Football, Migration and Racism Global Perspectives

Racism, antiracism, football and migration: introduction

Marco Martiniello and John Solomos

1. “Big, strong, reliable guys who have the legs to run”: racialised stereotypes of the African player and talent development systems in West Africa

Ikechukwu Ejekwumadu  

2. “Let the N***** play so that he can score goals”: racism and racialization towards African football players in Czechia

Jakub Vávrovský and Stephanie Rudwick  

3. Race on and off the field: Ghanaian footballers in Sweden

Emy Lindberg  

4. An experimental test of “racist stacking” in football

Marjorie Rachel Berns, Luisa Liekefett, Lara Aimée Kronenbitter, Tina Nobis and Julia Christina Becker

5. Football in Costa Rica: kicking balls, upholding coloniality

Gloriana Rodriguez Alvarez

6. Race in televised football: insights from behind-the-scenes within major English football media organizations

Jacco Van Sterkenburg, Irene Blum, Mariana Fried, Arne Van Lienden and Steven Bradbury

7. The discourse that makes racism disappear: Italian football and the (re)construction of the Maignan case

Max Mauro

8. Anti-racism in grassroots football: bridging policy gaps and local struggles in migration-shaped communities

Alessandro Mazzola

Biography

Marco Martiniello is a sociologist and political scientist. He is Director of Research at the National Fund for Scientific Research (FRS-FNRS) and Founding Director of CEDEM (Centre for the Study of Ethnicity and Migration) at the University of Liège, where he teaches sociology of migration, inter-ethnic relations and racism. His work focuses on the relationships between the arts, culture, sport, immigration and ethnicised and racialised minorities. He is also interested in transnationalism and issues of migration policy, citizenship, multiculturalism, racism and the political mobilisation of immigrants.

John Solomos is Professor Emeritus of Sociology at the University of Warwick. He has researched and written widely on the history and contemporary forms of race and ethnic relations in Britain, theories of race and racism, the politics of race, equal opportunity policies, multiculturalism and social policy, race and football, and racist movements and ideas. His most recent book is Antiracism: A Critique (2025). He has been Joint-Editor and Editor-in-Chief of the international journal Ethnic and Racial Studies since 1995. He is also co-editor of the book series on Racism, Resistance and Social Change for Manchester University Press.