A Mile Wide but an Inch Deep: Pervasive Racism in International Football, Symbolic Compliance, and a Substantive Path Forward

Despite football (also known as “soccer”) being the most popular and diverse game in the world, racism and discrimination pervade the sport. Racism and discrimination continue notwithstanding widespread recognition of the problem and continuous reforms and regulations implemented by international and regional bodies. To our understanding, this is the first Article to systematically analyze the regulatory failures surrounding racism in football and explain why organizational efforts to respond have failed. While other studies have examined the long history of racism in football, documented how actors have diffused responsibility, and categorized anti-discrimination efforts into reactive and proactive categories, this Article draws upon new institutional organizational theory to understand how, but also why, football organizations—at the international, regional, and club levels—have been ineffective at curbing racism. This Article seeks to explain why racism has persisted in football, why previous anti-discrimination efforts by European football governing organizations at every level have fallen short, and what can be done to curb this problem in the future. We offer a series of interconnected proposals that will likely move the sport closer to substantive compliance and transform anti-racism efforts from futile gestures to impactful initiatives. Football as an institution of employment is an example of a larger pervasive problem of organizations reproducing racially unequal structures in society, despite espousing allegiance to goals of equality. identifying the organizational predicates that have allowed racism to reproduce in football, this Article is critical for understanding the larger question of why so many industries—healthcare, education, banking, government, and financial institutions—fail to sufficiently address racism in the workplace. The unique context of football—its global nature, the overlapping authority of its governing bodies, and the principles of fair play and competition—make this a powerful example for analyzing how organizations try, and fail, to confront racism. Identifying and remedying the conditions that have allowed racism to reproduce is a necessary endeavor within, and outside of the football context. This Article, therefore, has implications for those interested in employment law, regulation, organizations, sports, and compliance.