A few days before the start of the 2022 FIFA World Cup, the "8 against 88" day of action organized by the Faculty of Applied Social Studies at Dortmund University of Applied Sciences was also dedicated to ball sports. Teaching staff and students from the faculty asked the expert guests on the podium what racism and homophobia look like in soccer.
Seated there were:
- Prof. Dr. Katja Sabisch. She teaches gender studies at Ruhr University Bochum and her main focus is on social science soccer research.
- Prof. Dr. Aladin El-Mafaalani, sociologist at the University of Osnabrück. He has been researching racism, discrimination and social inequality for more than ten years.
- Mirza Demirović. He is the coordinator of the Nordstadtliga Dortmund integration project.
- Patrick Owomoyela, former professional footballer. He played for Borussia Dortmund and the German national team for several years. In the documentary film "Schwarze Adler" (Black Eagles), he and other footballers recently spoke openly about their experiences with racism and discrimination.
The film also kicked off the "8 against 88" day of action on November 14, 2022 on the Emil-Figge-Straße campus. Around 100 interested people attended this public viewing and the subsequent discussion. Prof. Dr. Dierk Borstel and Prof. Dr. Christina Möller from the Faculty of Applied Social Studies moderated the event.
Racism, a structural problem
During the discussion, it became clear that racism is easier to address today and has therefore become more visible. Professional footballer Patrick Owomoyela admitted that he used to dismiss many things as stupidity that were actually clear racism. There was also a lack of trained confidants in the clubs. "There are now many initiatives in the clubs, which are often fan-driven," said the footballer. The players are not the focus. In order to support footballers affected by racism and offer them a first point of contact, he and other players have founded a corresponding association.
From the academic world, Prof. Dr. Aladin El-Mafaalani reported on the mechanisms and functions of racism. "It is a cross-class, structural problem," said the sociologist. However, research also shows that racism can be overcome. Prejudices are first formed and consolidated during socialization. Participants in the day of action reported on their experiences with everyday racism.
Prof. Dr. Katja Sabisch drew the line further to homophobia. While the topic of racism in soccer is now discussed intensively, fan projects still have problems with the topic of homophobia. "There is less interest in this topic," said Prof. Sabisch. Although racist incidents from the stadiums are reported to the report office for discrimination in soccer in NRW, there are virtually no incidents of homophobic comments and actions. Among other things, the reporting office is used for scientific work on the subject of discrimination.
A recording of the discussion is available on the Instagram channel of Fachhochschule Dortmund.
