The Premier League season was barely half an hour old when Bournemouth forward Antoine Semenyo reported being racially abused by a spectator.
The same weekend, a German Cup match was halted after Schalke midfielder Christopher Antwi-Adjei said he faced racial abuse during a throw-in.
In Italy, Juventus condemned racist attacks targeting U.S. player Weston McKennie as he warmed down after a league game.
In Spain, police on Wednesday arrested a spectator accused of making monkey noises and gestures toward Real Madrid star Kylian Mbappe during an Aug. 24 match.
The early-season spike in abuse directed at Black players across European competitions has alarmed anti-discrimination campaigners, highlighting that racism remains entrenched in football despite repeated initiatives by FIFA, UEFA, national federations and individual clubs.
“I think it’s more than double what we had last season at the same time,” said Piara Powar, executive director of the Fare network, an anti-discrimination group that works with global and European football bodies to monitor and advise on incidents at games.
“If you layer social-media issues on top of that,” Powar added in a phone interview, referencing the abuse of England player Jess Carter at the Women’s European Championship this summer, “then you really are getting into a lot of stories coming out.”
Frustrated at the lack of progress, some Black players have called for tougher penalties from both the justice system and football institutions.
“In this day and age, we’re still, us players, getting racially abused, and it just doesn’t make sense,” Semenyo told British broadcaster ITV. “We just want to know why it keeps happening.”
The man arrested on suspicion of hurling abuse at Semenyo during the Premier League opener against Liverpool was released on bail and told he cannot go within 1 mile (1.6 kilometers) of a football stadium in Britain while police investigate the incident.
Football’s tribal culture and frenzied fan base make it a prime stage for societal problems like racism. English football experienced a particularly harrowing period in the 1970s and ’80s, when Black players were regularly subjected to monkey chants and offensive slurs.
A generation later, racial abuse is more common on social media but continues in stadiums. A high-profile example occurred in Spain in 2023, when Real Madrid’s Vinícius Júnior confronted a supporter who called him a monkey. Months earlier, four people hung an effigy of the Brazilian player from a highway bridge, resulting in prison sentences this year.
Football’s governing bodies have struggled to stamp out the problem, despite measures such as longer bans for players, heavier fines for clubs, partial stadium closures, points deductions and a three-step protocol referees follow when racism occurs in matches.
FIFA recently fined the football federations of Albania, Serbia and Bosnia and Herzegovina for offenses including racism during World Cup qualifiers hosted in June. Argentina, Colombia and Chile also were punished for what FIFA described as “discrimination and racist abuse.”
FIFA created a racism task force in 2013 but disbanded it three years later, saying it had “completely fulfilled its temporary mission.”
Last week, FIFA announced its latest initiative: a 16-member panel of former players, including football greats George Weah and Didier Drogba, to advise on anti-racism initiatives.
“They will further push for a shift in football culture,” FIFA President Gianni Infantino said of The Players’ Voice Panel, “making sure measures to counter racism are not just talked about, but actioned, both on and off the pitch.”
One member of the panel, former Manchester United defender Mikael Silvestre, said he received racist insults on Instagram the day after the initiative was announced.
“It was a surprise,” Silvestre said in comments provided by FIFA, “but it made me even more motivated.”
Powar said his organization, which sends observers to men’s matches in international football and European club competitions, has reported 18 alleged discriminatory incidents to UEFA and FIFA so far this season, excluding online incidents. Based on news reports and its own observations, the Fare network documented 90 clear incidents of discrimination in 67 matches, nearly half involving racism.
Powar said there is “more awareness” of racist incidents in football, largely due to increased media coverage, but he was surprised by the high number so early in the season. He suggested a heightened focus on migration in European politics may have contributed to the surge.
“Every week now we are seeing far-right parties, parties of the center-right, prioritizing migration as an issue that Europe needs to get a grip on,” he said. “And that inevitably plays out among fan groups, many of whom have a far-right agenda, and it plays out in the minds of the general public.”
Jacco van Sterkenburg, a professor of race, inclusion and communication in football and the media at Erasmus University in Rotterdam, cautioned against blaming racism in football solely on broader political trends.
“Football itself produces racism that to some extent is independent from society,” Van Sterkenburg said, “because behind it are aspects like, for example, the lack of diversity in boardrooms and coaching staffs.”
Organizations like FIFA and UEFA must balance their roles as competition organizers and regulatory bodies.
Powar pointed to Mexico, a co-host of next year’s World Cup, whose federation has been regularly fined for its fans’ use of a homophobic chant during matches.
“FIFA has fined them probably close to 20 times over the last few seasons,” Powar said, “and really, given their offenses, they should be closer to being kicked out of the World Cup.”
Gary Neville, a former Manchester United and England defender, also wants stronger consequences for offenders.
Neville is a co-owner of English fourth-tier team Salford City, whose players walked off the field during a friendly in York in July after one of them was allegedly racially abused by a home supporter.
Speaking at the launch of UK anti-discrimination group Kick It Out’s five-year “Football United” strategy, Neville said the conversation on racism must move beyond education.
“Should the offender’s employer be contacted? Should there be further punishment for the club? Should the players continue on the pitch?” he asked. “We have to take the conversation beyond what is the norm because I just see exactly the same response every single time.”
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