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Top2 The Context
According to a report from the European Union Agency for Fundamental Rights in the field of racism and exclusion on different sports, it was found that there currently exists a limited scientific research that can assess positively the values of diversity and social inclusion that arise from descriptive data in the EU context of the specific field (Kjaerum, 2010; Tarnanidis et al., 2020). For example, Roberson (2006) argued that diversity and inclusion create a competitive advantage for businesses. Alike, Shore et al. (2011) noted that inclusive workgroups create high-quality employee relationships, enhance creativity, and strengthen pride in one’s tasks. Similarly, it was found that social pressures from external stakeholders can also compel an organization to have strong morals (Johnston & Malina, 2008). Therefore, all of these examples positively represent diversity and inclusion engagement practices. Whilst towards that direction a number of relevant measures have been implemented by relevant stakeholders (like legal monitoring systems and awareness raising campaigns) at the European level in order to prevent the spreading of racist acts and unethical behaviors that occur on a daily basis to all kind of sports, this issue remains a pervasive challenge as it is too difficult to overcome the existing barriers and to provide a unified critical assessment, which will encourage all the participating bodies, such as athletes, players, officials and fans to build a shield against the growth of racism.
As for its manifestation, racism can take a diverse range of forms. There are cases where people are disadvantaged (consciously or not) due to their ethnicity. This is what can be referred to as everyday subconscious or indirect racism (Long, et al., 2000) and it can originate from frustration, insecurity, lack of knowledge or understanding. It can derive from the existence of a perception of endangerment of the indigenous/national identity (Llopis-Goig, 2013) due to the presence of “others”. Moreover, the problem of racism has sharpened at a time when players have become more mobile than ever, not only between countries but between continents. Nonetheless, the trend also coincides with a deeply worrying increase in extreme right-wing activities outside the football stadium (FIFA, 2006; Iganski, 2011; Holland, 1996) In general racism can be defined as negative beliefs and attitudes which advantage or disadvantage people because of their colour, culture or ethnic origin. In its more subtle form it is as damaging as in its overt form (Macpherson, 1999; Chu et al., 2014; King, 2004; Carrington, 2002; Garland and Rowe, 2001).