Can we fight EU-racism in football? A cross-cultural study

Abstract

The current study aims to examine the phenomenon of racism in football. The researchers collected data from people of all ages in the countries of Italy, Romania, Greece, Hungary, Serbia, Bulgaria, and a number of experts from other countries as well. Data were analysed and studied through the use of descriptive statistics and correlation analysis. The findings suggest that racist incidences in football are very frequent. Furthermore, it was observed that social-demographic variables seem to affect people’s propensity to racism and usually the respondents believe that racist acts are performed mainly due to lack of education, out of fear and due to general social unrest. Finally, a thorough discussion and conclusions are given for the improvement of regulations at a European level to tackle the incidents of racism abuse in the sphere of soccer.