By Safwan Abubakar
From men to women competition, racism has been a recurring issue in European football, with several players, officials, and fans being subjected to abuse due to their colour, nationality, or ethnicity. While many victims have been targeted because of their partnership with an opposing team, there have been instances of individuals being victims of their own fans.
Racism in association football has been widely covered by the media and in academic studies. FIFA and UEFA have made several responses to tackle the issue but it is still occuring. However, the body’s interventions have reduced the nuances to some extent.
In an attempt to seek a solution, UEFA held a seminar in Amsterdam encouraging racial equality in the football world with attendees from several countries across Europe. A campaign called ‘Let’s Kick Racism Out of Football’ was launched in 1993 in Britain to also increase awareness and facilitate dialogue about the issue.
Some Typical Experience
In December 2022, some French internationals including Kylian Mbappe, Kingsley Coman, Randal Kolo Muani, and Aurelien Tchouameni were racially abused by Argentina fans when their side lost in the 2022 FIFA World Cup final against Argentina after the penalty shootout.
Similarly in 2016, the Nigerian Eni Aluko accused her coach, the manager of English women’s football team of having racially abused her with a “racist joke”. She claimed that he uttered a statement saying “she shouldn’t allow her Nigerian relatives to bring Ebola to England.”
Moreso in 2015, the Portuguese star Renato Sanches was targeted with monkey chants by the fans of Rio Ave when he was leaving the pitch after their clash at Vila do Conde. The player jokingly responded to the chants by clapping and making a monkey pose.
Also in September 2022, Real Madrid superstar Vinicious Junior was criticised by some football fans on television during the Spanish television discussion for dancing whilst celebrating a goal. Responding to the criticism on his Instagram page, the Brazilian forward noted that the comments comparing him to a “monkey” stemmed from racism.a
The menace is not dominant among the male athletes alone, several cases have also been recorded amongst female footballers. Khadija Shaw, Manchester City (feminine club) was also subjected to racist messages in February 2025 after her club was defeated by Arsenal.
Interventions from Football Bodies
The Federation International Football Association (FIFA), the international governing body of association football, announced new measures to deal with racism in the sport in May 2013. Jeffrey Webb, the Head of FIFA’s anti-racism task force, said the decision was “a defining moment”.
He added: “Our football family is fully aware that what is reported in the media is actually less than 1% of the incidents that happen around the world.
“We’ve got to take action so that when we look to the next 20 or 50 years this will be the defining time that we take action against racism and discrimination.”
Also on 17 May 2024, FIFA had introduced “No Racism Gestures” during the 2024 FIFA Under-20 Women’s World Cup in Colombia where the rule provided that if a racist chant is discovered, the referee should follow three steps to tackle the issue. The match will be stopped. If the abuse continues, the match will be suspended, with the players and match officiating masters exiting the field of play. In the event the incident does not cease, the match will be abandoned.
UEFA president Aleksander Caferin also commented about the racist chant in April 2019, stating that the referees should stop games if a racist incident occurs.
“The moment a match is stopped, or it’s not played, I think that 90% of normal people in the stadium would kick the asses of those idiots,” said Ceferin.
What Racism Causes to the Victims
After he suffered his racial abuses, the Brazilian winger made it known that the incidents he encountered in the 2022–23 season drastically discouraged him from participating in sports.
“I just want to play football but it’s hard to move forward; I feel less and less like playing,” Vinicius said crying during an emotional news conference on 25 March 2024.
The France International and West ham (Feminine club) defender Hawa Cissoko had also described how surprised she was after she received some messages in October 2022. She was sent off against Aston Villa over an altercation against Sarah Mayling, noting that she had not seen such abuse first hand in the women’s game before.
“I didn’t expect it would happen to me, especially when the people that did it don’t even watch our games,” she admitted.
Also Tottenham Hotspur (Feminine club) defender Renee Hector fell into depression after she was racially abused by Sheffield United’s Soppie Jones during a Championship match in January 2019.
“The online abuse affected me really deeply, but it wasn’t just me, it affected my family and really affected my mum,” Hector told BBC Sport.
“I was just spiralling out of control, basically, I started sinking into depression because there were lots of insecurities that I had already and it was highlighted for the world to see.” She added
Punishments and Penalty
FIFA’s disciplinary code provided that when a team’s fans are found guilty of exhibiting racist behaviour, the association or club is fined CHF 30,000 (£23k/$30k). Additional punishments, such as stadium closures, bans and deduction of points may also be applied based on the severity of the case.
FIFA, UEFA and other football superior bodies consider the racial act as an offence with a severe punishment in the football World.
In 2019 Montenegro were handed a £17,396 fine as well as a one-game stadium closure, because of the fans racial abuses against the English International, and former Manchester Superstar Raheem sterling.
In 2024 during The Euro camping The Serbian, Croatian, Romanian, Slovenian, Austrian, Hungarian and Albanian Football Associations were all sanctioned by UEFA due to racist chants.
In January 2009, the Royal Spanish Football Federation fined Real Madrid approximately US$3,900 after a group of fans made fascist gestures and chanted fascist slogans at a match. Match referee Alfonso Pérez Burrull cited “extremist or radical symbolism”, and chants making reference to “the gas chamber.”
In January 2023, four men were fined 60,001 euros (£51,700) and given a two-year stadium ban for hanging an effigy of Vinicius near Real’s training ground.