ImpACT International for Human Rights Policies, the London-based think tank raise awareness about important research uncovering name discrimination in Europe. To highlight this problem and encourage change, ImpACT held a webinar to discuss the extent of discrimination and what we can do to stop it. This webinar included Dr Carlos Gómez González, co-author of research titled Mapping discrimination in Europe through a field experiment in amateur sport. Carlos’ expertise is in sports economics, sports management, discrimination studies.
Sport should be a medium to bring people together, yet it can also be a window on how much progress society still needs to make. Incontrovertible evidence shows that it can be stated that those with what can be considered ethnic minority and immigrant sounding names face a level of exclusion from amateur sports clubs and this is the result of discrimination against people on the basis of their ethnicity. Failure to tackle this problem will bring into question the proper functioning and cohesiveness of increasingly diverse European societies.
Those with what can be considered ethnic minority and immigrant sounding names face a level of exclusion from amateur sports clubs as a result of discrimination against people on the basis of their ethnicity
If name discrimination can be ended in football then it will open up society to become more inclusive, equal, and give many people the opportunity to enjoy sport and improve their health. Such inequalities as they currently exist should be a major concern for both sports governing bodies and national governments in Europe.
Taking into account that amateur sport carries benefits for society as a whole, there is a real need to tackle this unacceptable discrimination.
ImpACT International recommends that:
End name discrimination
- Action needs to be taken to eliminate name discrimination.
Awareness campaign
- Professional sports club should fund awareness campaigns as to the problem and provide literature to coaches and club managers as to the problem of name discrimination and the benefits of eliminating this regrettable prejudice.
Promoting amateur sport
- The business of football, and particularly major professional football clubs, should fund websites that record and promote amateur clubs, and their games, and the scorers. If the game at a lower level receives more publicity unacceptable behaviours will reduce.
Keep fighting
- Government guidance, football governing bodies, and the sports industry should implore ethnic minorities and immigrants to persist and not take no for an answer, nor be ignored, when seeking to partake in football and other sporting activities.
National research
- European countries should initiate comprehensive studies to uncover the prevalence of name discrimination and the detrimental consequences it is having on the functioning of their increasingly diverse societies.
Change
- Through consulting with ImpAct International, businesses and governments, need to implement policies that decrease the instances of name discrimination across all sectors from education to industry.
Robert Oulds, Moderator of the webinar, and Executive Director of ImpACT International, states, “If people can be prevented from taking part in amateur football and denied the opportunity to play a game, how bad can the situation be in other fields? The extend of this problem must be known and tackled. The goal is to have an inclusive society where all can have the opportunity to play a part. Football can be the entry point from where positive changes will flow.”
To watch the full webinar on YouTube click HERE.
To read ImpACT's full report click HERE.