Racial bias in football

[delaurentis]

Study regarding racial bias in football

https://runrepeat.com/racial-bias-study-soccer

When commentators talk about intelligence:
62.60% of praise was aimed at players with lighter skin tone
63.33% of criticism was aimed at players with darker skin tone
When commentators are talking about power they are 6.59 times more likely to be talking about a player with darker skin tone
When commentators are talking about speed they are 3.38 times more likely to be talking about a player with darker skin tone
When commentators talk about work ethic, 60.40% of praise is aimed at players with lighter skin tone

 

[ADRossi]

I read a book called Soccernomics which talked about how English scouts were more likely to praise players with blonde hair because they "stuck out" more when being scouted, compared to dark hair players on the pitch. Not really race related, just a funny anecdote.

Regarding the study, I'm not surprised. It's like when you watch the NBA and every white player is praised for their "high basketball IQ.

For football specific, Balotelli received such a ridiculous amount of blame for those mid-2010 Azzurri teams. Not because he deserved the blame, but because he doesn't look like what an Italian is "supposed" to look like. We just need to be better than that as people.

This forum does a really good job with this, all things considered.

 

[Adriano]

not surprising at all

 

[thatdude]

I read a book called Soccernomics which talked about how English scouts were more likely to praise players with blonde hair because they "stuck out" more when being scouted, compared to dark hair players on the pitch. Not really race related, just a funny anecdote.

The only logical excuse for why David Luiz has had a long career at the top level

 

[n4l]

The only logical excuse for why David Luiz has had a long career at the top level

And why Guendouzi even gets any playing time

 

[Doffy]

Kdog

 

[Kramerica Industries]

I read a book called Soccernomics which talked about how English scouts were more likely to praise players with blonde hair because they "stuck out" more when being scouted, compared to dark hair players on the pitch. Not really race related, just a funny anecdote.

Regarding the study, I'm not surprised. It's like when you watch the NBA and every white player is praised for their "high basketball IQ.

For football specific, Balotelli received such a ridiculous amount of blame for those mid-2010 Azzurri teams. Not because he deserved the blame, but because he doesn't look like what an Italian is "supposed" to look like. We just need to be better than that as people.

This forum does a really good job with this, all things considered.

No surprise, but what you talk about with football scouting is no different in any other sport, either. All the sports in North America are notorious for white players being the "gritty, lunch pail types" while the black players are far more likely to be called "toolsy" and "athletic". It's actually pretty funny how much of an open secret this sort of stuff has become over the years.

 

[brehme1989]

Hasn't it been proven that black people have greater bone density than other races? I think even black females are on par with white males until their mid 40s or something like that. Google osteoporosis and race for more on that.

Obviously I'm not sure if race is the reason for this, but it's been quite consistent in reserach findings so maybe it's more of an observation of how certain players play rather than being prejudiced against them.

As for bias in general, of course if you're talking about commentators of predominantly non-black populations they'll be singling out blacks in a different way, just like you'd see this occuring in the inverse scenario. Isn't that kind of obvious?

I'm pretty sure the same can be said about specific nationalities. A German or Norwegian player will be commented on strength and physique, an Englishman on stamina, an Italian on finesse or tactical discipline while a Spanish or Portuguese player will be commented on technique, a Brazilian on crazy dribbles and an Argentinean on creativity or dribbling skills. Whether they have it or lack it, that will be the main point of discussion until it becomes boring and even the dullest thing never becomes boring for these guys when they run out of things to say.

 

[ADRossi]

Truthfully the conversation around commentators isn't that interesting to me because there are a lot of poor commentators who simply spew stereotypes instead of actually providing insights.

The real conversation point, for me, is whether non-white players receive less chances to succeed than white players. The NFL is the simple example: quarterbacks such as EJ Manuel, Jameis Winston, and Tyrod Taylor have received a quarter of the opportunities their white counterparts have, despite being equally skilled quarterbacks. Winston is no worse than a Nick Foles, Chase Daniels, or Stephen Peterman, yet receives less chances (for less money) than other white quarterbacks. You'll hear the white quarterbacks referred to as "great mentors" or "good locker room presences" despite being mediocre players.

I don't have any examples like this that exist in football, other than my Balotelli example, which is squandered because he actually is a bigger headache than 99% of players.

 

[rfU]

 

[n4l]

lmao...never saw this before