuse to implement policies that incentivize concrete changes in behavior. While we agree that current initiatives, including education campaigns and stadium bans, are positive steps in the fight against racism, they misunderstand how organizations comply with legal rules. Anti-racism and discrimination regulations in football are crafted to place the onus on the individual football hooligan, allowing clubs and leagues to stand against racism without changing their internal behavior. Until regulations push the central actors in club football to proactively curb discrimination--or face punishment--discrimination will continue. We believe our proposed recommendations are not harsh or radical, but long overdue. Although racism in society may never be eradicated, racism in football should be curtailed more than it currently is. To allow things to continue the way they are leaves a permanent stain on the beautiful game.

Professor of Law, and by courtesy, Professor of Sociology and Criminology, Law & Society, University of California, Irvine.

B.A. 2021, University of California, Berkeley; J.D. 2024, University of California, Irvine School of Law.