Study Reveals Persistent Racial Discrimination in Belgian Soccer

37.3% of the young people surveyed say they have been victims of discrimination on the pitch. They claim to have suffered racist insults and mockery or unfair decisions (referee sanctions, for example). Similarly, 75% of parents had witnessed discrimination, but four out of ten chose not to intervene. Also, 29% of child and adolescent victims did not dare to speak about it, the survey conducted two years ago reveals.

According to sociologist Martijn Truys, who analyzed all the available data on the 385 players who played in the Jupiler Pro League during the 2019-2020 season, with a particular focus on the ethnic aspect, several players of African origin are often penalized. They are the most likely to remain on the bench at the start of the game, to receive a red card, to be replaced more quickly, in short to have less playing time than their white teammates.

The researcher observes that players of African origin or with an African parent are the most numerous to occupy the positions of striker (46%) and fewer goalkeepers (3%). On the other hand, whites are more represented in defense (31.3%) and have five times more chances of occupying this position. "Playing positions are distributed according to the supposed physical advantages of people based on their origin," explains Professor Jeroen Scheerder, sports sociologist, who supervised the two studies.

"In pro football, black players are more likely to be attackers because they are supposed to be fast, explosive and just have to execute what others build," he adds. "We have seen that the same pattern applies very early on: Maghrebi or sub-Saharan children and adolescents were directed towards positions that do not require too much cognitive action, while the roles of leaders and goalkeepers were more white," a study conducted with young Belgian players aged 10 to 20 during the 2020-2021 season had already revealed.