Comments on: Embedded racism in Italian football

By: fromnetherlands

fromnetherlands — Mon, 26 May 2008 06:44:31 +0000

Thanks good article.
I tried to live for ten years in Italy the narrow mindedness, the fascism are clear and disgusting.
Anyone non italian is basically a non issue.
welcome to Italy.
you can have your macaroni anywhere in the world where people are nice.

By: SpanglyPrincess

SpanglyPrincess — Fri, 04 Apr 2008 13:58:06 +0000

Terrapin: you might have noticed that I was talking about the *visibility* of ethnic minority populations in Italy. The places where the majority of italians will see black, Indian or Chinese people, on a day to day basis, are as street sellers of fake dvds & handbags, or running a very specific kind of shop.

I didn’t say those were the only activities which immigrant populations engaged in: but those are the places & circumstances where immigrants are most visible. I think this is quite important because it shapes the expectations and attitudes of the general population far more than the much smaller number of black or chinese skilled workers and professionals here.

By: terrapin

terrapin — Fri, 04 Apr 2008 13:05:54 +0000

um, so all the people of color sell 99 cent tat and pirated DVDs, eh. Sounds like you may want to look in the mirror when speaking about educated people who don’t realise they are saying something offensive.

By: ursus arctos

ursus arctos — Thu, 21 Feb 2008 10:07:17 +0000

A lot of truth in that, and it will be interesting to see how the Ouaddou incident (in which Valenciennes’ Moroccan international was yellow carded for going to remonstrate with his abuser at half time after the referee apparently ignored his complaints during the first 45 minutes) plays out in France.

Valenciennes have asked for the match to be replayed, Metz have refused, but have offered to play a friendly with all of the proceeds going to an anti-racism charity. Meanwhile, the “supporter” hurling the abuse was quickly identified by other fans and now faces a court appearance and criminal charges, and the French justice minister (who happens to be of North African descent) has issued a tough statement condemming the abuse.

Decent English language summary of that situation at this overlong link:
http://www.sportinglife.com/football/overseas/france/news/story_get.dor?STORY_NAME=international_feed/08/02/19/SOCCER_Fra-Valenciennes_Ouaddou.html&TEAMHD=france#

By: upturnedcollar

upturnedcollar — Wed, 20 Feb 2008 22:57:12 +0000

Italy, Spain you could go on all the way up the continent…racism is it not without its audience. I’ve even heard racist chants in Scandinavia. One should recognise that though we fancy ourselves progressive and open in Europe it would do us good not to turn a blind eye away from the pervasive tribalism that promotes provincial attitudes.

Italy and Spain often get singled out because frankly their FAs seem like they can’t be bothered.

By: Phil

Phil — Tue, 19 Feb 2008 21:51:28 +0000

In England there are also problems of racism and regionalism. With a lot of antagonism between neighbouring areas and cities as well as between regions. Also immigration has been higher in some place than others. Clubs are wrapped up in their regional and local identities and it would be difficult to stop regional discrimination, and it is often seen as a joke not abuse. English football has been fairly successful in stopping racist behaviour at matches, through having lots of black players for clubs and England (though there are still not many British Asian players), lots of people in the game speaking out against racism and the threat of being banned from football grounds for racist behaviour. The big question here is what can policies can help reduce racism in Italian football.

By: footballfilter.com

footballfilter.com — Tue, 19 Feb 2008 11:43:52 +0000

Pitch Invasion - Embedded racism in Italian football

Article from PitchInvasion.net on racism in Italian Football - defo worth a read.

By: Among the Thugs, Freaks and Footballers. « Puppy Dogs+Ice Cream.

Among the Thugs, Freaks and Footballers. « Puppy Dogs+Ice Cream. — Sat, 09 Feb 2008 22:41:17 +0000

[…] odd that I happened upon this particular novel, as I’d just spent the past few days examining various bloggers’ takes on Spanish and Italian racism/classism/regionalism in sport. I won’t delve too […]

By: SpanglyPrincess

SpanglyPrincess — Sat, 09 Feb 2008 10:16:35 +0000

Matteo: I don’t think anyone has suggested that racism is exclusively an Italian problem, by any means. You might also want to know a little bit more about who you’re talking too before assuming that everyone here is white or English.

Nor was my article intended in any way to stereotype - I’m from a Milanese/Piemontese family but live in Rome, and most of my friends are from the South - I’m basing my judgements on the people I know, the things I see at football and what I observe here on a daily basis.

As for regionalism - I think you’ll find there’s plenty of that going on in the UK (see Lancashire v Yorkshire, for instance, or the songs sung at Liverpool fans) though it tends to be a trifle less virulent in its hostility.

By: matteo

matteo — Sat, 09 Feb 2008 04:51:20 +0000

It’s funny how you white English people complaining about us italians as being racist but isn’t it a fact that you’re actually stereotyping Italians in a racist way. It seems that it’s either poorer Sicilians and southern Italians who are seen as poor, uneducated, violent dagos, and the northern snotty racist arogent Italians. Who’s the racist? It’s true that regionalism does exist and many look down on other people’s regions and citties which is mostly evident in Il calcio, but it also has to do with regional pride and loyalty…something that white anglo europeans and americans are quite ready to throw out the window