The hidden discrimination in sports immigration - the salary differentiation among goalkeepers in soccer leagues

The immigration of professional athletes hides several realities of discrimination. Often, the high salaries associated with these athletes help hide many discriminatory practices that still occur even at the highest competitive level. We looked at the reality of professional goalkeepers in the main OECD football leagues (specifically, the six main leagues in Europe), over more than 10 seasons. Using Mincerian equations and Blinder–Oaxaca decomposition, we found that discrimination is mainly based on the nationality of the athletes, with discrimination based on skin color taking a secondary role. Complementary evidence based on the athlete's performance, experience or biological factors such as age was also discussed.