Racial bias exists in football commentary in Europe, says study

Dubai: Players with a lighter skin tone are lauded more often across four European leagues, including the Premier League, according to revealing study conducted by Danish firm RunRepeat in association with the Professional Footballers’ Association (PFA).

“The continuous praise for players with lighter skin tone for their skill level, leadership and cognitive abilities combined with the continuous criticism for players with darker skin tone is likely to influence the perception of the soccer watching public,” said the researchers as quoted by BBC Sport.

PFA equalities executive Jason Lee told BBC Sport: “It was always important to collate information rather than just speaking about the fact we believe there is unconscious bias within sport, and across society really.

“If you’re describing two types of players, one is white and one is black, and they are both doing exactly the same thing and yet for the black player you are picking up on the negative side of it and for the white player it’s the positive side, what I mean by that is a black player will be perceived as having pace and power and aggression, and a white player will have ingenuity and creativity and determination, different traits, when it could be the reverse.”

Lee added: “I think it’s damaging in the long term because when players leave their playing career and they go into coaching or managing, or want to be seen in a more positive light, people will have already built up this perception because for 10 or 20 years all you’ve heard of is that person is quick, powerful and aggressive, and you’ve not heard they are actually intellectual, articulate and [have] a quite different set of skills.”

Footballers in the Premier League have been taking a knee as a mark of support to the Black Lives Matter movement since the resumption of the league.