Football for development, an arena for imperial hierarchies? Racism, the ‘white colonial frame’, and junior football in Belgium

Abstract

This article seeks to critically examine the paradoxical coexistence of social benefits and the perpetuation of racism in Belgian club-organised junior football. In doing so, this article begins by providing a literature review of racism in junior football and describes the social, historical, and political context in which the research is taking place. Subsequently, we draw on 15 semi-structured interviews with key stakeholders in Belgian club-organised football about their personal experiences with racism to examine attitudes towards race, manifestations of racism, and its formative aspect. Based on the analyses, the article argues that the “white colonial frame” serves as a dominant attitude towards race in Belgian club-organised football. Ultimately, this cultural place does not inherently entail social progression or transformation, rather it reinscribes the dominant racial frame and sustains a status quo. Social progression seems only achievable through the decolonisation of ideologies and reform of social norms.