Football has the unique power to connect people regardless of race, gender, sexual orientation and political views. In this essay, I share my personal experience and advocate for professional football clubs and those in charge of them to take responsibility and play an active role in the education and development of their communities.
My connection to football
My connection to football dates to my fourth birthday. On that day, my grandfather signed me up at a local club. In the early years of my football experience, he managed and trained my team. It is safe to say that my passion runs in my DNA and has been passed through by my grandfather. Since then, I’ve developed an ever-growing interest in the sport beyond just my favourite team and their performances (not to say that it doesn’t affect me at all). I’ve long thought about pursuing a career in a football-related profession, but I have always chosen a safer option. Until the summer of 2024, I enrolled in a master’s program in Sport Management at Rome Business School.
Why is this important?
I was told about Football Makes History (FMH) by my professor, Valerio Mancini. He happened to have visited my home country for an FMH event and told me to go check it out. After browsing the website and reading its stories, I was immediately enthusiastic about the project. It shines a light on the side of football that is often overlooked from a sports management point of view: heritage. By heritage, I mean not the kind of heritage football clubs are eager to use as a means of marketing and improving public relations, but rather the kind that can teach us about the way the world was at a certain time. The kind that reminds us of our shared duty to make the world a safer, more inclusive and more equal place. Both the beautiful and the ugly can teach us valuable lessons about ourselves and our communities.
Especially in times like these, where the truth is drowned out by misinformation or non-valuable information, where political discourse and nuance are losing ground to defamation and zero-sum thinking, it is increasingly important to educate ourselves and the younger generations about the dangers that come with these phenomena and how to combat them.
How more engagement with education creates a better world of football
A sad but often recurring problem in football is racism. It happens in both the professional leagues and the amateur leagues. In the Netherlands alone, 4 out of 10 pro footballers say they have been subject to a form of racism in their career (Mulier Instituut, 2021). In the same year, the England Men’s national team trio of Marcus Rashford, Bukayo Saka and Jadon Sancho were racially abused after missing their penalties in the final of the European Championship. There is also the example of AC Milan goalkeeper Mike Maignan in 2024, who was racially abused by opposition fans. Even in my own experience, I have seen and heard people make monkey sounds when a black player scores a goal. Mind you, the goal scorer played for the team they supported.
While I do not know if the racism in these instances came from sheer hatred or some sort of reprehensible ignorance, I do believe that there is a severe lack of education in the case of both sources. That same goes for more problems in football today. The Women’s game and the case for LGBTQ+ in football experience abuse of a similar kind. I believe that more education, and/or education better tailored towards the target audience, helps reduce the short-sightedness and hatred in football. Whilst it may not convert the racists of today, it may, at the very least, prevent future ignorance.
How to translate it into action
I believe football clubs have a responsibility in these cases. First, they must ensure that their club is accessible to all, regardless of race, gender or sexual orientation. Second, they must do more to educate their communities, whether that be through facilitating and promoting reading amongst primary schools or even developing lessons in which the students learn about the importance of truth, where to find the truth, critical thinking, and morality. This should not be limited to just primary schools. I believe there is more to gain in the groups aged 12-18 since they are heavily exposed to short-form content containing misinformation.
My role and future outlook
I hope that thanks to my future role in Football, and the ones of my fellow professionals in sports, we will be able to transform the world of football and sports in general. I believe sports should change; it cannot be just the pursuit of business opportunities and operational excellence, but include social responsibility, which encourages us to consider the interests of our communities. Sports organisations rely on strong and inclusive communities, so we would be fools not to take care of them.
Thinking points
Educators working with young people could opt to join forces with the football clubs and organisations, for example, reaching out to them with a strong message of solidarity or making them aware of points of view like mine. Sports clubs can host lessons about these topics for their management and staff. These could be questions that readers can ask themselves or that can be used for a collective discussion in class:
- Do you think your club is doing enough to tackle racism and the targeting of minorities?
- What do you think they can do better?
- What do you think you can do to help?
Find out more
Read about racism in Dutch football: https://www.mulierinstituut.nl/publicaties/26258/racisme-in-het-betaald-mannenvoetbal/ (in Dutch)More about how football clubs can form meaningful partnerships: https://footballmakeshistory.eu/the-football-club-partnerships-in-heritage/
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