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Football is one of the most popular sporting events in the world. (Cashmore and Cleland 2014, p. 2) As such, it also becomes the stage for social phenomena, including racist and other discriminatory behaviour. This essay focuses on this sport that manages to gather thousands of people, and racist attitudes voiced in Belgian football stadiums. Racist abuse remains a major concern in football. More than 590 cases reported in 2022 alone, have driven the Royal Belgian Football Association to announce new disciplinary authorities tackling this issue. (Lambert 2022.)
Belgian society is marked by an important ethnic and cultural diversity with differing languages, religions, and customs. Here, two contradictory phenomena thrive together: On the one hand, awareness of diversity issues is increasing, and on the other, movements towards more inclusive societies and anti-racism are rejected. (Fadil and Martiniello 2020, p. 1f) This essay focuses on anti-black racism football players experience within this context, employing scientific literature, specifically from the fields of Sociology of Justice and Racism, and media coverage of relevant cases. First, I present the history of anti-black racism in football. Then, I contextualise the specific case study within relevant literature on racism and touch upon the specific difficulties of sanctioning discriminatory behaviour.
Finally, I conclude with the limits of the study and propose future endeavours that could enrich the field.

Football stadiums are unique meeting points where people of different ages, socio-economic backgrounds, ethnicities, etc. come together. As such, they have been seen as “mirrors of society”, but they also serve as stages for people to literally voice their hopes, expectations, and resentments. (Sonntag and Ranc 2015, p. 9; Silva and Paula 2020, p. 3)
This discussion concentrates on the experiences of male professional football players in Belgian stadiums, and therefore will disregard other forms of the sport, including women’s football, amateur football, and football academies. While these fields warrant their own studies, this essay does not offer enough space to do them justice. Still, we must acknowledge that women’s football, amateur football, and football academies naturally are littered with racist and other bigoted behaviours that usually do not receive the media attention they deserve.

The study’s focus lies on the anti-black discrimination football players experience within the stadium, the perpetrators being (parts of) the spectators. In stadiums, people from different backgrounds unite under the banners of their teams, taking respite from usual society, norms, and conventions. Thus removed from social norms, some people also voice otherwise unacceptable sentiments – in this case, victimising black football players.

Before discussing matters of racist discrimination, I must first define the framework of “race”. The term was originally introduced to the natural sciences in the 18th century to describe different physiological markers in the natural sciences, bringing with it the advent of physical anthropology, archaeology, and studies in prehistory seeking to explain social differences and human evolution. (Guillaumin 1972, p. 55) Originally describing physicalities, “race” soon became conflated with whole cultures and societies. (Ibid. p. 56) 
Despite the above-mentioned awareness for diversity, this link between physical attributes and social phenomena persists today. This is further aggravated by the rise of far-right sentiments worldwide, including Belgium. (Fadil and Martiniello 2020, p. 2, 4)
In the case of anti-black racism in particular, someone’s appearances also entails varying perceptions of their “social state”, (Guillaumin 1972, p. 57) bringing with it a “somatico-social aspect”, (Ibid. p. 58) that has been perpetuated over centuries of racialising discourse.
With the introduction of the term “ethnicity”, attempts to separate historic discourse on racism from the realities experienced by racialised people have been made. However, Guillaumin argues that, even this term perpetuates racialising discourse and a “causalité biologique”. (Ibid. p. 59) The benevolent endeavour of cleaning up the terminology fails as the racist structures of past generations still persist. Therefore, this paper employs the term “race”.

Cultural variations – and different levels of “barbarism” – have been directly linked to certain looks. They are seen as natural, just like the colour of one’s skin is a natural occurrence. (Ibid. p. 61f) This matter has of course never been black and white, as one can rarely determine a person’s religious beliefs through their skin colour. Still, anti-black discrimination is not only a negative judgement of someone’s looks – often, they are directly connected to an assumption of “cultural (and/or intellectual) inferiority”, (Ibid. p. 91, 101f) “barbarism” or even “savagery”, (Ibid. p. 94-97; Silva and Paula 2020, p. 10) as shown in1 the following pages.
The experiences of black people in Europe, specifically France, are described by Frantz Fanon (1952). He writes of a call for black people to assimilate to the majority (white) society by forsaking their own customs, as they stand in opposition to “white civilisation”. (Fanon 1952, p. 89) He further references endeavours of “dénégrification” to “blanchir” black people, therefore escaping “cette malédiction corporelle” that allegedly comes with their features. (Ibid. p. 89f) In addition to him repeatedly voicing a wish to be invisible in the majority society, (Ibid. p. 93) this phenomenon emphasises the relevance of physiological aspects in racism.
Finally, Fanon touches upon the pressure to represent “black excellence”, (Sowell 2023) stating that black people are only professionally tolerated if they execute their tasks flawlessly: “Je savais, par exemple, que si le médecin [noir] commetait un erreur, c’en était fini de lui et de tous ceux qui le suivraient.” / "I knew, for example, that if the [black] doctor made a mistake, it was the end of him and all those who followed him." (Fanon 1952, p. 94) This attitude is still common in present-day, as shall be exemplified in the following section.

Racist incidents in football can be found worldwide, as exemplified by the “great football nations” Germany, (FAZ.NET 2023) Spain, (The Guardian 2022; Levante 2021) France, (The Independent 2022) England, (Back and Mills 2021) Italy, (ESPN 2022) and Brazil. (Silva and Paula 2020) Anti-black racism had probably already taken the stage by the time the first black international football player, Andrew Watson (1856-1921), began his career in 1876. While there seem to be no explicit mentions of racist attitudes against him, the BBC describes him as having been subjected to “vulgar insults by splenetic, ill-tempered players”. (BBC 2021)
Besides this vague description of verbal abuse, reports of related incidents are difficult to track. They reemerge with cases like that of Dixie Dean in the 1930s, (University of Leicester 2005) Stanley Menzo in 1985, (BBC Sport 2021) and Joseph-Antoine Bell in 1990, (Le Monde 1990) and consistently continue until this very day.

A prominent motive employed in these attacks is the comparison of black players and apes, often expressed by brutish calls and gestures, (Fadil and Martiniello 2020, p. 6; Silva and Paula 2020, p. 10) as well as bananas thrown at the victims. Early reports on these forms of racist abuse date back to the 1970s (Giller 2011) and persist throughout history, (BBC Sport 2013, 2014; Murphy, 2018) right to incidents from 2022. (BBC Sport 2022; www.24chasa.bg 2022) Of course, the racist abuse of black people is not limited to the imagery of apes.
However, this is specifically directed at black people rather than other races.
Another discourse emerging from racist experiences black players go through is that of “belonging”. We have already established that, due to their physiological “otherness”, they have historically been excluded from the majority society, and have had to fulfill specific tasks of assimilation to prove their place within it. Failing to adhere to black excellence has been the grounds for racist abuse against France’s Kingsley Coman and Kylian Mbappé, as well as England’s Marcus Rashford, Jadon Sancho, and Bukayo Saka, after the teams lost in penalties in the finales of the World Cup 2022 and the Euro 2020 respectively. While passionate football fans may be disappointed by the whole team, the above-mentioned black players were singled out and racially abused. This is summarised as “When you score you’re English, when you miss you’re black”, (Back and Mills 2021) clearly juxtaposing blackness and Englishness, thus questioning the regional and national belonging of black players in England.

The case exemplifying the encounters of professional football players with the spectators’ anti-black sentiments is the match between Club Bruges and Anderlecht that took place in the Jan Breydel Stadium in Bruges on the 19th of December 2021. While it ended in a 2-2 draw, the Anderlecht coach Vincent Kompany and his players were subjected to racist abuse by the Bruges fans. In the post-match interview, he said:

“Je rentre à la maison dégoûté et déçu. Mes joueurs, mon staff et moi-même avons été victimes d’insultes racistes. Ils ont notamment crié ‘singe noir’. Il y a beaucoup de gens ici qui ont beaucoup donné pour ce pays et ils viennent juste pour jouer au football. Et je ne veux pas non plus entrer dans un conflit avec le Club de Bruges.” / "I'm going home disgusted and disappointed. My players, my staff and I were the victims of racist insults. In particular, they shouted 'black monkey'. There are a lot of people here who have given a lot for this country and they just come to play football. And I don't want to get into a conflict with Club Brugge either." (Hick 2021)

After bringing the case to the trial, the West Flanders public prosecutor’s office pronounced the case closed with no further actions due to insufficient evidence. According to them, while authorities had been able to identify some suspects using camera footage, naming individuals who had participated in anti-black chants remained impossible. (Belga 2022)

Albeit brief, Kompany’s interview touches upon some matters we discussed in the previous chapter. He explicitly states being “victimised” by “racism”. The former term is often omitted by men of colour in particular, who hesitate to identify themselves as “victims”. With this word comes a connotation of weakness and vulnerability often rejected by traditionally masculine identifying people. (Hooks 2004) On the other hand, “racism” has often been omitted as being “too harsh” or “accusatory” or even “overly dramatic”. This relates to the banalisation of racist behaviour and broader society refusing to acknowledge often established acts or phrases as blatantly discriminatory.
Kompany reports “notably being called ‘black ape’”, suggesting that this one stuck out to him, while he may have been subjected to various other expletives. This phrase calls back to the elaboration of black people being likened to savages or monkeys – an image clearly rooted in colonialist hierarchies of races. It implies that they are animalistic, almost human, yet far from it.
Finally, Kompany reminds us that “there are many people [on staff and the team] that have given a lot [Belgium]”, expressing the tension between their “exterior otherness” and their need to belong. Whether one of the insults hurled at him suggested that he “does not belong here” or not, this instance of racist abuse clearly alienated Kompany. In this statement, he attempts to justify his being worthy of being here, and maybe also being worthy of protection from racist abuse and of being recognised as a human being. Remarkably, the Bruges-Anderlecht case is dissimilar from the above-mentioned finales, as it ended in a draw and was a relatively low-stakes match. Here, the Bruges fans’ abuse does not stem from resentment for being beaten by Anderlecht. While there may be some frustration linked to not winning, the motive for their discrimination appears to be that Kompany and his colleagues are part of the opposing team – the “enemy”. This is similar to the banana-throwing incidents discussed above.

This case exemplifies one of the great difficulties in prosecuting and sanctioning discriminatory behaviour, especially when the perpetrators are part of a larger crowd: evidence. Being a well-known embodiment of sportsmanship and holding a high socio-economic status make Kompany a “bonne victime”, (Hajjat, Keyhani, and Rodrigues 2019, p. 424) suggesting that he is more likely to get justice than other black people in Belgium.
However, definitions of “racist abuse” and the perception of particular instances vary from person to person. Even if two people are racialised as “black”, they experience their blackness in different ways and feel offended by different acts. Conversely, they may find various aspects of their identity, belonging, and confidence in their blackness. (Silva and Paula 2020, p. 7) In this case study, Vincent Kompany reports that Bruges fans verbally abused him and his staff. Besides the witness testimonies and the videotapes helping to identify some suspects, no other evidence is mentioned in the media. Even if the suspects were interrogated, it would have been one man’s word against another’s, something that is illustrated by a respondent quoted in Hajjat et al.:

“C’est le problème de la preuve parce que si je vous dis quelque chose et qu'on est que tous les deux, ce sera parole contre parole, ce qui fait que dans un certain nombre de cas, s'il n'y a pas d'éléments extérieurs, ce sera des classements sans suite parce qu'on n'a pas de charges suffisantes pour aller poursuivre la personne.” / "This is the problem of proof, because if I tell you something and it's just the two of us, it'll be word against word, which means that in a certain number of cases, if there are no external elements, the case will be dismissed because we don't have sufficient charges to prosecute the person." (Hajjat, Keyhani, and Rodrigues 2019, p. 418)

Accordingly, “external elements” are needed to provide sufficient proof to prosecute someone. If authorities rely on video surveillance in their fight against racism, they will continually fail to produce these “external elements” or reliable third-party testimonies. After all, it is to be expected that crowds of chanting people collect at stadiums, which will continue to obscure individual perpetrators if authorities do not change their modus operandi.

In the rare cases where the perpetrators can be identified, they are fined and temporarily banned from the sport, (The Guardian 2018) or the team they support must pay amends. (BBC Sport 2014) Otherwise, the media seem to merely cover racist incidents at football games, quoting individual players, club representatives, and association staff in stating that “this is unacceptable” and “more must be done to tackle this issue”. But even higher levels like the Italian Serie A (Ibid.) and the Champions League (BBC Sport 2018) with their abundance of resources fail to implement changes to adequately sanction discrimination and protect their players.

As established in this essay, the racist abuse Anderlecht was exposed to in Bruges exemplifies the anti-black sentiments expressed by fans in stadiums. In combination with the historic background of anti-black attacks in football, this case delineates a global, decade-long problem that is yet to be addressed properly. With football being “a mirror of society” and stadiums providing breaks from social norms and regulations, one might argue that discrimination will exist in football as long as it exists within broader societies. We argue that, while racist attitudes may continually be present, adequate sanctioning may communicate that abuse is unacceptable and thus deter potential perpetrators. Initiatives like Fare’s Observer Scheme might facilitate punishing abusive fans as they

“assess all international matches in Europe for the likelihood of discriminatory behaviour and send observers to matches [identified] as a risk for potentially high levels of racism, extreme nationalism, xenophobia, antisemitism or homophobia.” (Fare 2023)

At this point in time, Fare do not discipline discriminatory behaviour but merely report on it, as the responsibility of sanctioning lies with governing bodies. Beyond this remarkable service of monitoring, anti-racism organisations in football commonly provide education about various aspects of discrimination, (Show Racism the Red Card 2023) increasing awareness within the participants of these events. While these movements help instil a grass-root awareness of anti-racism within broader society, from the victims’ perspectives, they appear insufficient.
In July 2019, FIFA urged its members to adapt the “Three-Step Procedure for Discriminatory Incidents”, according to which the referees are responsible to stop, suspend, and abandon matches if “serious discriminatory incidents” occur. (Samoura 2019) This does serve in separating players from racist attacks, it has been criticised from two prominent perspectives: 1) Qualifying discrimination as “serious”, “intense” or “of strong magnitude” (BBC Sport 2019) implies that it is acceptable to some degree. This is not the case and should not be communicated as such. 2) Suspending or calling-off matches seemingly does not suffice in deterring fans from engaging in discrimination. Thus, some players call for harsher sanctions like point deductions (BBC Sport 2018; BBC Newsround 2019) and banning teams (Fawaz 2019) to link the fans’ behaviour to the team’s success. This seems to put more responsibility2 to cultivate a respectful fanbase on the clubs and associations themselves. While it definitely is a new approach, it could also demonstrate how much of this racist abuse is truly based in resentment for a sports opponent (of colour), or if sports are but a straw man for bigotry.
Another approach could build on Fare’s Observer Scheme by introducing independent monitoring in all football stadiums. If resources do not allow for far-spread interventions, the associations could at least start by sending observers to high-level matches. Ideally, these people would also have some authority to admonish, remove, and prosecute discriminatory fans with the help of legal authorities and security staff. This is a pragmatic and relatively easily implemented modification that could help produce these “external elements” so desperately missing from current events.

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