Professional football and racial discrimination

Introduction

Intersections between gender class age and other disability has crucial impacts ion the individual experience and participation in sports, for which the participation on different sports are affected by different demographic factors. The project mainly focuses on understanding the connection between sport and racism, where race and ethnicity have its important impacts on sports activities. Through critical analysis of sport and racism in the society, it is possible to demonstrate the impacts of racism on sports as well as the study also provides a scope to analyse oral transcription and interview data for analysing the effects of racism on sport and the participation of the individuals. Critical discussion will be developed further for evaluating interlink between race and sports in the society. The study also provides a scope to analyse the footballer’s views on racism in football, and share their experience so that interview transcript would be evaluated for analysing the critical issue of racism in football. The methodology will be chosen effective to gather vast range of information and case studies, where the footballers are facing the issue of racism in participating in international leagues. The study is hereby effective to analyse interview transcript and gather vast range of information for in depth critical discussion to draw the final conclusion about racism in football. For those seeking psychology dissertation help, this research offers valuable insights into the social dynamics and psychological impacts of racism in sports.

Race and sports

Race and ethnicity influence the way sports is accessed and experienced where there are racial disparities and discrimination in the society which has its crucial impacts on the sport activities and the participation of the individuals. Racism and racial inequalities significantly influence black and minority ethnic communities’ access, participation and experiences of sport, where they are facing the experience of racism in the social communities. There are many black and minority ethnic groups in America, who prefer physical activity and hath programs in the society, but there is lack of opportunities for them to take active participation in different sport activities. In the 1970s and 1980s sport sociologists began to investigate continuing racial discrimination in sport where class, nation, gender and age have its impacts on sports. There are various scholar and sportswriters who argue about the over representations and under representation of different races in different sports (Penfold and Cleland, 2021). The African Americans re accounted for 75% of the players in the national basketball association in the end of 2008. As per the National consortium for academics and sports equality report revealed that, 65% of national football league’s players were African Americans. About 8.5% of major league baseball players were African American and on the other hand, less than 5% of the players in national hockey league players are back and minority heritage in the country. Hence, it can be stated that, the participation of the lac and minority community in America is less as compared to the other communities. NCAA sports have mirrored the trends present in American professional sports, where about 46% of NCCA players are paying football and 58% was is basketball. There is participation of the black and minority communities in basketball, baseball and manly football, but the percentage of the players may vary according to the opportunities that they get and the country wise distribution (Armenia, 2019). The BAME community is efficient to do physical activities on a daily basis and it is considered that they are physically fit to take active participation in different athletic games.

On the other hand, East Asian people are also stereotyped as being physically and athletically inferior to other race in the society and this phenomenon has led to much discrimination in the recruitment process of professional American sports, and this further contributes to the Asian American athletes being highly underrepresented in the majority of professional sports teams. Hence, race and ethnicity has its crucial impacts on the personal attributes and therefore underrepresented in the national team of the athletic games. In 2012, despite making up 6% of nation's population Asian American athletes only represented 2% of the National Football leagues and 1.9% participation were there in major league baseball or MLB and less than 1% participation of the Asian people in the national basketball leagues (Zulhidayat et al., 2021). In American sports, there has been a higher representation of Asian American athletes who are of mixed racial heritage in the society as compared to the full racial heritage. In most cases of segregation, stereotypes and belief systems about different ethnic gender groups further engage to the rationalisation of unequal access and resulting disparities. During civil rights movement, there was under-representation of Blacks in U.S. baseball. The African American representation is steadily declining over the period of time and in 2016, it was down to 6.7%. On the other hand, Latino representation in baseball is substantially increased during the time and in 2016, it was about 27%. Asian American representation in baseball has been much less abundant throughout the period of time and it was less than 1% and later it has been increased to 1.2% approximately. In 2016, the Asian American representation in national baseball was only at 2.1% (Gardiner, 2020). Hence, it has been clearly seen that, there is low representation of the BAME communities and Asian people in the American league and other athletic sports, which reveals that there is impacts of race and ethnicity on the sport participation.

Whites make up the largest portion of the different races represented in the Major League and as per the Society for American Baseball research shows that white representation was at 98.3%, where the American youths are more likely to participate in different baseball competition and national league baseball to represent own country and get achievements. As per professional golf association, in 2013 there were 25.7 million golfers which are composed of 20.3 million whites, 3.1 million Hispanics, 1.3 million African-Americans, and 1 million Asian-Americans. This clearly reveals that, there is huge participation of the white people and the percentage of participation of the BAME communities and Asian people is too much less as compared to the whites. Hereby in sports, racism is a serious issue, which affects the performance and overall participation rate of the lack and minority people in America and national leagues. When comparing a minority athlete to a non-minority athlete, there is discrimination between them where the percentage of whites is much higher in deferent sports activities and it hampered the fair distribution of the opportunities in participating in different sports as per their own performance (Sharrow, Tarsi and Nteta, 2021). As per the Share of people who have attended at least two live sports events in the last year in England from May 2020 to May 2021, by ethnicity, there is more than 14.6% people are whites who actively participate in different sports leagues. On the other hand, the whites people are about 8.8% and 4.6% are South Asian participants. Moreover, as per the research, 6.9% people are from BAME communities and 5.2% are Chinese. Hence, it can be stated that, there is racism in the participation in the national sport leagues in America.

In such context, the Union of European Football Associations (UEFA) and the Federation International Football Association (FIFA) are fighting against racism and encourage their participation so that other minority groups can feel free to participate and play well to achieve future success. There is Football against Racism in Europe network (FARE) who develops policy against racism in football in 1999 with the support of FIFA and UEFA, where the major objectives are to promote a commitment to fight discrimination at all levels of football across Europe, tackle societal discrimination, as well as foster networking and exchange of good practice transnationally (Arnold and Veth, 2018). The policy framework is effective to undertake strategies for capacity building and empowering marginalized and discriminated groups in different segments of sports, in particular young people, ethnic minorities, migrants, members of the LGBT communities and women, in order to ensure fairness and equal opportunities in performing in the athletic games. These activities are efficient to encourage the minority communities to come forward and play proficiently to achieve future success. European Union revealed multidisciplinary approach to prevent anti-social treatment and behaviour towards minority communities in the society by focusing on the socio educational approach. There is vocational coaching and training programs where the trainers provide equal opportunity to all participants including the minority communities, so that all the members can participate actively. In order to fight against violence and racism in sport, the European Union also arranged Youth in Action programs to maintain fairness and manage discrimination in long run (Love et al., 2021). Racism is considered as violence practice in the society, where the human rights are also violated through discrimination in terms of age, gender, race and ethnicity. The White Paper on Sport is devoted to strengthening the prevention of and fight against racism and violence.

In the recent era of globalisation, the football associations along with other national clubs in cricket and basketball try to mitigate the issue of racism and provide equal opportunities to all the people in the country, so that every participant can actively take part in different sport activities. For raising awareness of racism and racial discrimination in sports, the authority focuses on organise and finance large scale anti-racism awareness raising campaigns in sport at all levels, involving all relevant actors (Burdsey, 2020). There are famous footballers and actors who are engaged with national campaign for improving the practice of equality and diversity management. Provide funding for social, educational and information activities for NGOs active in the field of combating racism and racial discrimination in sport is also effective movement in Europe to tackle the issue of racism and discrimination. These programs further encourage the BAME communities and influence them to take part in different athletic games and national leagues. Encouraging the media to report on racist incidents are taken place during sports events to give publicity to sanctions incurred by racist offenders as well as ensure equality and diversity management in the sport events. Hence, social campaigning and media engagement are effective for the national team of sports to arrange different sport and physical activities and mitigate the issue of racism and discrimination in the society. Over the period of time, the discrimination in terms of age, gender, race and ethnicity is deteriorating through taking active initiatives, where social campaign and investment in media engagement are effective for managing such critical issue in sports.

As per the analysis, The gap between men’s and women’s participation in sport is greater amongst some ethnic minority groups, where in whites, there is 15% gap in men and women, however, in BAME communities, the gap is more than 35% between men and women in sport. Black Caribbean as well as Black African and ‘Black other’ men have particularly low levels of participation, reaching as low as 2% for ‘Black other’ men which is 11% less than for men in the population as a whole in swimming. apart from that, in basketball, badminton and running sports, the percentage of the BAME communities, women and other minority groups is too much less as compared to other whites population in America, hence, it is important for the local authorities adopt a national framework agreement, outlining the tasks and responsibilities of each actor. Invite sports federations and sports clubs to take measures to attract supporters of different minority backgrounds to sports events is effective to engage the BAME communities and influence them to take active part in different sports activities in the country (Van Sterkenburg, Peeters and Van Amsterdam, 2019). Continuous communication and cooperation must be encouraged during the events and they must be treated equally and fairy in the field. It is also essential to encourage the sponsors and the advertising industry to avoid giving a stereotyped picture of athletes from minority backgrounds, which improves equality and diversity in the society. All the members are treated equally and they can participate in different sports successfully without any discrimination in terms of disabilities, race, gender and age. There are also racial discrimination and inequality in providing opportunities to the people from Nigeria and it is mandatory for evaluating the issues to explore non-discrimination policies and practice of ensuring equality and diversity management.

Research Methodology

It is important to choose effective research method for progressing in the study and complete it with effective data and information analysis. oral; history is effective method of conducting historical research through recorded interviews between a narrator with personal experience of historically significant events and a well-informed interviewer, with the goal of adding to the historical record. It further enables the people to share their stories in their own works and improve understanding about a particular topic. Hence, the personal views and individual opinion of the respondents can be gathered through such oral history method. The oral history can be conducted by empowering the family members, archivist, followers and historians who can be empowered and share the exact information and data related to the research. Oral history is a method of conducting historical research through recorded interviews between a narrator with personal experience and this it is considered as well informed interview to meet the goal of gathering vast range of authentic information. In this particular study, it is effective to choose the method of oral history and progress in the study by empowering the respondents from where the researchers can gather valid information about some specific research topic. Archival footage is also another form of methods for conducting effective research and develops critical analysis on a specific research topic. The oral history can be gathered through voice recording process, where the respondent can record their voice and complete the interview to support the researcher. On the other hand, archival footage can be collected through videography, where the researchers can record the video and gather vast range of information and data.

In this study, the researcher is hereby able to choose interactive research process; where interview is one of the effective ways to gather authentic information about the research topic race and sports. Racism is a critical issue, where the Nigerian people face difficulties to participate in the international football leagues. through this study, the researcher aims at analysing the research topic of professional football and racial discrimination, where the Nigerian people face [problems in attending the international football matches due to different race, ethnicity and language. It is difficult for them to participate in the international games and get equal opportunities to perform and hold a strong position in international football. interactive research process is being chosen, where the researcher arranges interview for empowering the respondent and identify effective information about the Nigerian footballer Adebowale Ogungbure, to analyse the racial discrimination and international professional football. The interview transcripts collected and managed under safety so that the information will be ensured to be utilised in this research study only. Hence, ethical considerations are mandatory to progress in the study and gather vast range of information and data on Adebowale Ogungbure, who is famous footballer and represent own country in the professional football. Through gathering vast information about Adebowale Ogungbure will be helpful to understand his background and professional journey to be a great footballer in the international football (Van Sterkenburg, Peeters and Van Amsterdam, 2019).

Individual profile analysis

Adebowale Ogungbure is a Nigerian former professional footballer who played as a midfielder. He previously played for one season in the Bundesliga with 1. FC Nurnberg. His date of birth is 13th July, 1981 and place of birth is Lagos. He is now 40 years ole with citizenship of Nigeria and Germany. The main position of Adebowale Ogungbure is defensive midfielder and also plays as central midfielder for Nigeria and Germany. He is interested in football since his childhood and his born and brought up was in Lagos. After that, he has the citizenship of Germany and plays several national and international games in football. He was the members of several clubs including Nigerdock Lagos, NEAP Lagos, FC Asaco Cotonu, 1.FC Nürnberg. On 25 March 2006, in a match between FC Sachsen Leipzig and Hallescher FC, Ogungbure was the subject of monkey noises from Hallescher FC Fans. In retaliation he placed two fingers above his mouth and saluted at the crowd – a reference to Adolf Hitler. Firstly, Adebowale Ogungbure was accused and reported by German police, as it is illegal to make Nazi gestures for political or abusive purposes; but 24 hours later criminal proceedings were dropped (Kilvington, and Price, 2019). His playing skill and personality further lead him onwards achieving the future success. Since his childhood, he is interest in football and start practicing during teenagers. He starts his career as a footballed and contributes in national and international games while playing as a player of Nigeria and Germany.

He starts his career as a Nigerian footballer and he is engaged with other German football club in order progress in his career. Good playing skill and intelligence further help him to play with others efficiently. The team and especially a group of the supporters of FC Sachsen came up with a campaign to show their solidarity with Ogungbure. The fans' campaign "Wir sind Ade" (We are Ade-bowale) managed to raise attention for Ogungbure's situation and against racism in Germany. The initiative still exists as "Bunte Kurve" (colourful fan stand), which is effective for him to improve his position in footballer (Lawrence and Davis, 2019). He is efficient to develop his skills and achieve success in footballer. Devoting himself in the game and learning the sport inside out are effective for the player to achieve success as a Nigerian footballer. Though there are difficulties as a Nigerian footballer to come forward and play the international games, he never gives up and always tries to give his best in the field. The knowledge and tactics in football further help him to play for Nigeria and Germany and achieve success as a professional footballer. training and developmental programs are effective for him to manage his activities in the field, where he generally play a midfielders, and his skills and expertise further contribute in achieving success. Running and exercising on a daily basis as well as maintaining body weight is effective to become a successful footballer where Adebowale Ogungbure is efficient to manage his activities and playing successfully (Kassimeris, 2021). Learning from the professionals as well as learning to play in both feet further helps to identify the tactics while playing in the field.

In a youth academy, a club will sign multiple players at a very young age and teach them football skills required to play at that club's level and style of football. The youth can participate in under 18 leagues and national games, and after that, the participants are allowed to join the football club to play for national and international games. Adebowale Ogungbure is efficient in playing under 18 games and also achieves professional career success as a footballer. several training and developmental programs along with the participation in national and international game further help him to improve his skill set to join the international football club and play the national and international leagues efficiently. The Performance Pathway is a road map that brings an athlete through the stages of Long-Term Athlete Development, in order to maximise own capabilities in participating in competition and contribute positively in the team to achieve future success (Onwumechili and Jenkins, 2021). The clubs and sport organisation are also collaborating with the players and protect them with adequate resources and technology in order to improve his performance. He is also proficient in developing a suitable pathway as he wants to make career as a professional footballer. He tried hard to access all the necessary resources and join the national clubs in Nigeria and Germany in order to develop good career in football. The participation in the football team and club further influence him to develop strong career map and according to that map, he performs well and play for Nigeria and Germany. He is a Nigerian footballer and later he joins and gets citizenship in Germany. This programme is designed to support sports and athletes with realistic medal capabilities ion different games, where Adebowale Ogungbure is successful to develop his career as a professional footballer and achieve success. the contribution in different clubs such as Nigerdock Lagos, NEAP Lagos, FC Asaco Cotonu, 1.FC Nürnberg also defines the playing skill and achievements of Adebowale Ogungbure, where he achieves success as a professional footballer and become famous as a footballer in Nigeria and Germany (Transfer market, 2017).

Racism is a major issue in football, where the African footballers and other professional footballers face during the national and international games. Racism in association football is the abuse of the players in the field or in social media posts, as well as abuse to the officials and fans because of their skin colour, different nationality and ethnicity. The footballers are targeted in personal and professional life and it has significant impacts on physical and mental health of the professional footballers (Aisiri et al., 2022). Adebowale Ogungbure also face difficulties in starting his career as a professional footballer and due to skin colour and different ethnicity, he face several issues in attending the national and international games. The incident of racism is being conducted over the period of time, although racist incidents have been reported through media and other publications reported such news in social media or television (Covo, 2019). Oguchi Onyewu, an American of Nigerian descent for example has been punched and shouted at by racist fans while playing for Standard liege. On Germany, racism in football is a major issue since long year back and it has serious impacts on the physical and mental health of the players. Adebowale Ogungbure is also suffering from threats related to racism, where it is difficult for him to tackle abuse in the field and even in the social media (Samson and Oluwatoyin, 2021). For example, in 1994, Borussia Dortmund star Júlio César threatened to leave the club after he was refused admission to a local nightclub because of him being black. FC St. Pauli fans responded decisively to outbreaks of racism in the German game. With the slogan, Gegen rechts ('Against the Right').the fans and the club member protest against politically motivated racism in Germany and it becomes a serious issue for the players to tackle the issue of racism. As professional footballer, Adebowale Ogungbure also faces several threats due to diversity in ethnicity and race. In 1996, Merkel 1996 reports that they vehemently refuse to acknowledge that racism is a major problem, and dismiss racist abuse as isolated incidents and it is considered as unrelated incident to the sport (Okwechime and Adetiloye, 2019). However, the footballer find it difficulties to cope up with such critical issues and seek support from the fans and government in order to stop discriminating the players from black and minority groups (World football, 2021).

On 25 March 2006, in a match between Sachsen Leipzig and Hallescher FC, Leipzig's Nigerian midfielder Adebowale Ogungbure was spat at and called a "nigger" and "ape" by opposition fans, which also hamper the physical and mental health of the player. The incident aimed monkey noises at him where Adebowale Ogungbure was being discriminated at the field. It was very difficult for him to come up with such issues of racism in football and ignore such comments of the opposition fans (Velija and Silvani, 2021). It is not accepted to be discriminated in the field during the national and international matches as the incident related to racism hurt the overall communities and manly hamper the player’s mind-set. The values and dignity of the player was hampered for such incident, and in retaliation he placed two fingers above his mouth in reference to Hitler's moustache and performed a Nazi salute. The German police arrested Adebowale Ogungbure as it was illegal to make nazi gestures for political or abusive purpose (Caselli, Falco and Mattera, 2021). After 24 hours, the criminal proceedings were dropped. There was also other incident where racism becomes the major issue in the football field, and for example. Ghana-born German international striker Gerald Asamoah has frequently been the target of racist abuse. Additionally, in the year of 2007, Borussia Dortmund goalkeeper Roman Weidenfeller would be investigated by the German Football Association (DFB) after apparently calling Asamoah a "black pig". After that, Torsten Ziegner was given a five-match ban in October 2008 for racially abusing Nigerian player Kingsley Onuegbu during a match against Eintracht Braunschweig (Kytölä, 2018). Hence, racism is a major issue for the footballers where the Nigerian footballers and other African professional footballers face difficulties to play and attend the national and international leagues. The footballers face difficulties to handle the situation and negative reactions of the may lead towards judgments and court laws. Hence, the opposition fans and others instigate the footballers by abuse and calling them black and others (Euro sport, 2021).

Hereby, Racist incidents in 2018 rose by 67% in professional games, a sharp increase compared to other types of discrimination, where Discrimination is especially targeted at referees of colour by players sent off due to bad conduct. It is difficult for the players and the oppositions to manage such incidents while playing the national and international football league. The incident of Adebowale Ogungbure is also a serious issue in international football, where he is suffering from racism and discrimination. Abuse and targeting the professional footballer due to different skin colour and ethnicity must not be entertained and the police and court jurisdiction must take initiatives to protest against racism across the international football games. He did not control hi emotion and engaged in police cases for such behaviour. However, the opposition fans instigated him to behave such, die to discrimination and abuse (Tarnanidis et al., 2020). It has affected his mental health, increasing his stress and frustration for such behaviour and abuse during playing the games. The social media influence on racism was also another main reason of such behaviour, which led him towards police cases though after 24 hours, the case was dismissed. Hence, harassment and discrimination due to racism in football affect the physical health and mental health of the footballers as a whole, which needs to take into account in order to maintain diversity and equality in the professional football, so that the professional players can participate in the games efficiently to achieve success as athletes. After such incident he was not feeling safe in attending the international games due to such humility and discrimination happened in the field. His morale values have also been hampered and he was arrested for the behaviour. He did not feel safe during the incident for the reactions and abuse of the opposition fans during the game. It is mandatory for the players and the club authority to look into such discrimination matters in the field. It is crime to discriminate the professional players due to diversity in race, language, culture and ethnicity. Immediate actions must be taken so that the issue of racism in football can be mitigated in long run.

After that, the fans' campaign "Wir sind Ade" (We are Ade-bowale) managed to raise attention for Ogungbure's situation and against racism in Germany. It is considered to be a great support for the player Adebowale Ogungbure, where the fans were involved with such campaign to protest against racism. He gets support from the fans and the people in Nigeria. The initiative still exists as "Bunte Kurve" (colourful fan stand).the team members and the footballers come together to protest against racism in the professional football. The team and especially a group of the supporters of FC Sachsen came up with a campaign to show their solidarity with Ogungbure and it would be great for the player to feel safe and collaboratively protest against the issue of racism and discrimination. The club members also reacted immediately with such serious issue and support him to feel safe and play efficiently. The morality and values of the player are improved where there was great support from the fans, team members and clubs. The teammates are in support with the player Adebowale Ogungbure and attend the meetings and campaign in order to mitigate the critical issue of racism. Adebowale Ogungbure gets continuous support where the teammates and club members communicate with him and continuously raise voice against racism. Hence, the campaign has its crucial role in protesting against racism and protects Adebowale Ogungbure in order to make him feel valued and safe while performing the national and international football leagues (Heim, Corthouts and Scheerder, 2018). It is hereby important to raise voice against the issue of racism in football, where the professional players can play under safety and security so that their morale values can be maximised in future. It is important to create values for the footballers and make them feel safe and secured at the field. It is important to mitigate the issues of discrimination through social media post and immediate actions must be taken to punish the people who are engaged with such crime of discrimination and abuse.

Actions for change in future capabilities

Discrimination against the players based on race and ethnicity is a growing problem in European football including FIFA, UEFA and clubs hat come forward to deal with bigoted behaviour. Unfortunately, racial abuse is still rampant in football, where the professional football players are being targeted with bigoted behaviour happening regularly. Racial abuse refers to the practice where the players get targeted based on their skin colour or ethnicity from various nationalities and backgrounds being aimed at. Hence, there is lack of equality and diversity management practice in the international football league for which the players are being targeted and face abuse in the field or through social media posts. In many European countries there have been increased incidents of footballers, who are immigrants, non-white or from minority backgrounds being targeted as "other" and they are the recipient of racist chanting, remarks and abuse. Hence the issue of racism must be controlled by taking immediate actions. The major actions by the police and football authorities are such as fines, point deduction, arrest, stadium walkouts and stadium bans, games played behind closed doors and closures. The team and the people who are engaged with racism are associated with punishment and fines are charged on them. According to FIFA's disciplinary code, there is suspension of at least five games of the fans and figures have been involved with racist behaviour (Burdsey, 2020). Teams whose fans have engaged in racist behaviour can be hit with point deductions from competitions and it is considered as serious penalties for them to conduct racist behaviour in the field. Arresting the people who have instigated the racist behaviour or been involved in racist incidents is another step beside fines and bans, which acts efficiently to protest against racism in football. Stadium walkouts take place in the event of racist behaviour during a match, if the opposite team members and fans are engaged with such racist behaviour. These are important to be taken place in order to encourage the young generations to play in international football league under suitable atmosphere with equality and diversity management.

In addition to this, Kick It Out is another major activity taken place by the football authorities and club members. It is primarily a campaigning organisation which further enables, facilitates and works with the professional clubs, football authorities, players, fans and communities to tackle all the forms of discrimination in football (Burdsey, 2020). The campaign has been pivotal in persuading and supporting all the stakeholders, who are engaged with the game, so that the stakeholders can participate and feel safe under suitable environment. Equality and diversity can be managed through such campaign where the clubs and professionals in football come together to protest against racism and make the game effective. The vision of the campaign is to flourish a supportive community for the football sport where fairness, openness to participate, equality and diversity can be managed well (Burdsey, 2020). The stakeholders are also encouraged to maintain transparency and accountability in the national international games, in order to stop such racist behaviour. Increasing awareness of inclusion and diversity, managing ethical football and rising concerned about the consequences of inappropriate behaviour further improve the overall environment by mitigating racism in football. Good practice in football with respect and integrity as well as partnership working practice with good communication and collaboration with other teammates, fans and club member further lead towards developing equality and diversity by mitigating the issue of racism in football.

Future research

The study is about racism in football, which is effective to review the theories of racism and examples of discrimination in the professional football league. The professional players from black and minority groups are being targeted and face abuse in the field due to differences in language, skin colour and ethnicity. It is important to review the issues and punish the people who are engaged with such issue of racism. The study provides a scope to review the case study of Adebowale Ogungbure, who is a famous Nigerian footballer and play for Germany as well, and there are other football clubs with which the players is engaged. He was engaged with youth clubs including Nigerdock Lagos, NEAP Lagos, FC Asaco Cotonu, 1.FC Nürnberg, and he later get citizenship of Germany. However, he faces abuse in the field in 2006 and was called as nigger due to difference in skin colour and race. Through this study, it is hereby effective to review the case of racism and discrimination in the field of football. In the professional football, it is a crime to discriminate the players due to differences in language, demographic background, race and ethnicity. It is important to maximise moral values of the players and support team to play efficiently and achieve success as an athletes. The study is hereby effective for the future researchers, in order to conduct more in depth critical analysis on the serious issue of racism and discrimination in professional football. This particular research sheds light on discrimination and abuse and also the role of social media in protesting against racism. There was a social media campaign named "Wir sind Ade", in which the teammates, club members and fans of Adebowale Ogungbure were engaged to protest against the serious issue of racism. Hence, the study influence their future researchers to conduct more in depth studies on this issue by reviewing more case studies, where the footballers face discrimination and abuse in the field or targeted in social media.

Conclusion

The study is effective to meet the objective of exploring the issue of racism in football, where the researcher is able to review the case study of Adebowale Ogungbure in order to understand the practice of racism and the incident faced by the Nigerian payer. Adebowale Ogungbure is a Nigerian player and famous for its playing tactics and personal skills. He later played for Germany and get citizenship of Germany. However, he faced racism in the field which affect has physical strengths and mental health, where he reacted immediately and for that he has been arrested by the German police. Though after 24 hours, he was released, but the incident affects his playing mind set and professional career. As per the analysis, it has been explored that, discrimination in football is a serious issue since long, where many professional footballers face such issue of discrimination due to diversity in language race and ethnicity which hamper the moral values of the players. It is important to take immediate actions against racism and punishes the people, who committed such discriminated on the basis of language gap, racism or different ethnicity. Social media in the recent era of globalisation is playing a crucial role in arranging campaign and influencing the people across the globe. Hence, social media campaign is mandatory to be deigned efficiently to engage all the club members, players and fans and develop a successful campaign by protesting against racism in professional football. It is a critical issue which demoralises the players mind set and athletic skills and thus it is high time for the policy makers, football authorities as a whole to take initiatives to protest against racism in football and develop a successful football league without any harassment and abuse for the players from different race and ethnicity.

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