Racism in association football is the abuse of players, officials, and fans because of their skin colour, nationality, or

ethnicity An ethnicity or ethnic group is a group of people with shared attributes, which they Collective consciousness, collectively believe to have, and long-term endogamy. Ethnicities share attributes like language, culture, common sets of ancestry, ...

. Some may also be targeted because of their association with an opposing team, although there have been instances of individuals being targeted by their own fans. The topic of racism in association football has been widely covered by the media and in academic studies. There have been a range of responses by various associations, such as

FIFA The Fédération Internationale de Football Association (), more commonly known by its acronym FIFA ( ), is the international self-regulatory governing body of association football, beach soccer, and futsal. It was founded on 21 May 1904 to o ...

and

UEFA The Union of European Football Associations (UEFA ; ; ) is one of six continental bodies of governance in association football. It governs football, futsal and beach soccer, beach football in Europe and the List of transcontinental countries#A ...

, as well as by teams, and individual players and managers to address the problem.

The problem

Racism in association football (''soccer'') is the abuse of players, officials, and fans because of their skin colour, nationality, or ethnicity. Some may also be targeted because of their association with an opposing team. However, there have been instances of individuals being targeted by their own fans. The topic of racism in association football has been widely covered by the media as well as academic studies.

Responses

In response to racist incidents at association football matches, in May 2013,

, the international governing body of association football, announced new measures to deal with racism in the sport. In October 2018, German player Antonio Rüdiger, who has been a victim of racist abuse stated that authorities needed to do more to deal with racism in the sport. In April 2019,

president Aleksander Ceferin said referees should stop games if a racist incident occurs, whilst FIFA President

Gianni Infantino Giovanni Vincenzo Infantino (); (born 23 March 1970) is a Swiss-Italian Association football, football Administrator (business), administrator and the president of the FIFA, Fédération Internationale de Football Association (FIFA) since 26 Febr ...

called for "harsh sanctions" to deal with racism in the sport. In April 2019, Raheem Sterling, called for racist abuse to be punished with an automatic nine-point deduction for clubs, instead of handing out fines to the individuals directly performing the abuse. In April 2019, the Professional Footballer's Association launched a social media campaign to make a stand against racial abuse calling upon social media organizations and the game's authorities to take action against racism. In November 2019 Leon Balogun said there needed to be a collective response from players to racism. Fatma Samoura, a black Muslim woman who occupied the position of

Secretary General Secretary is a title often used in organizations to indicate a person having a certain amount of authority, Power (social and political), power, or importance in the organization. Secretaries announce important events and communicate to the org ...

from June 2016 to 31 December 2023, has said that her "last battle, and one that hewill continue to fight even after erretirement from FIFA, is to make sure that we will root racism out of football". In June 2025, FIFA was criticised for a lack of anti-racism messages at the 2025 Club World Cup.

Africa

Senegal

Prior to

Senegal Senegal, officially the Republic of Senegal, is the westernmost country in West Africa, situated on the Atlantic Ocean coastline. It borders Mauritania to Mauritania–Senegal border, the north, Mali to Mali–Senegal border, the east, Guinea t ...

's group-stage match against

Japan Japan is an island country in East Asia. Located in the Pacific Ocean off the northeast coast of the Asia, Asian mainland, it is bordered on the west by the Sea of Japan and extends from the Sea of Okhotsk in the north to the East China Sea ...

in the

2018 FIFA World Cup The 2018 FIFA World Cup was the 21st FIFA World Cup, the quadrennial world championship for national association football, football teams organized by FIFA. It took place in Russia from 14 June to 15 July 2018, after the country was awarded t ...

, business magnate Alan Sugar tweeted a photo of the Senegal team with the caption: "I recognise some of these guys from the beach in Marbella. Multitasking, resourceful chaps". The tweet was criticised for being racist, with Osasu Obayiuwana, the associate editor of the '' New African'' magazine claiming that Sugar was playing "to a racist stereotype" and that "no Senegalese or African will see this as funny". Sugar quickly apologised for the remark, tweeting "I misjudged me earlier tweet. It was in no way intended to cause offence, and clearly my attempt at humour has backfired. I have deleted the tweet and am very sorry". In March 2022, the Egyptian national team said they had been racially abused by Senegal fans.

South Africa

During the 20th century until 1991, South Africa had segregation policies and segregated football leagues in which the South Africans designated "black" race were not allowed to play in the Football Association of South Africa.Alegi, Peter and Chris Bolsmann. "From Apartheid to Unity: White Capital and Black Power in the Racial Integration of South African Football, 1976–1992." ''African Historical Review'', vol. 42, no. 1, January 2010, p. 1. EBSCO''host'', During the mid-1950s attempts by mainly South African blacks to integrate the sport were stifled by FASA. In 1961 the FASA was suspended by the International Federation of Association Football for not complying with desegregation policies. During 1963 the ban was briefly lifted until it was reinstated in 1964 and remained in place for 28 years. In 1973 the South African games were held, and attempts by the South African government to keep the games segregated and the teams racially determined and confined led to the International Federation of Association Football to pull its support from the event. They were drawn in due to the promise of it being a multiracial event, but upon discovering that the teams were racially determined and the sports events themselves had segregated attendance, FIFA backed out. The South African Football Association (SAFA) was formed in December 1991 right before the end of Apartheid on South Africa, and has no racial requirements for play and entry.

Tunisia

Following the defeat of Tunisia's national football team to Equatorial Guinea in the 2015 African Cup of Nations, at least twelve attacks were reported to have occurred in the capital and the southern city of

Sfax Sfax ( ; , ) is a major port city in Tunisia, located southeast of Tunis. The city, founded in AD849 on the ruins of Taparura, is the capital of the Sfax Governorate (about 955,421 inhabitants in 2014), and a Mediterranean port. Sfax has a ...

. Some of these attacks were even against darker skinned Tunisians due to their resemblance to the sub-Saharan country. This was extended to social media through posts which focused on enslaving blacks and letting them be killed by

Boko Haram Boko Haram, officially known as Jama'at Ahl al-Sunna li al-Da'wa wa al-Jihad (), is a self-proclaimed jihadist militant group based in northeastern Nigeria and also active in Chad, Niger, northern Cameroon, and Mali. In 2016, the group spli ...

, a radical group.

Zambia

Hanif Adams, the owner of Lusaka Dynamos, was subject to racist remarks due to his Indian heritage while running for president of the Football Association of Zambia (FAZ). Some individuals have been cited saying that a foreigner should not run FAZ. An individual when asked for reasoning stated that, "For the sake of national pride and patriotism, Faz should be run by indigenous black Zambians and not Indians or Pakistanis." Lusaka Dynamos neglected to back down from the race and told BBC Sport, "I am very disappointed for people bringing race issues into matters of football or any matter concerning the development of any country."

Asia

Football racism and violence have decreased considerably during the 1990s through appropriate legislation such as the Football Offences Act (1991) which made racist chanting unlawful. However, racist chanting has not completely disappeared and much current abuse is linked to Asians, resulting in many still feeling intimidated. Institutionalized racism plays a large part in reducing prospects for footballing recruits from Asian communities.McGuire, Brendon, et al. "Young Asian Males: Social Exclusion and Social Injustice in British Professional Football." ''Culture, Sport, Society'', vol. 4, no. 3, November 2001, p. 65. EBSCO''host''. In a study conducted by Bains and Patel, it was recorded that over 90 percent of the Asian Heritage respondents saw both

institutional racism Institutional racism, also known as systemic racism, is a form of institutional discrimination based on Race (human categorization), race or ethnic group and can include policies and practices that exist throughout a whole society or organizati ...

and the existence of racist supporters as being barriers to entry into the professional game.Johal, Sanjiev. "Playing Their Own Game: a South Asian Football Experience." ''Race', Sport and British Society'' (2001): 153-69. Many cases of segregation have been recorded resulting in many Asians playing in 'Asian only leagues', thus distancing themselves further from mainstream society and popular culture.Saeed, Amir and Daniel Kilvington. "British-Asians and Racism within Contemporary English Football." Soccer & Society, vol. 12, no. 5, September 2011, pp. 602-612. EBSCOhost. Subjection to overt racist abuse from coaches, players and spectators is a primary common denominator for many Asian footballers leading to feelings of isolation and exclusion from after-training socializing and ritual young male bonding. Researchers who wrote the ''Asians Can't Play Football'' report somewhat presciently uncovered a culpable order of ignorance and thinly disguised racism that had proscribed any sustained South Asian progression in the game. Numerous problematic stereotypes still have a firm hold over the Asian identity. The standard stereotype of South Asian people is one of the submissive, naturally placid and physically frail individual. It has been stated that the Asian build is not that of a footballer and that the stereotype of "weak Asian" is influenced by notions of 'race' and issues of national identity. Common stereotypes list the Asian pupil as typically seen as physically frail, lacking in stamina and likely to underachieve. A 'Commission for Racial Equality (CRE) survey highlighted that there were only 10 Asian players at Premier League academies' 48 and in 2006, there were 'only four Asian players in the professional game'. These stereotypes exist because there is an under-achievement and if they subsist, 'scouts, coaches, and managers' will not visit places of high Asian population. What unites most South Asian teams is the common experience of racism and a particular racism that is parasitically exacted through football.

China

On 4 August 2018, Demba Ba was the victim of alleged racial abuse by Changchun Yatai player Zhang Li. In June 2020, Odion Ighalo revealed that in one game in China he got called all sorts of names and reported it to the FA, but he did not press forward with it because he "don't like to drag issues out".

Hong Kong

There were reports of targeted racial attacks against the Philippine national team while they competed at Mongkok Stadium in a friendly against

Hong Kong Hong Kong)., Legally Hong Kong, China in international treaties and organizations. is a special administrative region of China. With 7.5 million residents in a territory, Hong Kong is the fourth most densely populated region in the wor ...

. The event was held on 4 June 2013. Hong Kong fans reportedly called their counterparts "slaves", threw bottles at them and booed at the Philippine national anthem. Hong Kong lost the friendly match to the Philippines, 1–0. At the end of the game, Hong Kong fans reportedly threw debris at the Philippine team and gallery, occupied mostly by wives and children of the players. Benny Chan, spokesman of the

Hong Kong Football Association The Football Association of Hong Kong, China Limited (HKFA; ) is the governing body of association football in Hong Kong, People's Republic of China. Its current chairman is Eric Fok. History The HKFA was established in 1914. It is one of the ...

, announced that the football body will release an official report to FIFA and the public after its investigation is completed. Philippine football officials are likewise waiting for the report before filing a complaint to FIFA.

India

In May 2020, Indian captain Sunil Chhetri faced racist comments during his Instagram Live session with Indian cricket captain Virat Kohli.

Japan

In March 2014,

J1 League The , the J.League or the for sponsorship reasons, is a professional association football league in Japan and the highest level of the Japanese football league system. Contested by 20 clubs, it operates on a system of promotion and relegation ...

club

Urawa Red Diamonds The or simply Urawa Reds (浦和レッズ, ''Urawa Rezzu''), also known as Mitsubishi Urawa Football Club from April 1992 to January 1996, are a professional association football, football club in the city of Saitama (city), Saitama, part of t ...

had to play to an empty stadium; their fans had been banned following racist banners displayed in previous matches.

Malaysia

In February 2019, Antonio German left Malaysian club

Selangor Selangor ( ; ), also known by the Arabic language, Arabic honorific Darul Ehsan, or "Abode of Sincerity", is one of the 13 states of Malaysia. It is on the west coast of Peninsular Malaysia and is bordered by Perak to the north, Pahang to the e ...

one month into a one-year contract; he later said he left the club due to racism.

Philippines

The Philippine Football Federation filed a complaint with

GMA Network GMA Network (an acronym of its legal name, Global Media Arts and commonly known as GMA) is a Television in the Philippines, Philippine commercial broadcast network, serving as the flagship property of publicly traded GMA Network (company), ...

over a comment made by news anchor

Arnold Clavio Arnold Clavio (; born November 2, 1965), also known as Igan, is a Filipino radio and television newscaster, journalist, and television host. He currently co-anchors GMA Network's morning show ''Unang Hirit'', and DZBB-AM, DZBB's morning radio ...

over controversial remarks directed at the

Philippines national football team The Philippines national football team () represents the Philippines in men's international association football, football, governed by the Philippine Football Federation (PFF) and has been playing internationally since 1913. Prior to World W ...

. A popular radio and television newscaster and program host of morning news show

Unang Hirit () is a Philippine television news broadcasting and talk show broadcast by GMA Network. Originally hosted by Ryan Agoncillo, Lyn Ching-Pascual, Arnold Clavio, Suzi Entrata, Mickey Ferriols, and Miriam Quiambao, it premiered on December 6, ...

, Clavio was quoted as saying that foreign-born players are not Filipinos (emphasizing the fact that they were not born in the Philippines). Clavio later retracted this statement, insisting that he had not intended to offend anyone. Another racial incident occurred during a friendly match between the Philippines and

Indonesia Indonesia, officially the Republic of Indonesia, is a country in Southeast Asia and Oceania, between the Indian Ocean, Indian and Pacific Ocean, Pacific oceans. Comprising over List of islands of Indonesia, 17,000 islands, including Sumatra, ...

on 5 June 2012. A number of Indonesian fans were observed to be chanting "''Hindi kayo Pilipino!''" ("You are not Filipinos!") at Filipino players of non-Philippine ancestry.

South Korea

Federico Valverde was accused of making a racist gesture by pulling his eyes back into a slit when celebrating a goal, at the Under-20 World Cup in

South Korea South Korea, officially the Republic of Korea (ROK), is a country in East Asia. It constitutes the southern half of the Korea, Korean Peninsula and borders North Korea along the Korean Demilitarized Zone, with the Yellow Sea to the west and t ...

. In the

, South Korea was a target of racism by Mexican television hosts following South Korea's win over Germany. After Germany's defeat, the two Mexican hosts, on-air, were seen pulling their eyes back into a slit. The hosts, following the incident, were fired by Telemundo, the television network they were employed by. After the same match, Mexican soccer supporters rushed to the South Korean embassy to celebrate. The supporters were also seen pulling their eyes back.

Europe

In European association football, there is racism operating at the institutional and fan cultural levels. In England, the upper levels of authority are majority white and give jobs as coaches or other positions to other already-known white men rather than making public job postings. Stereotypes about coaches of colour, that they are more physical than intellectual, limit the accessibility of people of colour into the football industry. There are also legislative restrictions that limit the number of 'non-citizens' within a team in ⅓ of the countries in the EU, specifically targeting certain minorities. Therefore, there is 'invisible centrality of whiteness' that permeates the upper levels of the football system. The stereotypes also apply to the players and prevent them from being treated well during matches, as seen in the racist chants heard during matches. South Asian players are considered "static" and "homogenous" while black players are considered to be "'difficult', 'bad tempered' and 'lacking in social etiquette" by clubs in Netherlands. Minority groups are expected to leave behind their cultural identities when joining a team and are encouraged to conform to the dominant norms perpetuated by white culture. And once the players are able to break into the system, it is difficult for them to work their way up into management or coaching. Within local areas such as Amsterdam, a sort of neighborhood nationalism develops that also contributes to this discrimination towards players of different origins. There have been a few groups who have attempted to assuage the problem of racial discrimination in European football such as the UEFA (Union of European Football Associations) who held a seminar in Amsterdam encouraging racial equality in the industry with attendees from countries across Europe. A campaign called 'Let's Kick Racism Out of Football' was launched in 1993 in Britain to also increase awareness and facilitate dialogue about the issue.

Albania

In July 2024, Albania was one of seven countries who were sanctioned by UEFA following racism from their fans during Euro 2024.

Austria

In July 2024, Austria was one of seven countries who were sanctioned by UEFA following racism from their fans during Euro 2024.

Azerbaijan

In November 2020, UEFA fined Azerbaijani club Qarabağ FK €100,000 after the club's PR and media manager Nurlan Ibrahimov made a

hate speech Hate speech is a term with varied meaning and has no single, consistent definition. It is defined by the ''Cambridge Dictionary'' as "public speech that expresses hate or encourages violence towards a person or group based on something such as ...

on social network calling to "kill all the

Armenians Armenians (, ) are an ethnic group indigenous to the Armenian highlands of West Asia.Robert Hewsen, Hewsen, Robert H. "The Geography of Armenia" in ''The Armenian People From Ancient to Modern Times Volume I: The Dynastic Periods: From Antiq ...

, old and young, without distinction" amid the Nagorno-Karabakh war. UEFA also announced that it has life banned the Qarabağ official for the "racist and other discriminatory conduct" targeting Armenians. Subsequently Ibrahimov was declared wanted in Armenia.

Belgium

Oguchi Onyewu, an American of Nigerian descent, has been punched and shouted at by racist fans while playing for

Standard Liège Royal Standard de Liège, commonly referred to as Standard Liège ( ; ; ) or simply Standard in Belgium, is a Belgian professional football club based in the city of Liège. They are one of the most successful clubs in Belgium, having won t ...

. He has also had incidents with other players, such as Jelle Van Damme, who, according to Onyewu, repeatedly called him a "dirty ape" during the 2008–09 Championship playoff, even after Onyewu relayed the information to the referees. Van Damme denied the accusations following the match, and claimed that Onyewu had called him a "dirty Flemish". Approximately two weeks later, on 2 June 2009, it was announced by Onyewu's lawyer that he was suing Van Damme in an effort to end on-field racism in European football. Zola Matumona left

FC Brussels Racing White Daring Molenbeek Brussels Football Club, often simply referred to as RWDM Brussels, F.C. Brussels or simply Brussels, was a Belgian professional association football club based in the municipality of Molenbeek, in the Brussels, Bru ...

after he accused club chairman Johan Vermeersch of making racist remarks towards him during a crisis meeting at the struggling club. He is reported to have told Matumona to "think about other things than trees and bananas". In December 2021 Anderlecht head coach

Vincent Kompany Vincent Jean Mpoy Kompany (born 10 April 1986) is a Belgian professional Association football, football Manager (association football), manager and former Association football, player who played as a centre-back. He is currently the head coach of ...

was racially abused by Club Bruges fans during a match.

Bulgaria

In 2011 England national team players Ashley Young, Ashley Cole and Theo Walcott were subjected to racist abuse by Bulgarian fans. In 2013 fans of Levski Sofia unveiled a banner wishing 'happy birthday' to

Adolf Hitler Adolf Hitler (20 April 1889 – 30 April 1945) was an Austrian-born German politician who was the dictator of Nazi Germany from 1933 until Death of Adolf Hitler, his suicide in 1945. Adolf Hitler's rise to power, He rose to power as the lea ...

. In 2018 Levski Sofia were fined after fans, including children, were seen making

Nazi salute The Nazi salute, also known as the Hitler salute, or the ''Sieg Heil'' salute, is a gesture that was used as a greeting in Nazi Germany. The salute is performed by extending the right arm from the shoulder into the air with a straightened han ...

s. In September 2019 the England national team said they were going to prepare a plan for dealing with possible racist abuse during a forthcoming game in Bulgaria. The plan was later reiterated by player Tammy Abraham, while Southgate said he understood why Bulgarian footballing authorities had been offended. Bulgaria national team manager Krasimir Balakov responded by saying racism was more of a problem in England than Bulgaria. The match, which resulted in a 6–0 England victory, was marred by racist chants and salutes from some Bulgarian fans, and was halted twice as a result. England player Jordan Henderson said the players wanted to make the Bulgarian fans "suffer" for their racist abuse with a big defeat. The Bulgarian Prime Minister Boyko Borissov told

Borislav Mihaylov Borislav Biserov Mihaylov (; born 12 February 1963) is a Bulgarian former professional footballer, who played as a goalkeeper, and Former President of the Bulgarian Football Union (2005 – 2019; 2021 – 2023). He is the longest-serving presid ...

, the head of the

Bulgarian Football Union The Bulgarian Football Union ( BFS) is the governing body of association football in Bulgaria, and a member of UEFA since 1954. It organizes a football league, Bulgarian Parva Liga, and fields its Bulgaria national football team in UEFA and F ...

, to resign, which he did later that day. National team manager Balakov claimed not to have heard any racist chanting, while goalkeeper Plamen Iliev defended the fans, saying they had been well behaved. Balakov also later resigned his role as national team manager. UEFA president

Aleksander Čeferin Aleksander Čeferin (; born 13 October 1967) is a Slovenian lawyer and Association football, football administrator. Between 2011 and 2016, he was president of the Football Association of Slovenia. Since September 2016, he has been the List of pr ...

said they would "wage war on the racists", and would decide on a punishment for Bulgaria. The next day UEFA announced that the Bulgarian FA would be fined 75,000 euros and forced to play two matches behind closed doors. Four fans were later arrested by police, and were fined and banned by the Bulgarian FA. Five more fans were then arrested. By 29 October 2019 there had been 12 arrests. In May 2022, the players of CSKA Sofia had bananas and bottles thrown at them by fans who were angered after the team lost the Bulgarian Cup Final against archrivals Levski Sofia. Subsequently, four of CSKA's black players refused to play in their team's next match against

Botev Plovdiv Profesionalen Futbolen Klub Botev AD, commonly referred to as Botev Plovdiv (, ), or simply Botev (within its associated city), is a Bulgarian professional Association football, football club based in Plovdiv. It competes in the First Professiona ...

. In June 2022, CSKA Sofia's manager Alan Pardew confirmed that he is leaving the club, citing as one of the principal reasons the racism directed at the players and his assistant Alex Dyer by a small group of organized fans.

Croatia

Henri Belle moved to Croatia at the beginning of 2011, signing with Istra 1961. He drew attention to himself both by good games and through receiving racist taunts from Bad Blue Boys. In April 2018, Dinamo Zagreb were punished for the racist actions of their fans. In July 2024, Croatia was one of seven countries who were sanctioned by UEFA following racism from their fans during Euro 2024.

France

On 14 April 1990, during a 1989-90 season match between

Girondins de Bordeaux Football Club des Girondins de Bordeaux (), commonly referred to as Girondins de Bordeaux () or simply Bordeaux, is a French football club based in the city of Bordeaux in Gironde, Nouvelle-Aquitaine. It competes in the Championnat National 2 ...

and Olympique Marseille, the Cameroonian goalkeeper Joseph-Antoine Bell was victim of racist acts at his return at Stade Vélodrome when he played for Bordeaux. During the entire match, some Marseille ultras threw bananas towards him and taunted him with monkey chants and the racist chant "Joseph tu pues, va te laver le cul!" ("Joseph you stink, go wash your ass!") on the notes of

Serge Gainsbourg Serge Gainsbourg (; born Lucien Ginsburg; 2 April 1928 – 2 March 1991) was a French singer-songwriter, actor, composer, and director. Regarded as one of the most important figures in French pop, he was renowned for often provocative rel ...

's song Couleur café. This incident revealed to the broad daylight the rise of racism in the French stadia during the late 1980s, to incite the French club officials to look into said problem to remediate. In January 2005, as part of an anti-racism initiative in

Ligue 1 Ligue 1 (; ), officially known as Ligue 1 McDonald's France, McDonald's for sponsorship reasons, is a professional association football league in France and the highest level of the French football league system. Administered by the Ligue de ...

Paris Saint-Germain Paris Saint-Germain Football Club, commonly referred to as Paris Saint-Germain () or simply PSG, is a French professional Association football, football club based in Paris. They compete in Ligue 1, the French football league system, top d ...

's players wore all-white jerseys and the opposing

Lens A lens is a transmissive optical device that focuses or disperses a light beam by means of refraction. A simple lens consists of a single piece of transparent material, while a compound lens consists of several simple lenses (''elements'') ...

players wore all-black during a French league match. The move backfired after racist elements among PSG's crowd in the Kop of Boulogne sung "Come on the whites". The racist overtone was exacerbated by monkey chants from the Boulogne crowd whenever a Lens player touched the ball. On 23 November 2006 in a game between Paris Saint-Germain and Haopel Tel Aviv, a police officer, as well as many players on the field were targets of racial slurs. The police officer being chanted at threw teargas into the stands and shot his gun, killing one and injuring another. On 18 April 2007,

Lyon Lyon (Franco-Provençal: ''Liyon'') is a city in France. It is located at the confluence of the rivers Rhône and Saône, to the northwest of the French Alps, southeast of Paris, north of Marseille, southwest of Geneva, Switzerland, north ...

player

Milan Baroš Milan Baroš (; born 28 October 1981) is a Czech former professional footballer who played as a forward. In 2005, he was part of the Liverpool team which won the UEFA Champions League. He went on to win Ligue 1 with Lyon in 2007, the FA Cup w ...

was accused of racially abusing

Rennes Rennes (; ; Gallo language, Gallo: ''Resnn''; ) is a city in the east of Brittany in Northwestern France at the confluence of the rivers Ille and Vilaine. Rennes is the prefecture of the Brittany (administrative region), Brittany Regions of F ...

' Stéphane Mbia by implying that Mbia smelt. On 4 May, he was found guilty of the gesture, but found not guilty of racism, and was banned for three league matches. On 17 September 2007, Libourne's Burkinabe player Boubacar Kébé was abused by fans of

Bastia Bastia ( , , , ; ) is a communes of France, commune in the Departments of France, department of Haute-Corse, Corsica, France. It is located in the northeast of the island of Corsica at the base of Cap Corse. It also has the second-highest popu ...

; he was red-carded for retaliating. In February 2008, Bastia was again at the centre of controversy when their fans unfurled a racist banner which read as "Kébé, on n'est pas raciste... La preuve on t'encule!" (''Kébé, we are not racists... we'll fuck you to prove it!''), again aimed at Kébé, which delayed the kick-off of the match by three minutes. On 17 February 2008, Abdeslam Ouaddou of

Valenciennes Valenciennes (, also , , ; ; or ; ) is a communes of France, commune in the Nord (French department), Nord Departments of France, department, Hauts-de-France, France. It lies on the Scheldt () river. Although the city and region experienced ...

was racially abused by a fan from opponents

Metz Metz ( , , , then ) is a city in northeast France located at the confluence of the Moselle (river), Moselle and the Seille (Moselle), Seille rivers. Metz is the Prefectures in France, prefecture of the Moselle (department), Moselle Departments ...

; Metz and the Ligue de Football Professionnel announced that they would be suing the fan in question. The match referee did not see the incident, and so booked Ouaddou for challenging the fan. Valenciennes Chairman Francis Decourrière later demanded that the match be replayed "in front of children from Valenciennes and Metz". Following this incident, the

French Football Federation The French Football Federation ( FFF and 3F; or Triple F; , ) is the governing body of football in France. It was formed in 1919 and is based in the capital, Paris. The FFF is a founding member of FIFA and is responsible for overseeing all aspec ...

made steps to introduce harsher punishments. In March 2008, Bastia's Frédéric Mendy claimed he had been racially abused by

Grenoble Grenoble ( ; ; or ; or ) is the Prefectures in France, prefecture and List of communes in France with over 20,000 inhabitants, largest city of the Isère Departments of France, department in the Auvergne-Rhône-Alpes Regions of France, region ...

fans. In November 2013, former defender and the France national team's most-capped player,

Lilian Thuram Ruddy Lilian Thuram-Ulien (; born 1 January 1972) is a French author, Philanthropy, philanthropist and former professional association football, footballer who played as a Defender (association football), defender. Widely regarded as one of the g ...

, has said white players need to show solidarity with players who receive racist abuse, saying, "The action of not saying anything – somehow – it makes you an accomplice." On 13 November 2020, during the match between Paris Saint-Germain and Olympique Marseille, the PSG striker

Neymar Neymar da Silva Santos Júnior (; born 5 February 1992), also known as Neymar Júnior or simply Neymar, is a Brazilian professional Association football, footballer who plays as a left winger, attacking midfielder or Forward (association foo ...

risked to be suspended for 10 matches after racially abusing Marseille's Japanese fullback Hiroki Sakai twice by calling him a "fucking Chinese" after telling Sakai to "go away" after Marseille player Álvaro González called Neymar ("fucking monkey" after the latter called Gonzalez a "fucking faggot". On 8 December 2020 a Champions League match between

and Istanbul Basaksehir was suspended after the fourth official allegedly used a racist term towards Istanbul assistant coach, Pierre Webó. The incident occurred 14 minutes into the game. Istanbul players left the pitch in protest with PSG players following. The match was abandoned and was scheduled to recommence on 9 December. On 29 November 2021 after a 1-0 win from

Troyes Troyes () is a Communes of France, commune and the capital of the Departments of France, department of Aube in the Grand Est region of north-central France. It is located on the Seine river about south-east of Paris. Troyes is situated within ...

, South Korean striker Suk Hyun-jun was racially abused by reserve players of Marseille, who were caught saying "Le samouraï nous a decoupé deux fois" ("The

samurai The samurai () were members of the warrior class in Japan. They were originally provincial warriors who came from wealthy landowning families who could afford to train their men to be mounted archers. In the 8th century AD, the imperial court d ...

cut down us twice"), when the South Korean striker made a late tackle on Marseille player Pape Gueye, which was followed by "Il va faire des sushis" ("He ukis going to make some

sushi is a traditional Japanese dish made with , typically seasoned with sugar and salt, and combined with a variety of , such as seafood, vegetables, or meat: raw seafood is the most common, although some may be cooked. While sushi comes in n ...

ut of him), around 10 minutes before the end of the match. Three days later Marseille condemned the incident stating "Olympique de Marseille joined the Troyes club in strongly condemning the remarks made towards Suk Hyun-jun... OM also offers its full support to the Troyes player". In September 2022, during a friendly match between Brazil and Tunisia in Paris, Brazilian striker Richarlison had bananas thrown at him by fans. In December 2022, Kylian Mbappé, Kingsley Coman, Randal Kolo Muani, and Aurélien Tchouameni were racially abused after their team's loss in the 2022 FIFA World Cup final. In April 2023, PSG manager Christophe Galtier was accused of making racist comments whilst

Nice Nice ( ; ) is a city in and the prefecture of the Alpes-Maritimes department in France. The Nice agglomeration extends far beyond the administrative city limits, with a population of nearly one millionJean-Philippe Mateta and Loïc Badé were attacked with racist language and imagery. In September 2024, PSG player Nuno Mendes was subjected to racism following a match, and in November 2024, Nantes player Sorba Thomas was also racially abused following a match.

Germany

In 1994,

Borussia Dortmund Ballspielverein Borussia 09 e. V. Dortmund, often known simply as Borussia Dortmund () or by its initialism BVB (), or just Dortmund by International fans, is a German professional sports club based in Dortmund, North Rhine-Westphalia. It is ...

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 Fußball-Club St. Pauli von 1910 e.V., commonly known as simply FC St. Pauli (), is a German professional association football, football club based in the St. Pauli district of Hamburg. The team plays in the Bundesliga from the 2024–25 Bundesli ...

fans responded decisively to outbreaks of racism in the German game. With the slogan, ''Gegen rechts'' ('Against the Right'), a combination of fans and students took to the club's terraces in 1992 to protest against politically motivated racism. In December 1992, three months after the Rostock-Lichtenhagen riots, all the teams in the German League followed the St. Pauli lead and, over one weekend, all players played in shirts displaying the slogan "''Mein Freund ist Ausländer''" ("My friend is a foreigner"). The German Sports Youth's 1995 "No Chance for Hatred" campaign has promoted activities against racism and

xenophobia Xenophobia (from (), 'strange, foreign, or alien', and (), 'fear') is the fear or dislike of anything that is perceived as being foreign or strange. It is an expression that is based on the perception that a conflict exists between an in-gr ...

on a national scale, encouraging local clubs to participate. This campaign has not spurred German football authorities into further action. In 1996, Merkel 1996 reports that they vehemently refuse to acknowledge that racism is a major problem, and dismiss racist abuse as isolated incidents which are unrelated to the sport. Most of their measures are concerned with law and order — reducing violence at matches — but anti-racist action is very sparse. Racism in German football is much more subtle than in other parts of Europe; monkey chanting have been replaced with codes, such as the number 88, which stands for "HH" or "Heil

Hitler Adolf Hitler (20 April 1889 – 30 April 1945) was an Austrian-born German politician who was the dictator of Nazi Germany from 1933 until Death of Adolf Hitler, his suicide in 1945. Adolf Hitler's rise to power, He rose to power as the lea ...

" ("H" is the eighth letter of the alphabet in both German and English). Some teams, for example

Hannover 96 Hannoverscher Sportverein von 1896, commonly referred to as Hannover 96 (), is a German professional association football, football club based in the city of Hanover, Lower Saxony. They played in the Bundesliga for a total of 30 years between 19 ...

, have banned such symbols from their stadiums. In December 2005, in a game between FC Energie Cottbus and

Dynamo Dresden Sportgemeinschaft Dynamo Dresden e.V., commonly known as SG Dynamo Dresden or Dynamo Dresden, is a German association football club based in Dresden, Saxony.Grüne, Hardy (2001). Enzyklopädie des deutschen Ligafußballs 7. Vereinslexikon. Kasse ...

, Cottbus displayed a large banner with the word "Juden" lined with the two stars of David. The "d" in "Juden" was based on the emblem of Dynamo Dresden. No penalties on this act of antisemitism were imposed nor was the banner confiscated, though it was quite publicized in the media. 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 In the English language, ''nigger'' is a racial slur directed at black people. Starting in the 1990s, references to ''nigger'' have been increasingly replaced by the euphemistic contraction , notably in cases where ''nigger'' is Use–menti ...

" and "ape" by opposition fans, who later aimed monkey noises at him. In retaliation he placed two fingers above his mouth in reference to Hitler's mustache and performed a

. Ogungbure was arrested by German police, as it is illegal to make Nazi gestures for political or abusive purposes, but criminal proceedings were dropped 24 hours later. In April 2006, in a match between St. Pauli and Chemnitzer FC, visiting Chemnitz fans stormed Turkish-owned stores chanting "''Sieg Heil''" and waving imitation Nazi flags. Some shouted, "We're going to build a subway from St Pauli to Auschwitz." Ghana-born German international striker Gerald Asamoah has frequently been the target of racist abuse. On 10 September 2006, Hansa Rostock were investigated for racist abuse in a friendly game and were subsequently found guilty; the team was fined $25,000. On 19 August 2007, it was announced that Borussia Dortmund goalkeeper Roman Weidenfeller would be investigated by the

German Football Association The German Football Association ( ; DFB ) is the governing body of Association football, football, futsal, and beach soccer in Germany. A founding member of both FIFA and UEFA, the DFB has jurisdiction for the German football league system and ...

(DFB) after apparently calling Asamoah a "black pig". On 4 February 2007, a racist German football fan was apprehended by fellow fans during a match between Energie Cottbus and

VfL Bochum Verein für Leibesübungen Bochum 1848 Fußballgemeinschaft, commonly referred to as VfL Bochum (), is a Football in Germany, German professional association football club based in the city of Bochum, North Rhine-Westphalia. They currently play ...

, and faces a lifetime ban. Racist chants in

Cottbus Cottbus () or (;) is a university city and the second-largest city in the German state of Brandenburg after the state capital, Potsdam. With around 100,000 inhabitants, Cottbus is the most populous city in Lusatia. Cottbus lies in the Sorbian ...

are said to be commonplace. Torsten Ziegner was given a five-match ban in October 2008 for racially abusing Nigerian player Kingsley Onuegbu during a match against Eintracht Braunschweig. On 22 July 2018, Mesut Özil (of Turkish origin) announced his retirement from the German national team, citing racism. He Tweeted in his statement posted on Twitter, Özil wrote: "In the eyes of Grindel and his supporters, I am German when we win, but I am an immigrant when we lose." The incident followed controversy in the German media following his photo with Turkish President

Recep Tayyip Erdoğan Recep Tayyip Erdoğan (born 26 February 1954) is a Turkish politician who is the 12th and current president of Turkey since 2014. He previously served as the 25th prime minister of Turkey, prime minister from 2003 to 2014 as part of the Jus ...

. In February 2020, an entire stadium chanted "Nazis out" during a game between Preussin Munster and Wurzburger Kickers after a fan made monkey noises towards defender Leroy Kwadwo. On 20 March 2021, Borussia Dortmund midfielder

Jude Bellingham Jude Victor William Bellingham (born 29 June 2003) is an English professional Association football, footballer who plays as a midfielder for club Real Madrid CF, Real Madrid and the England national football team, England national team. Finis ...

received racist abuse on Instagram after his side drew 2–2 with FC Köln. In May 2021, Hertha Berlin sacked Jens Lehmann after a racist

WhatsApp WhatsApp (officially WhatsApp Messenger) is an American social media, instant messaging (IM), and voice-over-IP (VoIP) service owned by technology conglomerate Meta. It allows users to send text, voice messages and video messages, make vo ...

message to Dennis Aogo was made public. In 2022, during WELT-TV's coverage of the

2022 FIFA World Cup The 2022 FIFA World Cup was the 22nd FIFA World Cup, the quadrennial world championship for national football teams organized by FIFA. It took place in Qatar from 20 November to 18 December 2022, after the country was awarded the hosting ri ...

, German former footballer and pundit Jimmy Hartwig was criticised on social media by fans after two videos of him were published. In the first video, where he analysed

Germany Germany, officially the Federal Republic of Germany, is a country in Central Europe. It lies between the Baltic Sea and the North Sea to the north and the Alps to the south. Its sixteen States of Germany, constituent states have a total popu ...

's early exit from the tournament with the WELT-TV host Carsten Hädler, Hartwig uttered the words " ching chang chong" followed by a bow, perceived as racism against East Asians, with a presumably Japanese Twitter user accused Hartwig of hypocrisy, by telling in a post that "Jimmy Hartwig says he is against racism based on his own experiences, but it's a pity that he did not hesitate discriminating against Asians with "ching chang chong"". The second video was when Hartwig and two other commentators, commenting about the last two group stage matches, said that Germany did not had a chance of winning the World Cup and that he hoped that

Spain Spain, or the Kingdom of Spain, is a country in Southern Europe, Southern and Western Europe with territories in North Africa. Featuring the Punta de Tarifa, southernmost point of continental Europe, it is the largest country in Southern Eur ...

won, referring to Spain as "the

torero A bullfighter or matador () is a performer in the activity of bullfighting. ''Torero'' () or ''toureiro'' (), both from Latin ''taurarius'', are the Spanish and Portuguese words for bullfighter, and describe all the performers in the activi ...

s" and

as "the rice department" ("Reisabteilung"). The WELT management company removed the videos from

YouTube YouTube is an American social media and online video sharing platform owned by Google. YouTube was founded on February 14, 2005, by Steve Chen, Chad Hurley, and Jawed Karim who were three former employees of PayPal. Headquartered in ...

and Hartwig posted an apology on his

Instagram Instagram is an American photo sharing, photo and Short-form content, short-form video sharing social networking service owned by Meta Platforms. It allows users to upload media that can be edited with Social media camera filter, filters, be ...

. In June 2024, national team manager Julian Nagelsmann criticised national broadcaster ARD for a poll regarding the ethnicity of national team players, with Nagelsmann saying it was "racist". In July 2024, the under-18 team of English club Liverpool twice walked off the pitch during Bundesliga Cup matches against Hoffenheim and Frankfurt, due to racism directed towards one of their players.

Greece

In November 2023, Aberdeen player Pape Habib Guèye was allegedly racially abused by PAOK Salonika fans. UEFA said they would investigate the matter.

Hungary

On 8 June 2021, prior to a friendly game between Hungary and the Republic of Ireland, the Irish players had been booed by Hungarian fans prior to kick-off for taking the knee in a symbolic gesture against racism. On 2 September 2021, England players Raheem Sterling and

were both racially abused in Hungary's World Cup qualifier game with England and fans loudly booed the English players prior to kick off for taking the knee to protest against racism. Hungary's players and manager Marco Rossi had asked supporters to respect England's gesture before the match. England's taking of the knee was again booed by Hungary fans (primarily children) in June 2022. In July 2024, Hungary was one of seven countries who were sanctioned by UEFA following racism from their fans during Euro 2024.

Italy

In 1984, during a Derby della Mole match, Juventus supporters racially abused

Torino Turin ( , ; ; , then ) is a city and an important business and cultural centre in northern Italy. It is the capital city of Piedmont and of the Metropolitan City of Turin, and was the first Italian capital from 1861 to 1865. The city is main ...

's Brazilian midfielder Léo Júnior by displaying banners with racist phrases. In retaliation, Torino's fans responded with a banner with written ''Meglio negro che juventino'' ("Better eing anegro than a Juventus fan"). In In that same year, Júnior also suffered another incident of racism. After Torino played an away match against

AC Milan (), commonly referred to as Milan or AC Milan () mainly outside of Italy, is an Italian professional Football club (association football), football club based in Milan, Lombardy. Founded in 1899, the club competes in the Serie A, the top tie ...

, Milan's supporters repeatedly shouted insults and spat at him while he was going out of the field with his mother and his godfather. In 1989, after Udinese paid

£ 1.500.000 to sign

Israel Israel, officially the State of Israel, is a country in West Asia. It Borders of Israel, shares borders with Lebanon to the north, Syria to the north-east, Jordan to the east, Egypt to the south-west, and the Mediterranean Sea to the west. Isr ...

i striker Ronny Rosenthal, the team directors were under pressure from Hooligans Teddy Boys, an extremist fringe of the Udinese's ultras, which sent

blackmail Blackmail is a criminal act of coercion using a threat. As a criminal offense, blackmail is defined in various ways in common law jurisdictions. In the United States, blackmail is generally defined as a crime of information, involving a thr ...

letter signed with a

swastika The swastika (卐 or 卍, ) is a symbol used in various Eurasian religions and cultures, as well as a few Indigenous peoples of Africa, African and Indigenous peoples of the Americas, American cultures. In the Western world, it is widely rec ...

to club president Giampaolo Pozzo to not sign a Jewish footballer and vandalized the club's headquarters with antisemitic writings such as ''Non vogliamo ebrei al Friuli'' ("We don't want

Jews Jews (, , ), or the Jewish people, are an ethnoreligious group and nation, originating from the Israelites of History of ancient Israel and Judah, ancient Israel and Judah. They also traditionally adhere to Judaism. Jewish ethnicity, rel ...

at the

Friuli Friuli (; ; or ; ; ) is a historical region of northeast Italy. The region is marked by its separate regional and ethnic identity predominantly tied to the Friulians, who speak the Friulian language. It comprises the major part of the autono ...

"), "Rosenthal, vai al forno" ("Rosenthal, go to the oven"). and ''Rosenthal Go Home'', this latter being accompanied by a skull with crossed bones. As a result of this intimidatory behaviour, Udinese signed Abel Balbo instead. The media outcry resulted in a parliamentary interrogation, and later, Rosenthal sued the club for moral damages: in 1995, the Italian judicial authorities found the club responsible of discriminatory behaviour, sentencing it to a compensation of 61 million lire. This was not the first time a player was threatened by said fringe of Udinese's ultras: In October 1986, Udinese's

Peru Peru, officially the Republic of Peru, is a country in western South America. It is bordered in the north by Ecuador and Colombia, in the east by Brazil, in the southeast by Bolivia, in the south by Chile, and in the south and west by the Pac ...

vian striker Geronimo Barbadillo was target of racial abuse by said fans, who vandalized the perimeter walls of his residence with insults such as "''Negro di merda, vattene''" (''Fucking nigger, go away")'' and sending death threats to him and his family via telephone after the club was consensually negotiating the termination of his contract to sign with Daniel Bertoni''.'' Black footballers playing in the

Serie A The Serie A (), officially known as Serie A Enilive in Italy and Serie A Made in Italy abroad for sponsorship reasons, is a professional association football league in Italy and the highest tier of the Italian football league system. Establish ...

top flight in 1992–93 were also racially abused. Two black Dutch players, Ruud Gullit and Aron Winter, have spoken out against such racist taunts. Their complaints spurred a day of action on 13 December 1992, with the slogan "''No al razzismo!''" ("No to racism") being paraded by all players in the two Italian divisions. On 28 April 1996, when Dutch player Maickel Ferrier signed with Hellas Verona, the club's ultras (which are not new to racism behaviour), protested against the signing by hanging a black

mannequin A mannequin (sometimes spelled as manikin and also called a dummy, lay figure, or dress form) is a doll, often articulated, used by artists, tailors, dressmakers, window dressers and others, especially to display or fit clothing and show off dif ...

(to represent Ferrier) with a banner with a message in

Veronese dialect Veronese is the Italian word denoting someone or something from Verona, Italy and may refer to: * Veronese Riddle, a popular riddle in the Middle Ages * ''Veronese'' (moth), a moth genus in the family Crambidae * Monte Veronese, an Italian che ...

written "''El negro i ve la regalà. Dasighe el stadio da netar''ǃ!" (''The nigger was given to you. Give him the stadium to clean!!'') at Stadio Marcantonio Bentegodi.

Paul Ince Paul Emerson Carlyle Ince (; born 21 October 1967) is an English professional football manager and former player who was most recently manager of Reading. A midfielder, Ince played professionally from 1986 to 2007, starting his career with West ...

also complained about open abuse during his spell with

Inter Milan Football Club Internazionale Milano, commonly referred to as Internazionale () or simply Inter, and colloquially known as Inter Milan in English-speaking countries, is an Italian professional Association football, football List of football ...

in Italy between 1995 and 1997. On 27 November 2005, Marco Zoro attempted to stop the

Messina Messina ( , ; ; ; ) is a harbour city and the capital city, capital of the Italian Metropolitan City of Messina. It is the third largest city on the island of Sicily, and the 13th largest city in Italy, with a population of 216,918 inhabitants ...

–Inter match by leaving the field with the ball after being tormented by racist taunts from some Inter supporters. He was eventually convinced to keep playing by other players, notably by Inter's Adriano. These facts then brought strong and unanimous condemnations by the whole football community within Italy, and a five-minute delay for an anti-racism display for all the matches to be played in the next week in the country. The actions of the Inter supporters were also brought to the attention of the European football governing body

and the EU. In April 2009, Inter's

Mario Balotelli Mario Balotelli Barwuah (; ''Birth name, né'' Barwuah; born 12 August 1990) is an Italian professional Association football, footballer who plays as a Striker (association football), striker for club Genoa CFC, Genoa. Balotelli started his ...

, an Italian footballer of Ghanaian descent, was subjected to racial abuse from

Juventus Juventus Football Club (; from , ), commonly known as Juventus or colloquially as Juve (), is an Italian professional Association football, football List of football clubs in Italy, club based in Turin, Piedmont, who compete in Serie A, the ...

fans. They were handed a one-game home fan ban as a result. At

UEFA Euro 2012 The 2012 UEFA European Football Championship, commonly referred to as UEFA Euro 2012 or simply Euro 2012, was the 14th UEFA European Championship, European Championship for List of men's national association football teams#UEFA (Europe), men's ...

playing for

Italy Italy, officially the Italian Republic, is a country in Southern Europe, Southern and Western Europe, Western Europe. It consists of Italian Peninsula, a peninsula that extends into the Mediterranean Sea, with the Alps on its northern land b ...

, he fell victim to monkey chants during a match against

. After Italy defeated

England England is a Countries of the United Kingdom, country that is part of the United Kingdom. It is located on the island of Great Britain, of which it covers about 62%, and List of islands of England, more than 100 smaller adjacent islands. It ...

in the quarter-finals, Italian newspaper Gazzetta dello Sport published a cartoon depicting Balotelli as

King Kong King Kong, also referred to simply as Kong, is a fictional giant monster resembling a gorilla, who has appeared in various media since 1933. The character has since become an international pop culture icon,Erb, Cynthia, 1998, ''Tracking Kin ...

on top of Big Ben. After his move from

Milan Milan ( , , ; ) is a city in northern Italy, regional capital of Lombardy, the largest city in Italy by urban area and the List of cities in Italy, second-most-populous city proper in Italy after Rome. The city proper has a population of nea ...

Liverpool Liverpool is a port City status in the United Kingdom, city and metropolitan borough in Merseyside, England. It is situated on the eastern side of the River Mersey, Mersey Estuary, near the Irish Sea, north-west of London. With a population ...

in August 2014, he was the target of more than 8,000 abusive posts on social media between that time, and by March 2015, more than 4,000 of these posts were racist in nature. On 3 January 2013, then-Milan midfielder Kevin Prince-Boateng, as well as the remainder of his Milan teammates, walked off the pitch early in a friendly match against lower league side Pro Patria after enduring racial abuse from fans of the latter. On 11 May 2014, bananas were thrown at Milan's Kévin Constant and Nigel de Jong, both black, by

Atalanta Atalanta (; ) is a heroine in Greek mythology. There are two versions of the huntress Atalanta: one from Arcadia (region), Arcadia, whose parents were Iasus and Clymene (mythology), Clymene and who is primarily known from the tales of the Caly ...

fans during their Milan's 2–1 defeat. Atalanta were later fined €40,000. On 12 June 2015, Croatian national team supporters marked a swastika on the soccer pitch prior to their match against the Italy national team. As a punishment, The Union of European Football Associations (UEFA) ordered a £70,000 fine to the Croatians. On top of the fine, the Croatian team was forced to play their next two home matches in an empty stadium. In April 2019, Juventus forward Moise Kean was subject to racist chants by

Cagliari Cagliari (, , ; ; ; Latin: ''Caralis'') is an Comune, Italian municipality and the capital and largest city of the island of Sardinia, an Regions of Italy#Autonomous regions with special statute, autonomous region of Italy. It has about 146,62 ...

fans. Juventus teammate Leonardo Bonucci was heavily criticised after stating that Kean was partly to blame by his celebration which caused further jeers, by England international Raheem Sterling who deemed the comments 'laughable', compatriot

, English singer Stormzy, and former Juventus player Paul Pogba. Bonucci implied that Kean's celebration caused further jeers, stating to Sky Sport Italia: "Kean knows that when he scores a goal, he has to focus on celebrating with his teammates. He knows he could've done something differently too. There were racist jeers after the goal, Blaise heard it and was angered. I think the blame is 50–50, because Moise shouldn't have done that and the Curva should not have reacted that way. We are professionals, we have to set the example and not provoke anyone." Later, he made a post on

which read "Regardless of everything, in any case... no to racism." In response to the criticism, the following day, Bonucci posted on Instagram: "After 24 hours I want to clarify my feelings. Yesterday I was interviewed right at the end of the game, and my words have been clearly misunderstood, probably because I was too hasty in the way I expressed my thoughts. Hours and years wouldn't be enough to talk about this topic. I firmly condemn all forms of racism and discrimination. The abuses are not acceptable at all and this must not be misunderstood." In August 2019,

Romelu Lukaku Romelu Lukaku Bolingoli (; born 13 May 1993) is a Belgian professional footballer who plays as a Striker (association football), striker for club SSC Napoli, Napoli and the Belgium national football team, Belgium national team. Lukaku began h ...

was racially abused by Cagliari opposition fans. He later said that the sport was "going backwards" on racism. An Inter fan group called Curva Nord later said that the monkey chants from opposition fans were a sign of respect towards Lukaku. Italian TV pundit Luciano Passirani was later banned for making racist comments about Lukaku. On 15 September 2019, Franck Kessie was reportedly racially abused by Hellas Verona fans during a match with AC Milan. On 16 September 2019, Hellas Verona released a statement on their Twitter account and denied the happening. Later that month, Piara Powar of anti-discriminatory body Fare said that "the rot is deep" when discussing racism in Italian football. In September 2019, FIFA President

said the Italian FA should issue stadium bans for racist fans/clubs. Later that month Roma said they had banned a fan for racially abusing Juan Jesus. In October 2019,

Lazio Lazio ( , ; ) or Latium ( , ; from Latium, the original Latin name, ) is one of the 20 Regions of Italy, administrative regions of Italy. Situated in the Central Italy, central peninsular section of the country, it has 5,714,882 inhabitants an ...

were punished with a fine and a closed stadium after fans had been racist. In the same month, Sampdoria and England Under-21s midfielder Ronaldo Vieira was the target of alleged monkey chants from Roma fans in the 0-0 draw between the two sides. In November 2019, Mario Balotelli was racially abused by opposition fans from Hellas Verona; he kicked the ball into the crowd and threatened to walk off the pitch. Balotelli later described the fans as "small minded". Hellas Verona banned the club's ultra leader from its games until June 2030, after a subsequent interview with him in which he openly called Balotelli racial slurs. In December 2019 the '' Corriere dello Sport'' newspaper was criticised by

AS Roma Associazione Sportiva Roma (''Rome Sport Association''; Italian pronunciation: Help:IPA/Italian, ) is a professional Association football, football club based in Rome, Italy. Founded by a merger in 1927, Roma has participated in the top tier ...

for using a 'Black Friday' headline accompanied by photographs of black players

and

Chris Smalling Christopher Lloyd Smalling (born 22 November 1989) is an English professional Association football, footballer who plays as a centre-back for Saudi Pro League club Al-Fayha FC, Al-Fayha. Smalling represented the England national football team, ...

. Later that month

launched an anti-racism campaign featuring cartoon monkeys, which was criticised, with club

distancing itself from the campaign. Serie A later apologised. On 12 September 2021, Tiémoué Bakayoko and Franck Kessie were targets of racial abuse by Lazio fans after Milan's 2-0 win. The incident was reported to be examined by the Italian Football Federation after a complaint from Milan. Bakayoko responded on Instagram: "To some Lazio fans and their racist cries towards to me and my brother essie We are strong and proud of our skin colour. I have all my confidence in our club to identify them." On 4 October 2021, following

Napoli Naples ( ; ; ) is the regional capital of Campania and the third-largest city of Italy, after Rome and Milan, with a population of 908,082 within the city's administrative limits as of 2025, while its province-level municipality is the thir ...

's 2-1 win against

Fiorentina ACF Fiorentina, commonly referred to as Fiorentina (), is an Italian professional Association football, football List of football clubs in Italy, club based in Florence, Tuscany. The original team was founded by a merger in August 1926, while ...

, Kalidou Koulibaly along with several other black players of Napoli including Victor Osimhen and André-Frank Zambo Anguissa were subjected to monkey chants. Fiorentina's general manager Joe Barone had publicly apologised to the players targeted. Koulibaly posted on Twitter calling for those who perpetrated the racial abuse to receive lifetime bans. In October 2021 during an under-21 European Championship between Sweden and Italy, Swedish player Anthony Elanga was allegedly racially abused by an opponent. Italy denied the allegation in a statement: "With regards to the Swedish FA's claim and published by various media outlets, the FIGC deny in the strongest way possible the one of our under-21 players, during the Italy-Sweden game played in Monza yesterday, aimed a racist insult at an opposition player - an incident which, as far as we are aware, has not been founded by any match official or UEFA delegate". On 20 March 2022, Milan players Fikayo Tomori and Mike Maignan were racially abused by Cagliari supporters after a 1-0 victory; Milan manager Stefano Pioli said both players told him they overheard racial abuse from the Cagliari end. Cagliari striker João Pedro claimed the allegations are false and defended his club's fans. In January 2023, Lazio were ordered to close part of their stadium due to racist chants from their fans. In April 2023,

suffered racist abuse from Juventus fans after scoring a late equaliser. Juventus were punished with a one-match partial stadium closure as punishment. In June 2023, the Italian FA announced a ban of the number 88 on player shirts, due to anti-semitic connotations. In January 2024, after Milan goalkeeper Mike Maignan was allegedly racially abused by Udinese fans, he and his teammates walked off the pitch. Following the incident, FIFA president

said teams whose fans are racist should automatically forfeit games. Udinese also had to play their next game behind closed doors. Initially one Udinese fan was banned for life, before a further four received similar punishments. In March 2024, Napoli player Juan Jesus was allegedly racially abused by Inter Milan player Francesco Acerbi, although no punishment was given due to lack of evidence. Napoli's player later took the knee in protest. In July 2024, South Korean player Hwang Hee-chan was allegedly subjected to racism from a Como player in a pre-season friendly. His club Wolves complained, and the South Korean FA contacted FIFA regarding the incident. In October 2024, Como player Marco Curto was given a 10-game ban by FIFA for the incident.

Lithuania

On 24 March 2007, in a match between France and

Lithuania Lithuania, officially the Republic of Lithuania, is a country in the Baltic region of Europe. It is one of three Baltic states and lies on the eastern shore of the Baltic Sea, bordered by Latvia to the north, Belarus to the east and south, P ...

, a banner was unfurled by Lithuanian supporters that depicted a map of Africa, painted with the French flag colors (blue, white and red), with a slogan of "We Support French Diversity."

Montenegro

In a match between Rangers and

Zeta Zeta (, ; uppercase Ζ, lowercase ζ; , , classical or ''zē̂ta''; ''zíta'') is the sixth letter of the Greek alphabet. In the system of Greek numerals, it has a value of 7. It was derived from the Phoenician alphabet, Phoenician letter zay ...

in August 2007, Rangers players

DaMarcus Beasley DaMarcus Lamont Beasley (; born May 24, 1982) is an American former professional Association football, soccer player. A left-footed player, Beasley played both as a left winger and Defender (association football), left-wing back throughout his ...

(an

African American African Americans, also known as Black Americans and formerly also called Afro-Americans, are an Race and ethnicity in the United States, American racial and ethnic group that consists of Americans who have total or partial ancestry from an ...

) and Jean-Claude Darcheville (a black Frenchman) were subjected to racist abuse by Zeta players and Zeta were later fined £9,000. In March 2019, during a match between Montenegro and England, several England players were allegedly subjected to monkey chants from Montenegro fans. UEFA charged the Montenegro FA with racist behaviour. Ex-player John Barnes said calls for players to walk off the pitch wouldn't work. As of April 2019, UEFA has punished Montenegro for their fans' racial abuse to some of the black players in the England national team. It occurred in a Euro 2020 qualifier between the two sides. The punishment includes paying a 20,000 euro fine and being forced to play their next qualifying match behind closed doors in an empty stadium. The Football Association has commented by saying that they hope the punishment "sends out a message" to those who feel inclined to racially abuse others.

Netherlands

In the 1980s Stanley Menzo was subjected to racist abuse from fans. In a 1991 interview, Heerenveen manager Fritz Korbach racially abused two black players, calling

Bryan Roy Bryan Eduard Steven Roy (born 12 February 1970) is a Dutch association football, football manager and a former professional player. As a player he was a winger (association football), winger and notably played for AFC Ajax, Ajax, Nottingham Fore ...

"a short fucking negro" and

Romário Romário de Souza Faria (born 29 January 1966), known simply as Romário (), is a Brazilian politician and former professional association football, footballer who is currently a Senator for Rio de Janeiro (state), Rio de Janeiro and the presi ...

"that coffee bean of PSV"). Furtherly, Korbach also insulted Simon Tahamata, who was of Moluccan descent, calling him a " train hijacker". During

UEFA Euro 1996 The 1996 UEFA European Football Championship, commonly referred to as Euro 96, was the 10th UEFA European Championship, a quadrennial Association football, football tournament contested by European nations and organised by UEFA. It took place in ...

, the Afro-Surinamese Dutch player Edgar Davids was sent home after publicly alleging discrimination within the team's organization. In 2004, a Dutch match between

ADO Den Haag Alles Door Oefening Den Haag (), commonly known by the abbreviated name ADO Den Haag (), is a Dutch association football club from the city of The Hague. They play in the Eerste Divisie, the second tier of Dutch football, following relegation ...

and PSV was abandoned after 80 minutes due to racist chanting from some members of the crowd. In November 2006, Kenneth Perez received a five-game ban for shouting 'kankerneger', ('cancerous negro') at black linesman Nicky Siebert. In November 2011, Guyon Fernandez received a six-game ban for hitting opposition player Rens van Eijden. Fernandez claimed he was reacting to racist abuse from Van Eijden. During the 2012–13 KNVB Cup quarter-final match between FC Den Bosch and

AZ Alkmaar Alkmaar Zaanstreek (), better known internationally as AZ Alkmaar, or simply and most commonly as AZ () in the Netherlands, is a Dutch professional Association football, football club from Alkmaar and the Zaan#The Zaan district, Zaan district. ...

, American AZ Alkmaar forward Jozy Altidore was the target of racist chants. Den Bosch's director, Peter Bijvelds, blamed "malicious supporters making a scandalous mess of the evening". He said Den Bosch, AZ and the referee considered abandoning the match, but decided against it. In November 2019 Ahmad Mendes Moreira was subjected to racism from opposition FC Den Bosch fans. Den Bosch initially tried to claim the sounds were crows, but later apologised for the claim. A few days later, Dutch international Georginio Wijnaldum celebrated an international goal by gesturing at his skin colour in support of Mendes Moreira, and later that month it was announced that players in the Dutch top two divisions would not play for the 1st minute of the next weekend's games in protest at racism. In October 2024,

Loum Tchaouna Loum Tchaouna (born 8 September 2003) is a professional Association football, footballer who plays as a Forward (association football), forward for Serie A club SS Lazio, Lazio. Born in Chad, Tchaouna represents France at international level. Cl ...

was racially abused in a match against Twente.

Norway

In one case, young player Caleb Francis was severely abused in his debut match for Kongsvinger IL. The abuse halted and nearly broke his career, but he returned to Kongsvinger's senior team after two years, and had a long career. Several other players have experienced racism, often while playing national or club matches abroad. These players include Daniel Braaten and Pa Modou Kah. Top-tier club

Vålerenga Fotball Vålerenga Fotball () is a Norwegian professional association football, football club from Oslo, and a part of the multi-sport club Vålerengens IF. The club currently competes in the Eliteserien after being promoted from the Norwegian First ...

famously played their with the slogan "Vålerenga Against Racism" instead of a shirt sponsor in the 1997 season. An official campaign, initiated by the footballers' trade union, is called "Give Racism the Red Card".

Poland

According to The Stephen Roth Institute for the Study of Contemporary Antisemitism and Racism, football stadiums in Poland are a recruiting ground for extremist organisations. , neo-fascist symbols were a common sight there. During the Extraordinary Congress of the International Football Federation (FIFA), held in

Buenos Aires Buenos Aires, controlled by the government of the Autonomous City of Buenos Aires, is the Capital city, capital and largest city of Argentina. It is located on the southwest of the Río de la Plata. Buenos Aires is classified as an Alpha− glob ...

from 6–7 July 2001, the problem of racism in Polish football was discussed and Polish national football association was called to join the struggle against racism. The problem of anti-Semitism in Polish football has drawn international criticism. Poland was named as one of the worst offenders, in British Member of Parliament John Mann report, which describes anti-Semitic incidents in 18 countries across Europe. It was noted that Polish fans routinely call each other "Jews" as a term of abuse. In April 2008, ŁKS Łódź player Arkadiusz Mysona wore a shirt which said "''Śmierć żydzewskiej kurwie''" ("Death to Widzew-Jewish Whore", which is word play used by the LKS Łódź supporters, who call fans of their local rivals "Jews") after a match in the Polish

Ekstraklasa (; meaning "Extra Class" in Polish), officially known as PKO Bank Polski Ekstraklasa due to its Sponsor (commercial), sponsorship by PKO Bank Polski, is a professional association football league in Poland and the highest level of the Polish foo ...

. Mysona said afterwards that the shirt was given to him by a fan and he had not checked it. In 2003, the Polish anti-racist "Never Again" Association organized a tournament with the slogan "Let's Kick Racism out of the Stadiums", imploring the

Polish Football Association The Polish Football Association ( PZPN) is the governing body of association football in Poland. It organizes the Polish football leagues (without the ), the national cups, and manages the men's and women's national teams. It also runs the nati ...

to act against racism in the sport. In 2012, ahead of

, the Polish anti-racist "Never Again" Association launched one of the most extensive anti-racist campaigns in football,Crusaders in the crowd: Fighting Poland's right-wing football ultras

Deutsche Welle (; "German Wave"), commonly shortened to DW (), is a German state-funded television network, state-owned international broadcaster funded by the Federal Government of Germany. The service is available in 32 languages. DW's satellite tele ...

, 15 June 2016 as a long-standing partner of the Fare network. The BBC Panorama program toured football matches in Poland before UEFA Euro 2012, jointly held in Poland and Ukraine. The journalists recorded "a chorus of anti-Semitic chanting" and witnessed "black football players enduring monkey chants from the terraces". In March 2025, the

Football Association of Ireland The Football Association of Ireland (FAI; ) is the governing body for association football in the Republic of Ireland. Organisation The FAI has an executive committee of five members under the president, who receive expenses, as well as a p ...

reported a racist incident in an under-17 match in Poland.

Portugal

In 2015, Portuguese international player Renato Sanches was targeted with monkey chants by Rio Ave supporters while leaving the pitch in a Benfica match at Vila do Conde. The player jokingly responded to the chants by clapping and making a monkey pose. In 2017, former Benfica footballer Nélson Semedo was racially insulted in a match at Vitória de Guimarães. He did not leave the pitch and chairs were thrown at him after he reacted to the racial slurs. In 2020, former

Porto Porto (), also known in English language, English as Oporto, is the List of cities in Portugal, second largest city in Portugal, after Lisbon. It is the capital of the Porto District and one of the Iberian Peninsula's major urban areas. Porto c ...

footballer Moussa Marega left the pitch after he was subjected to racists insults at Vitória de Guimarães.

Republic of Ireland

Cyrus Christie revealed that he was subjected to racist abuse whilst on international duty with

Republic of Ireland Ireland ( ), also known as the Republic of Ireland (), is a country in Northwestern Europe, north-western Europe consisting of 26 of the 32 Counties of Ireland, counties of the island of Ireland, with a population of about 5.4 million. ...

outside the training ground when he first joined up, and also revealed that he was receiving racist abuse after games. In March 2023, the Irish under-15 national team were subject to racist abuse.

Romania

The publicized display of portraits of Romania's World War II leader and convicted war criminal

Ion Antonescu Ion Antonescu (; ; – 1 June 1946) was a Romanian military officer and Mareșal (Romania), marshal who presided over two successive Romania during World War II, wartime dictatorships as Prime Minister of Romania, Prime Minister and ''Conduc� ...

and racist slogans by football hooligans during

Liga I Liga I (; ''First League''), also spelled as Liga 1 and officially known as SuperLiga for sponsorship reasons, is a professional association football league in Romania and the highest level of the Romanian football league system. Contested by 1 ...

's 2005–2006 season prompted

intervention (''see Racism Breaks the Game''). On 15 November 2019, Swedish player Alexander Isak suffered allegedly racist abuse from Romanian fans during a match between the two countries. The match was initially halted, but continued after Isak and the referee consulted on the matter. UEFA investigated and found there had been no racism. In July 2024, Romania was one of seven countries who were sanctioned by UEFA following racism from their fans during Euro 2024. In November 2024, Romania were ordered to play their next home match behind closed doors, due to anti-Hungarian racism from fans in a previous match.

Russia

Cameroonian player André Bikey suffered racist abuse while playing for

Lokomotiv Moscow FC Lokomotiv Moscow (, ) is a Russian professional association football, football club based in Moscow. Lokomotiv have won the Russian Premier League on three occasions; the Soviet Cup twice; and the Russian Cup (football), Russian Cup a record ...

. Brazilian footballer Antonio Geder of Saturn Moscow was received with monkey chants at Petrovsky Stadium in a match against Zenit Saint Petersburg. In March 2008, black players of French side

Marseille Marseille (; ; see #Name, below) is a city in southern France, the Prefectures in France, prefecture of the Departments of France, department of Bouches-du-Rhône and of the Provence-Alpes-Côte d'Azur Regions of France, region. Situated in the ...

, including André Ayew, Ronald Zubar and Charles Kaboré, were targeted by fans of Zenit Saint Petersburg; Zenit fans were later warned by police in

Manchester Manchester () is a city and the metropolitan borough of Greater Manchester, England. It had an estimated population of in . Greater Manchester is the third-most populous metropolitan area in the United Kingdom, with a population of 2.92&nbs ...

not to repeat their behaviour ahead of the 2008 UEFA Cup Final. Later on, Zenit coach

Dick Advocaat Dirk Nicolaas "Dick" Advocaat (; born 27 September 1947) is a Dutch former association football, football player and coach. He is currently the manager of the Curaçao national football team. Advocaat was successful as a football player and as a ...

revealed the club's supporters were racist. When they attempted to sign Mathieu Valbuena, a Frenchman, many fans asked "Is he a

negro In the English language, the term ''negro'' (or sometimes ''negress'' for a female) is a term historically used to refer to people of Black people, Black African heritage. The term ''negro'' means the color black in Spanish and Portuguese (from ...

?" Additionally, Serge Branco, who played for Krylia Sovetov Samara, accused Zenit's staff of racism: "Each time I play in St Petersburg I have to listen to racist insults from the stands. Zenit bosses do not do anything about it which makes me think they are racists too." On 20 August 2010, Peter Odemwingie, a Russian-born Nigerian international, joined English

Premier League The Premier League is a professional association football league in England and the highest level of the English football league system. Contested by 20 clubs, it operates on a system of promotion and relegation with the English Football Lea ...

team West Bromwich Albion. Shortly after signing, photographs showed Lokomotiv Moscow fans celebrating the sale of Odemwingie through the use of racist banners targeted at the player. One banner included the image of a banana and read "Thanks West Brom". On 12 February 2011, Roberto Carlos signed a contract with Russian Premier League club Anzhi Makhachkala. In March, during a game away at Zenit Saint Petersburg, a banana was held near the player by one of the fans as the footballer was taking part in a flag-raising ceremony. In June, in a match away at Krylia Sovetov Samara, Roberto Carlos received a pass from the goalkeeper and was about to pass it when a banana was thrown onto the pitch, landing nearby. The 38-year-old Brazilian picked it up and threw it by the sidelines, walking off the field before the final whistle and raising two fingers at the stands, indicating this was the second such incident since March. In December 2012, Zenit fans published a manifesto demanding that the club exclude all non-white and homosexual players from the club's roster. The demands were refused by the club, which released a statement saying that "the team's policy is aimed at development and integration into the world soccer community, and holds no archaic views". Until the summer of 2012, Zenit was the only team in the Russian top flight never to have signed a minority player. In October 2013,

Manchester City Manchester City Football Club is a professional association football, football club based in Manchester, England, that competes in the Premier League, the English football league system, top flight of Football in England, English footbal ...

midfielder

Yaya Touré Gnégnéri Yaya Touré (born 13 May 1983) is an Ivorian professional football coach and former player who played as a midfielder. He is currently an assistant coach for the Saudi Arabia national team. Touré aspired to be a striker during h ...

received racist abuse from opposition fans whilst playing against CSKA Moscow in Russia. The club's stadium was partially closed as punishment. Touré suggested that black players might boycott the

, to be held in Russia, if racism continued in the country. In September 2014, Dynamo Moscow defender Christopher Samba was racially abused playing in the Moscow derby against Torpedo Moscow. As a result, Torpedo were forced to close part of their stadium, although Samba was also banned for two games for swearing at the racist fans. In a friendly match between Russia and France in Saint Petersburg on 17 April 2018, monkey chants were directed at members of the French team. The noises were picked up by television cameras and reported by photographers at the side of the pitch. As a result, "disciplinary actions have been opened against the Russian Football Union (RFU) for this incident", a FIFA statement read. In March 2019 Pavel Pogrebnyak was accused of racism after saying it was "laughable" for black players to represent the Russian national team.

Serbia

In October 2006, 37 Borac Čačak fans were arrested and eight faced criminal charges after racially abusing the club's Zimbabwean player Mike Temwanjera during a first division match. Borac Čačak was at the centre of more controversy in March 2008 when a Ghanaian player, Solomon Opoku, was attacked by fans; six fans were later arrested, with four being later charged. On 29 November 2006, Hajduk Kula coach Nebojša Vučićević racially insulted

Red Star Belgrade Fudbalski klub Crvena zvezda ( sr-cyrl, Фудбалски клуб Црвена звезда, lit=Red Star Football Club), commonly referred to as Crvena zvezda () and colloquially referred to as Red Star Belgrade in anglophone media, is a ...

's Senegalese defender Ibrahima Gueye. The coach responded to the accusation: "I told my players several times to put pressure on the black guy, I don't see anything wrong with that." During a match against England's under-21 side, an unnamed Serbian under-21 player was accused of racially abusing the black English defender Justin Hoyte, while the Serbian fans were alleged to have racially abused England's Nigerian-born full-back Nedum Onuoha. Following racist abuse from Montenegrin club

fans,

, during his stint with Scottish side Rangers, recalled previous instances of racism whilst playing away in Belgrade from fans of Red Star. Red Star, however, has been defended by some of its black players, such as Segundo Castillo and Franklin Salas, with Castillo saying that, "Red Star fans are not racist." Rangers boss Walter Smith stated he had not heard the abuse, having been absorbed in the game. In 2017, a group of fans at a game between FK Rad and Partizan Belgrade held up a racist banner and directed monkey sounds towards

Everton Luiz Everton Luiz Guimarães Bilher (born 24 May 1988), commonly known as Everton Luiz, is a Brazilian professional association football, footballer who plays as a defensive midfielder for Belgian club S.K. Beveren, Beveren. He is primarily recognize ...

, a Brazilian player. Efforts to stop the taunts failed and the opposing team joined in the racist actions, leaving Luiz in tears. In November 2019 Partizan Belgrade manager Savo Milosevic said there was no racism problem in Serbia after his team were punished for racist actions by fans. On 18 February 2021,

forward Zlatan Ibrahimovic was subjected to racist abuse by an individual seated in the VIP box during a Europa League match against

. In June 2024, during the UEFA Euro 2024 tournament in Germany, Serbian fans were accused of racism towards England players. In July 2024, Serbia was one of seven countries who were sanctioned by UEFA following racism from their fans during Euro 2024.

Slovakia

On 4 April 2007, football supporters from Slovan Bratislava displayed a banner which contained the words "Alles Gute Adi" and a smiley-head face of

during a match against Senec; racist chants were also heard. Three days later, on 7 April, Slovan Bratislava fans were responsible for directing monkey chants at Artmedia Bratislava's Karim Guédé.

Slovenia

In July 2024, Slovenia was one of seven countries who were sanctioned by UEFA following racism from their fans during Euro 2024.

Spain

In the 1992–93 La Liga season, the Rayo Vallecano goalkeeper Wilfred Agbonavbare was the target of racist abuse from

Real Madrid Real Madrid Club de Fútbol (), commonly referred to as Real Madrid, is a Spanish professional Football club (association football), football club based in Madrid. The club competes in La Liga, th ...

fans, such as chants as ''Negro, cabrón, recoge el algodón!'' ("Nigger, motherfucker, go to pick some cotton!") and a middle-aged man from Madrid saying on live TV that "that fucking nigger from Rayo" and the referee Juan Andújar Oliver were to blame for Real Madrid's defeat, much to the amusement of the teenage fans who shouted "Ku Klux Klan". In the same live TV report, a 13-year old Real Madrid fan furiously took the microphone and spat, making a verbal threat to the Nigerian goalkeeper saying "Sunday we'll go to beat to death the nigger, that son of a bitch, in Vallecas". When asked about the abuse suffered, Wilfred stated "That's normal, I am dark-skinned and having made many saves, I expected people to shout at me. But I am a footballer and this is nothing, I am very focused on layingmy match". The Bukaneros, a far-left ultras group from Rayo Vallecano, dedicated to Wilfred a graffiti with the dedication "For your defense of the Sash against racism, we will not forget you". Since 1996, after his transfer from

FC Barcelona Futbol Club Barcelona (), commonly known as FC Barcelona and colloquially as Barça (), is a professional Football club (association football), football club based in Barcelona, Catalonia, Spain, that competes in La Liga, the top flight of ...

, many supporter groups of Barcelona's rivals (Ultras Sur being the first) "abused" Luis Enrique (even though he does not have African ancestry himself) with the rhyming chant "Luis Enrique, tu padre es Amunike" (''Luis Enrique, your father is Amunike''), which referenced the Nigerian striker, who then, was his teammate for the ''culés''. The abuse still carried on such as in 2016, when a man abused Luis Enrique – now as Barcelona's coach – with said chant when the latter was getting out from the bus at El Prat airport a day before the 2016-17 Champions League fourth group stage match against

Manchester City F.C. Manchester City Football Club is a professional football club based in Manchester, England, that competes in the Premier League, the top flight of English football. Founded in 1880 as St. Mark's (West Gorton), they became Ardwick Assoc ...

Aston Villa's Dalian Atkinson returned from Spain after one season with

Real Sociedad Real Sociedad de Fútbol, more commonly referred to as Real Sociedad ( ; ''Royal Society'') in English, and Erreala or Reala in Basque language, Basque, is a Spanish professional sports club in the city of San Sebastián, Donostia / San Sebastián, ...

, unhappy with the reception he received and identifying racial abuse as a major factor in his rapid departure from the Spanish club. Ivorian midfielder

Félix Dja Ettien Felix may refer to: * Felix (name) Felix is a masculine given name that originates from the Latin word (genitive ), meaning "happy" or "lucky". The feminine forms are Felicia or Felicity (given name), Felicity. The name was popularized by ...

suffered racial abuse when he first signed for Levante (where he stayed from 1997 to 2008); he was ignored by the coach due to his inability to speak Spanish and whenever he fell ill, he was accused of having

malaria Malaria is a Mosquito-borne disease, mosquito-borne infectious disease that affects vertebrates and ''Anopheles'' mosquitoes. Human malaria causes Signs and symptoms, symptoms that typically include fever, Fatigue (medical), fatigue, vomitin ...

AIDS The HIV, human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) is a retrovirus that attacks the immune system. Without treatment, it can lead to a spectrum of conditions including acquired immunodeficiency syndrome (AIDS). It is a Preventive healthcare, pr ...

. During a training session in 2004, a Spanish TV crew filmed Spain national team head coach Luis Aragonés trying to motivate José Antonio Reyes by making offensive and racist references to Reyes' then-teammate at

Arsenal An arsenal is a place where arms and ammunition are made, maintained and repaired, stored, or issued, in any combination, whether privately or publicly owned. Arsenal and armoury (British English) or armory (American English) are mostly ...

, Thierry Henry. The phrase used was "''Demuestra que eres mejor que ese negro de mierda''", translated as "Show that you're better than that fucking black guy". The incident caused uproar in the British media, with calls for Aragonés to be sacked. When Spain played

in a

friendly match An exhibition game (also known as a friendly, scrimmage, demonstration, training match, pre-season game, warmup match, or preparation match, depending at least in part on the sport) is a sport, sporting event whose prize money and impact on th ...

at the

Santiago Bernabéu Stadium Santiago Bernabéu Stadium (, ) is a retractable roof association football, football stadium in Madrid, Spain. With a seating capacity of around 83,000 following its extensive renovation completed in late 2024, the stadium has the second-largest ...

soon after, on 17 November 2004, the atmosphere was hostile. Whenever black England players touched the ball, a significant proportion of the Spanish crowd began to make monkey chants, in particular to Shaun Wright-Phillips and Ashley Cole. Additionally, when England sang their national anthem before kick-off, Spanish fans also racially chanted English players. Aragonés' remarks were widely blamed by the British press for inciting the incident. After an investigation into the events during the match,

fined the

Royal Spanish Football Federation The Royal Spanish Football Federation (; RFEF) is the governing body of football in Spain. Founded on 29 September 1913, it is based in La Ciudad del Fútbol of Las Rozas de Madrid, Las Rozas, a municipality near Madrid. RFEF organizes the natio ...

100,000 CHF (

US$ The United States dollar (Currency symbol, symbol: Dollar sign, $; ISO 4217, currency code: USD) is the official currency of the United States and International use of the U.S. dollar, several other countries. The Coinage Act of 1792 introdu ...

87,000) and warned that any future incidents would be punished more severely. The incident even drew reactions from then-

Prime Minister of the United Kingdom The prime minister of the United Kingdom is the head of government of the United Kingdom. The prime minister Advice (constitutional law), advises the Monarchy of the United Kingdom, sovereign on the exercise of much of the Royal prerogative ...

Tony Blair Sir Anthony Charles Lynton Blair (born 6 May 1953) is a British politician who served as Prime Minister of the United Kingdom from 1997 to 2007 and Leader of the Labour Party (UK), Leader of the Labour Party from 1994 to 2007. He was Leader ...

and Sports Minister

Richard Caborn Richard George Caborn (born 6 October 1943) is a British politician who served as Minister of Sport from 2001 to 2007 and later as the prime minister's ambassador for England's 2018 FIFA World Cup bid. He previously served as a junior ministe ...

, with the latter making the claim that the behaviour of Spanish fans was 20 or 30 years behind that of their British counterparts. UEFA noted that possible punishments could include suspension from major international tournaments or the closure of Spain home international matches to supporters. On 7 February 2007, Aragonés won an appeal over the offence, with the misdemeanour being downgraded to "conduct which could be considered to be racist". In February 2005,

Samuel Eto'o Samuel Eto'o Fils (; born 10 March 1981) is a Cameroonian Association football, football administrator and former Football player, player who is the current president of the Cameroonian Football Federation. He is often regarded as one of the ...

received racially driven verbal abuse from some

Real Zaragoza Real Zaragoza, S.A.D. (), commonly referred to as Zaragoza, is a football club based in Zaragoza, Aragon, Spain, that currently competes in the Segunda División, the second tier of the Spanish football league system, Spanish league system. Zarag ...

spectators during a match for

Barcelona Barcelona ( ; ; ) is a city on the northeastern coast of Spain. It is the capital and largest city of the autonomous community of Catalonia, as well as the second-most populous municipality of Spain. With a population of 1.6 million within c ...

. The fans began making monkey-like chants whenever Eto'o had possession of the ball and peanuts were hurled onto the pitch. Eto'o threatened to leave the pitch in the middle of the game, but was prevented by the intervention of his teammates and the referee, who rushed to the pitch to calm him down. His black teammate Ronaldinho, who has suffered similar abuses but less intensely, said he was fed-up with the sounds and that if Eto'o had left the pitch, he would have done the same. As Barcelona won 4–1, Eto'o danced like a monkey, saying rival fans were treating him as a monkey. Referee Fernando Carmona Méndez did not mention the incidents in his match report, commenting only that the behaviour of the crowd was "normal". The fans were identified to police by fellow spectators and they were fined and banned from attending sporting events for five months. Eto'o declared in the aftermath that the punishment was insufficient and that La Romareda, Real Zaragoza's stadium, should have been closed for at least one year. However, Eto'o's coach, Frank Rijkaard, told him to concentrate on football and to stop talking about the incident. Eto'o has stated that he does not take his children to football matches due to the prevalent racism and has also suggested that players walk off if they become victims of racism. Many other African footballers have also been victims of racial abuse, such as the Cameroonian Carlos Kameni, who was abused while playing for Espanyol against

Atlético Madrid Club Atlético de Madrid, S.A.D. (; meaning "Athletic Club of Madrid"), commonly referred to as Atlético Madrid or simply Atlético, is a Spanish professional football club based in Madrid that plays in La Liga. The club play their home game ...

, who were fined €6,000. In January 2009, the Royal Spanish Football Federation fined

approximately US$3,900 after a group of fans made

fascist Fascism ( ) is a far-right, authoritarian, and ultranationalist political ideology and movement. It is characterized by a dictatorial leader, centralized autocracy, militarism, forcible suppression of opposition, belief in a natural soci ...

gestures and chanted fascist slogans at a match. Match referee Alfonso Pérez Burrull cited "extremist or radical symbolism", and chants making reference to "the gas chamber." On 27 April 2014, Barcelona player Dani Alves was targeted by Villarreal fans, who threw a banana at him. Alves picked up the banana, peeled it, and took a bite. Teammate and also Brazilian player

's response, to post a photograph of himself on social media also eating a banana, went viral. Other footballers have also since taken photographs of themselves eating bananas. Cyrille Regis, who had been racially abused while a player in the 1970s and '80s, expressed concern that the viral campaign would detract from the important issues of combating racism in the game. Alves said that whoever threw the banana at him should be publicly shamed, and on 30 April 2014, a man was arrested in connection with the incident. Villarreal were later fined €12,000 for the incident. In early May 2014, Levante's Papakouli Diop complained of receiving racist abuse from opposition Atlético Madrid fans. Espanyol banned 12 supporters after they were identified as having subjected

Athletic Bilbao Athletic Club (; ), commonly known as Athletic Bilbao (), or simply Athletic, is a professional Football club (association football), football club based in the city of Bilbao in the Southern Basque Country, Basque Country, Spain. They are known ...

player Iñaki Williams to racist abuse in a match in January 2020. On 4 April 2021, the players of

Valencia Valencia ( , ), formally València (), is the capital of the Province of Valencia, province and Autonomous communities of Spain, autonomous community of Valencian Community, the same name in Spain. It is located on the banks of the Turia (r ...

left the pitch during a La Liga game against

Cádiz Cádiz ( , , ) is a city in Spain and the capital of the Province of Cádiz in the Autonomous communities of Spain, autonomous community of Andalusia. It is located in the southwest of the Iberian Peninsula off the Atlantic Ocean separated fr ...

after their player, Mouctar Diakhaby, was allegedly subjected to racist abuse. In September 2022, Real Madrid player Vinícius Júnior was criticised on television for dancing whilst celebrating a goal; the player said that criticism, which compared him to a "monkey", was racist. Following this, some fans of

were accused of singing racist songs about Vinícius, which was condemned by La Liga. Vinícius later said that

La Liga The Campeonato Nacional de Liga de Primera División, commonly known as the Primera División or La Liga, and officially known as LaLiga EA Sports for sponsorship reasons, is a professional association football league in Spain and the highest ...

did not do anything about racists, a few days after which La Liga announced that they had filed charges against those accused. In February 2023 it was revealed that nobody in Spain "has been sentenced or punished for a racist incident related to football". In January 2023, Vinícius was targeted when an effigy of him was hung outside Real Madrid's training ground. Three people were initially arrested, and eventually four men were later fined and banned from stadiums for their role. In February 2023, Vinícius was racially abused by a Mallorca fan, who later received a suspended prison sentence. In May 2023, Real Madrid's game against

was halted after Vinícius was racially abused. Three people were arrested in connection with the incident, after it was reported to the police as a hate crime. Valencia received a fine and had their south stand closed for 5 games as punishment, which was reduced to 2 games on appeal. Vinícius was also allegedly racially abused by Barcelona fans in October 2023 in an ''El Clasico'' match, and by a child at a Valencia game in March 2024. Vinícius had allegedly threatened not to play in the latter game after Real Madrid's social media posted a photo of him kissing the club badge above a logo showing men evolving from monkeys. Following the same game, Valencia player

Peter Peter may refer to: People * List of people named Peter, a list of people and fictional characters with the given name * Peter (given name) ** Saint Peter (died 60s), apostle of Jesus, leader of the early Christian Church * Peter (surname), a su ...

, on loan from Real Madrid, closed his social media accounts after suffering online racist abuse from Real Madrid fans. In March 2024, Vinícius also suffered racist abuse in a match against Osasuna; Real Madrid complained after the referee did not include the incident in his match report. He later said that the racism he encountered - including 10 incidents in the 2022–23 season - made him feel less like playing the sport. Journalist Marcus Alves later said that Vinícius was "leading football's fight against racism". In March 2024, Sevilla players and coaches, including player Marcos Acuna and manager Quique Sanchez Flores, suffered racist abuse in a match against Getafe. In April 2024, player Cheikh Kane Sarr was banned for two matches after confronting an opposition fan who racially abused him. Sarr later spoke out in support of Vinícius, whilst

said authorities needed to do more to deal with racism. Later that month, Barcelona were fine following racist behaviour from fans in a match against Paris-SG, whilst Nico Williams accused Atletico Madrid fans of racially abusing him. In June 2024, after three fans who abused him were jailed, Vinícius said he was the "tormentor of racists". In August 2024, Vinícius said his Real Madrid teammates would walk off the pitch if subjected to racism. In September 2024, following racism from Barcelona fans in a match against French club Monaco, the club was subject to a ticket ban. In October 2024, Barcelona player Lamine Yamal was racially abused by Real Madrid fans. In November 2024, a minor who admitted racially abusing Vinícius received a ban. In January 2025, Barcelona player

Alejandro Balde Alejandro Balde Martínez (born 18 October 2003) is a Spanish professional footballer who plays as a left-back for club Barcelona and the Spain national team. Club career Born in Barcelona, Catalonia, to a Bissau-Guinean father and a Domi ...

was racially abused by Getafe fans.

Sweden

In 2009, fans of Swedish football team IFK Göteborg abused supporters of rivals

Malmö FF Malmö Fotbollförening (), commonly known simply as Malmö FF or MFF, is a Swedish professional football club based in Malmö, Scania. They compete in the Allsvenskan, the top division of Swedish football, and play home matches at the Eleda S ...

by referring to them as "''Rosengårdstattare''" (" Rosengård gypsies"), in a racist reference to the large immigrant population of

Malmö Malmö is the List of urban areas in Sweden by population, third-largest city in Sweden, after Stockholm and Gothenburg, and the List of urban areas in the Nordic countries, sixth-largest city in Nordic countries, the Nordic region. Located on ...

. Also, fans of

Helsingborgs IF Helsingborgs Idrottsförening, commonly referred to as Helsingborgs IF, Helsingborg or (especially locally) HIF (), is a Swedish professional football club located in Helsingborg. They play in the Swedish second tier, Superettan, following releg ...

have been known to yell monkey chants at opposing dark-skinned players. In June 2018, the Swedish National Team posted a

video of player Jimmy Durmaz making a statement against racism in football. Durmaz stated that online he has been called "darkie, bloody Arab, terrorist, Taliban." In the video, Durmaz talks about his family and how they have also been targets of racism. At the end, Durmaz says "vi är eniga, vi är sverige, knulla rasism", which translates to "We are United, We are Sweden, F**k Racism".

Switzerland

Fwayo Tembo left

Basel Basel ( ; ), also known as Basle ( ), ; ; ; . is a city in northwestern Switzerland on the river Rhine (at the transition from the High Rhine, High to the Upper Rhine). Basel is Switzerland's List of cities in Switzerland, third-most-populo ...

after he accused club coach Thorsten Fink of making racist remarks towards him during a training session. Fink is reported to have told a collaborator to "get the monkey down from the tree".

Turkey

On 15 April 2012, Fenerbahçe's Emre Belözoğlu was accused of making racist comments on the pitch towards

Trabzonspor Trabzonspor Kulübü is a Turkish professional sports club located in the city of Trabzon, located in Black Sea region, northeastern Turkey. Established in 1967 through the merger of several local clubs, Trabzonspor is one of the most prominent A ...

's Didier Zokora. After the match, Zokora told Lig TV: Lip-reading professionals say Belözoğlu has said the words "fucking

". Emre received a two-game ban for his actions after it was concluded that he had used abusive, but not racist, language by the authorities. There are still questions about the low ban he received. On 12 May 2013, before the match between Fenerbahçe and Galatasaray, Galatasaray striker

Didier Drogba Didier Yves Drogba Tébily (; born 11 March 1978) is an Ivorian former professional association football, footballer who played as a striker (association football), striker. He is the Top international association football goal scorers by cou ...

, along with his Ivorian international teammate Emmanuel Eboué, were racially abused by certain Fenerbahçe fans during the pre-match warmups. They were allegedly shown bananas. Television cameras and some pictures clearly captured a fan waving around a banana, other fans had black trash bags on their heads and were pictured holding the brand of the beverage "Negro". Though there were no monkey chants or gestures of that sort, the "banana" caused a huge controversy and Fenerbahce has been condemned. This was the second ever known racism incident in Turkey, again involving Fenerbahçe following the events that took place between Belözoğlu and Zokora in 2012. In February 2025, Fenerbahçe manager Jose Mourinho was accused of racism by Galatasaray due to comments made about Turkish referees following a match between the clubs. Mourinho later received a four-match ban for his comments, which was reduced to a two-match ban on appeal. Mourinho also filed a legal claim against Galatasaray.

United Kingdom

In March 2024, British Asian football fans spoke out about the racism they experience on social media.

England

Scotland

Andrew Watson was the first black football player to represent

Scotland Scotland is a Countries of the United Kingdom, country that is part of the United Kingdom. It contains nearly one-third of the United Kingdom's land area, consisting of the northern part of the island of Great Britain and more than 790 adjac ...

. Watson never turned professional, however, so Arthur Wharton is sometimes reported as being the first black British footballer. The book ''Race, Sport and British Society'' says there was racist abuse of

Celtic Celtic, Celtics or Keltic may refer to: Language and ethnicity *pertaining to Celts, a collection of Indo-European peoples in Europe and Anatolia **Celts (modern) *Celtic languages **Proto-Celtic language *Celtic music *Celtic nations Sports Foot ...

player Paul Wilson by Rangers fans in the 1970s: "Rangers fans repeatedly bayed 'Wilson's a Paki' when Celtic played Rangers."Ben Carrington and Ian McDonal

(p.40) There have been reports that some Rangers fans used to sing "I'd rather be a darkie than a Tim", with "Tim" referring to a Celtic fan. The book ''Sport and National Identity in the Post-War World'' states, "black players in Scotland were greeted with bananas thrown from the crowd and a barrage of 'monkey grunts', notably Mark Walters of Rangers and Paul Elliott of Celtic." On 2 January 1988, Rangers winger Mark Walters made his debut in the

Old Firm The Old Firm is a collective name for the Scottish football clubs Celtic and Rangers, which are both based in Glasgow. The two clubs are the most successful and popular in Scotland, and the rivalry between them has become deeply embedded i ...

derby match at

Celtic Park Celtic Park is a Soccer-specific stadium, football stadium and the home of Scottish Premiership team Celtic F.C., Celtic, in the Parkhead area of Glasgow, Scotland. With a capacity of 60,832, it is the largest List of football stadiums in Sco ...

. Rangers lost 2–0 and Walters was subjected to racist abuse from opposing Celtic fans, who were caught on camera chanting like monkeys, throwing fruit (mostly bananas), onto the pitch and dressing in monkey costumes. It was reported that Rangers fans used "implicit racism" on the same day by singing "I'd rather be a darkie than a Tim". Although Celtic denounced the perpetrators, the

Scottish Football Association The Scottish Football Association (; also known as the Scottish FA and the SFA) is the governing body of football in Scotland and has the ultimate responsibility for the control and development of football in Scotland. Members of the SFA incl ...

(SFA) remained silent. According to Walters, he experienced worse racial abuse in Edinburgh against Hearts. Following racist abuse aimed at Walters, Rangers banned some of their own season ticket holders. Andrew Smith from ''

The Scotsman ''The Scotsman'' is a Scottish compact (newspaper), compact newspaper and daily news website headquartered in Edinburgh. First established as a radical political paper in 1817, it began daily publication in 1855 and remained a broadsheet until ...

'' newspaper stated, "It is depressing to think that enforcement as much as enlightenment might account for Walters being the only black footballer in this country to have had bananas thrown at them." Rangers captain Lorenzo Amoruso issued a public apology after a match in December 1999 for making racist comments against

's Nigerian striker

Victor Ikpeba Victor Ikpeba Nosa (born 12 June 1973) is a Nigerian former professional footballer who played as a forward. Ikpeba played 31 international matches and scored seven goals for Nigeria. He was a member of Super Eagles team to the FIFA World Cups i ...

. In March 2003, Rangers fans were accused of racially abusing Bobo Baldé and Mohammed Sylla. Rangers Chairman John McClelland stated that, "There was such a crescendo during Saturday's match although I thought I heard noises of this kind I can't be 100% sure." In May 2004,

Marvin Andrews Marvin Andrews CM (born 22 December 1975) is a Trinidadian former professional footballer who played as a centre back. Andrews's career includes spells at Livingston, with whom he won the Scottish League Cup in 2004, and Rangers, where he ...

condemned racism from some Rangers fans. In November 2004, then-manager of Celtic

Martin O'Neill Martin Hugh Michael O'Neill, (born 1 March 1952) is a Northern Irish professional Manager (association football), football manager and former Association football, player who played as a midfielder. After a brief early career in the Irish Leag ...

suggested Neil Lennon was the subject of chants of a "racial and sectarian manner". During a 2007 Scottish Cup tie, St Johnstone player Jason Scotland was the target of racist taunts by a handful of

Motherwell Motherwell (, ) is a List of towns and cities in Scotland by population, town and former burgh in North Lanarkshire, Scotland, United Kingdom, south east of Glasgow. It has a population of around 32,120. Shires of Scotland, Historically in the p ...

fans. The offenders were promptly reprimanded by the spectators around them and were reported to police and match stewards. Motherwell Chairman John Boyle later issued an apology on behalf of the club. Motherwell were to court further controversy on 3 September 2007 when Laryea Kingston of Hearts was abused, although Motherwell refuted the claims. In October 2009, Rangers player Maurice Edu said he was racially abused by some Rangers fans while leaving Ibrox after a

UEFA Champions League The UEFA Champions League (UCL) is an annual club association football competition organised by the UEFA, Union of European Football Associations (UEFA) that is contested by List of top-division football clubs in UEFA countries, top-divisio ...

defeat by Romanian club Unirea Urziceni. Edu wrote on

Twitter Twitter, officially known as X since 2023, is an American microblogging and social networking service. It is one of the world's largest social media platforms and one of the most-visited websites. Users can share short text messages, image ...

, "Not sure what hurt more: result or being racially abused by couple of our own fans as I'm getting in my car." Three Scottish judges ruled in June 2009 that " The Famine Song" is racist because it targets people of Irish origin. George Peat, president of the SFA, has suggested that the song causes embarrassment for Scottish football and should be stamped out. Peat has also stated that the SFA is determined to contribute to the eradication of offensive songs from Scottish football. In November 2008, a Rangers fan was found guilty of a breach of the peace (aggravated by religious and racial prejudice) for singing "The Famine Song" during a game against Kilmarnock. It was widely reported after an Old Firm game in February 2009, Rangers fans had sung "The Famine Song" at Celtic Park. ''The Famine Song'' was also sung in March 2011 at a Scottish football game by Rangers fans, nevertheless, Scottish Justice Secretary Kenny MacAskill described the match as a "great advert for Scottish football". '' The Herald'' journalist Doug Gillon has written that "the sectarian intolerance which divides Scottish society ..is rooted in anti-Irish racism". In February 2011, in an Old Firm match at Celtic Park, a Celtic supporter was caught mocking black Rangers player El Hadji Diouf with monkey noises and gestures as he was about to take a corner kick. In April 2011, then-manager of Celtic Neil Lennon received an explosive device in the post. Brian McNally described this as due to "anti-Catholic and anti-Irish racism". A number of high-profile Celtic fans also were sent suspected explosive devices. Leader of the Scottish Conservative Party Annabel Goldie MSP described bullets sent to Neil Lennon and a number of Celtic players as "racism and sectarianism". After an attempted assault on Neil Lennon at Hearts'

Tynecastle Stadium Tynecastle Park, also known as Tynecastle Stadium, is a association football, football stadium in the Gorgie area of Edinburgh, which is the home ground of Scottish Professional Football League club Heart of Midlothian F.C., Heart of Midlothian ...

, a motion against anti-Irish racism was lodged in the Scottish Parliament. In October 2014, Celtic player Aleksandar Tonev received a seven-match ban for racially abusing an opponent. In November 2018 Dennon Lewis spoke out about the racist abuse he has received from his club's (Falkirk's) own fans. In October 2019 Rangers player Alfredo Morelos was allegedly racially abused by Hearts fans during a match between the two sides. Later that month Celtic manager Neil Lennon described racism in the sport as a "stain" and that players needed to be protected. In February 2020, a 12-year-old boy was charged with racist abuse aimed at Morelos. Kilmarnock received a letter in December 2020 after a Boxing Day defeat, which contained racist abuse aimed at manager Alex Dyer. In January 2021,

Dundee Dundee (; ; or , ) is the List of towns and cities in Scotland by population, fourth-largest city in Scotland. The mid-year population estimate for the locality was . It lies within the eastern central Lowlands on the north bank of the Firt ...

striker Jonathan Afolabi received racist messages following a victory in the

Scottish Cup The Scottish Football Association Challenge Cup,Europa League game between Rangers and Slavia Prague on 18 March 2021, Rangers manager

Steven Gerrard Steven George Gerrard MBE (born 30 May 1980) is an English professional football manager and a former player. Widely regarded as one of the greatest midfielders of all time and one of Liverpool's greatest ever players,Glen Kamara was racially abused by

Ondřej Kúdela Ondřej Kúdela (; born 26 March 1987) is a Czech professional footballer who plays as a centre-back. He previously played for Slovácko, Sparta Prague, Mlada Boleslav, Slovan Liberec, and Slavia Prague. Kúdela also had loan spells at Kladn ...

and called for

to take action. However, Slavia Prague denied the accusation of racism, instead stating that Kúdela was assaulted by Kamara. In a related incident, Rangers forward Kemar Roofe was subjected to racist abuse on Instagram after getting sent off during that match. In October 2021, Dundee United player Jeando Fuchs was allegedly racially abused by a Ross County fan during a match. In October 2022, Hibernian player Jair Tavares was allegedly racially abused during a match against Dundee United. In October 2023, Hibernian player Allan Delferriere was allegedly racially abused during a match against Ross County. St Johnstone player Diallang Jaiyesimi was sent off during a match against Rangers on 20 December 2023, later suffering racist abuse on social media. In January 2025, Ross County goalkeeper Jordan Amissah was allegedly racially abused in a match away at Aberdeen.

Wales

On 10 February 2021, Swansea City midfielder Yan Dhanda who is of

British Asian British Asians (also referred to as Asian Britons) are British people of Asian people, Asian descent. They constitute a significant and growing minority of the people living in the United Kingdom, with a population of 5.76 million people or 8.6 ...

background, was racially abused on social media following Swansea's defeat to Manchester City in the FA Cup. The incident was passed to South Wales Police for investigation. On 27 March 2021, following

Wales Wales ( ) is a Countries of the United Kingdom, country that is part of the United Kingdom. It is bordered by the Irish Sea to the north and west, England to the England–Wales border, east, the Bristol Channel to the south, and the Celtic ...

' 1-0 win against

Mexico Mexico, officially the United Mexican States, is a country in North America. It is the northernmost country in Latin America, and borders the United States to the north, and Guatemala and Belize to the southeast; while having maritime boundar ...

, players Ben Cabango and Rabbi Matondo were subjected to racist abuse on social media. Fellow Wales player,

Gareth Bale Gareth Frank Bale (born 16 July 1989) is a Welsh former professional Association football, footballer who played as a right winger, most notably for Tottenham Hotspur F.C., Tottenham Hotspur, Real Madrid CF, Real Madrid, and the Wales national ...

said he would join a boycott of social media if more could not be done to combat racism across their platforms. Thierry Henry said he is removing himself from social media because of racism and social injustice. On 8 April 2021, Swansea City announced a week-long boycott of all social media platforms by first team members and by the academy and women's teams, staff of the club and from the club's official accounts. In 2023, Cardiff City player Rohan Luthra was racially abused by teammate Jack Simpson, who later left the club. In April 2024, fans of Welsh club Merthyr Town, who play in the English league system, were accused of racially abusing an opposition Hungerford Town player.

Ukraine

In March 2019, English club Chelsea complained about alleged racism aimed at their player Callum Hudson-Odoi during a match against

Dynamo Kyiv The Football Club 'Dynamo Kyiv', also known as Dynamo Kyiv, or simply Dynamo, ( ) is a Ukrainian professional football club based in Kyiv. Founded in 1927 as a Kyivan football team of republican branch of the bigger Soviet Dynamo Sports Society ...

. Later that month UEFA said they would investigate. He was later offered counselling. In November 2019 Shakhtar Donetsk player Taison was sent-off after reacting to alleged racist abuse, and was also given a one-match ban.

Middle East

Israel

Racist incidents date back to at least the 1970s, such as when Arab-Israeli player Jimmy Turk joined Hapoel Tel Aviv. Turk was subjected to anti-Arab abuse during nearly every game he played. According to Itzik Shanan, director of communications at the

New Israel Fund The New Israel Fund (NIF; ; ) is a United States–based NGO established in 1979. It describes its objective as social justice and equality for all Israelis. The New Israel Fund says it has provided $300 million to over 900 Israeli civil society ...

, among most racist fans are supporters of Beitar Jerusalem, also Hapoel Tel Aviv fans have been using slogans promoting a Holocaust against Maccabi Tel Aviv. Israeli right-wing football supporters taunt Arab players during games, especially those who play for the mixed Arab-Jewish team Bnei Sakhnin. Ronny Rosenthal, playing for Israel's Maccabi Haifa in 1989, was subjected to

anti-Semitic Antisemitism or Jew-hatred is hostility to, prejudice towards, or discrimination against Jews. A person who harbours it is called an antisemite. Whether antisemitism is considered a form of racism depends on the school of thought. Antisemi ...

taunts. Under Israeli law, football fans can be prosecuted for incitement of racial hatred. The "New Voices from the Stadium" program, run by the

(NIF) amasses a "racism index" that is reported to the media on a weekly basis, and teams have been fined and punished for the conduct of their fans. According to Steve Rothman, the NIF San Francisco director, "Things have definitely improved, particularly in sensitizing people to the existence of racism in Israeli society."A noble goal: Can Israel give soccer racism the boot?
by Joe Eskenazi, JWeekly In 2006, Israel joined Football Against Racism in Europe (FARE), a network set up to counter racism in football. French police have opened an investigation into possible antisemitic gestures and banners during the

2024 Summer Olympics The 2024 Summer Olympics (), officially the Games of the XXXIII Olympiad () and branded as Paris 2024, were an international multi-sport event held in France from 26 July to 11 August 2024, with several events started from 24 July. P ...

Group D football match between Israel and Paraguay.

Kuwait

In June 2023 a friendly match held in Austria between Kuwait U22 and Republic of Ireland U21 was abandoned after an Irish player was apparently racially abused by a Kuwaiti player.

Qatar

In June 2023 a friendly match held in Austria between Qatar and New Zealand was abandoned after New Zealand player Michael Boxall said he was racially abused by a Qatari player.

Syria

A scandal took place during the 2018 World Cup qualifiers surrounding the match between Syria and Iran. The match was held in Kuala Lumpur during Monsoon season, making the match much more difficult and ending in a 0-0 tie. Iran then accused Syria of 'fixing' the game to prevent Iran from advancing to the World Cup. This event shows the underlying racial tension between Syria and Iran and exemplifies how racial discrimination works its way into the sport.

Oceania

Australia

At a 1994 match in Melbourne between the Croatian community supported

Melbourne Knights Melbourne Knights Football Club is an Australian professional soccer club based in the suburb of Sunshine North, Melbourne. The club currently competes in the National Premier Leagues Victoria, the second-tier of the Australian soccer league ...

and the

Greek Greek may refer to: Anything of, from, or related to Greece, a country in Southern Europe: *Greeks, an ethnic group *Greek language, a branch of the Indo-European language family **Proto-Greek language, the assumed last common ancestor of all kno ...

community supported South Melbourne, many ethnic slurs were exchanged between the two sets of supporters. In October 2022 fans of

Sydney United 58 Sydney United 58 Football Club is a semi-professional association football, soccer club and current NSW NPL Champions based in Edensor Park, New South Wales, Edensor Park, Sydney, New South Wales Australia. The club was formed as Sydney Croatia ...

allegedly made Nazi salutes during the Australia Cup final and also caught booing and insulting the Welcome to Country ceremony performed by

Indigenous Australians Indigenous Australians are people with familial heritage from, or recognised membership of, the various ethnic groups living within the territory of contemporary Australia prior to History of Australia (1788–1850), British colonisation. The ...

prior to the match. One fan received a lifetime ban.

Central America

Honduras

In July 2021, the German Olympic team walked off the pitch in a friendly match against Honduras due to alleged racist abuse aimed at German player Jordan Torunarigha.

North America

Canada

After a tackle of Canadian player Moïse Bombito against

Lionel Messi Lionel Andrés "Leo" Messi (; born 24 June 1987) is an Argentine professional Association football, footballer who plays as a forward (association football), forward for and Captain (association football), captains both Major League Soccer ...

in Canada's opening match at the 2024 Copa America, the former was bombarded with offensive comments and monkey imagery online. The Canadian Soccer Federation and

CONCACAF The Confederation of North, Central America and Caribbean Association Football, abbreviated as CONCACAF ( ; typeset for branding purposes since 2018 as Concacaf), is one of FIFA's six continental governing bodies for association football. Its 4 ...

condemned the incident.

Mexico

In the first day of the Apertura 2006 tournament, fans of

Santos Laguna Club Santos Laguna S.A. de C.V., simply known as Santos Laguna or Santos, is a Mexican professional football club based in Torreón, Coahuila. The club competes in Liga MX, the top division of Mexican football. Founded in 1983 as Club Santos I ...

made guttural sounds imitating a chimpanzee against the

Panama Panama, officially the Republic of Panama, is a country in Latin America at the southern end of Central America, bordering South America. It is bordered by Costa Rica to the west, Colombia to the southeast, the Caribbean Sea to the north, and ...

nian player Felipe Baloy of

Monterrey Monterrey (, , abbreviated as MtY) is the capital and largest city of the northeastern Mexican state of Nuevo León. It is the ninth-largest city and the second largest metropolitan area, after Greater Mexico City. Located at the foothills of th ...

as he scored a goal. During the game, Santos Laguna's fans had also chanted other racial slurs towards Baloy, including "''chango''" ("monkey") and "''come platano''" ("banana eater"). The disciplinary commission of the

Mexican Football Federation The Mexican Football Federation (), abbreviated as FMF is the official governing body of football in Mexico. It administers the men's and women's national teams with all its youth teams, the national teams of futsal and beach soccer, Liga MX wit ...

sanctioned the Santos club to a sum equivalent of 5,600 days of league minimum wage for the racist insults. The racism went past the field in 2014 when Mexican politician, Carlos Trevino, called Brazilian football legend Ronaldinho an ape after he signed with a team in the Mexican league. He was quoted saying "I detest it all the more because people obstruct and flood the main avenues, causing me to spend two hours getting home … and all to see AN APE … A Brazilian, but an ape nonetheless. This has become a ridiculous circus." These outbursts were the reason why the Brazilian legend left the Mexican league after only one season. In 2022, the Afro-Honduran player Carlos Fernandez decided to retire from Venados FC of the MX Expansion League, citing suffering from acts of racism by a teammate.

United States

Overt displays of racism at U.S. soccer matches are extremely rare compared to the EU and Russia, in part, because the fan base of soccer in the U.S. is ethnically diverse and much younger. However, during a 24 May 2008

Major League Soccer Major League Soccer (MLS) is a professional Association football, soccer league in North America and the highest level of the United States soccer league system. It comprises 30 teams, with 27 in the United States and 3 in Canada, and is sanc ...

(MLS) game between the

Columbus Crew The Columbus Crew are an American professional soccer club based in Columbus, Ohio. The club competes in Major League Soccer (MLS) as a member of the Eastern Conference (MLS), Eastern Conference. The team began play in 1996 as one of the 10 cha ...

and the

New England Revolution The New England Revolution are an American professional association football, soccer club based in the Greater Boston area. The club competes in Major League Soccer (MLS) as a member of the Eastern Conference (MLS), Eastern Conference. It is on ...

, Revolution forward Kheli Dube (originally from Zimbabwe) scored a goal against the Crew in the 89th minute of the game. An unidentified fan in the audience shouted out a racist slur. The incident was subsequently posted to the video sharing website

, and MLS promised an investigation. In response to the epithet, Revolution player Shalrie Joseph reportedly made an obscene gesture towards the offending fan. Assuming that MLS could have identified the fan, Commissioner

Don Garber Donald P. Garber (born October 9, 1957) is an American sports executive who has been the commissioner of Major League Soccer (MLS) since 1999. Garber is also the CEO of Soccer United Marketing and a member of the United States Soccer Federatio ...

promised to ban him. In July 2013, two white coaches for the Los Angeles-based squad

Chivas USA Chivas USA (pronounced ''CHEE-vahs'') was an American professional Association football, soccer club based in the Greater Los Angeles area. The club competed in Major League Soccer (MLS) as a member of the Western Conference (MLS), Western Conf ...

filed a discrimination suit against the team. In this suit, they claimed that Chivas (which was controlled by their parent club in Guadalajara had become prejudicial after ending the contracts or trading off non Mexican/Mexican-American players and coaching staff following several unsuccessful seasons, thus they were wrongfully terminated. After the allegations were presented to a wider audience on

HBO Home Box Office (HBO) is an American pay television service, which is the flagship property of namesake parent-subsidiary Home Box Office, Inc., itself a unit owned by Warner Bros. Discovery. The overall Home Box Office business unit is based a ...

's '' Real Sports with Bryant Gumbel'', MLS released a statement saying, "MLS has zero tolerance for discrimination or prejudice of any kind....And although allegations in this lawsuit raise serious issues it would not be appropriate for us to say anything more while the litigation is ongoing." Nothing significant happened following the accusations. The club was folded after the 2014 MLS season, eventually being replaced with the unrelated team

Los Angeles FC Los Angeles Football Club (LAFC) is an American professional association football, soccer club based in Los Angeles. The club competes in Major League Soccer (MLS) as a member of the Western Conference (MLS), Western Conference. It was establi ...

. On 28 August 2020, MLS and the

National Women's Soccer League The National Women's Soccer League (NWSL) is a women's professional Association football, soccer league and the highest level of the United States soccer league system#Women's leagues, United States soccer league system (alongside the USL Supe ...

launched investigations into allegations that

Real Salt Lake Real Salt Lake (RSL) is an American professional Association football, soccer club based in the Salt Lake City metropolitan area. The club competes in Major League Soccer (MLS) as a member of the Western Conference (MLS), Western Conference. Fou ...

and Utah Royal FC owner Dell Loy Hansen used racist language in the workplace. In September 2020, La Galaxy II announced that they released defender Omar Ontiveros in the wake of an on-field racist incident with San Diego Loyal player Elijah Martin. In September 2022, Taxi Fountas was accused of using the

n-word In the English language, ''nigger'' is a racial slur directed at black people. Starting in the 1990s, references to ''nigger'' have been increasingly replaced by the euphemistic contraction , notably in cases where ''nigger'' is Use–menti ...

towards Damion Lowe. In April 2023, Dante Vanzeir apologised after being racist towards Jeremy Ebobisse, as did Vanzeir's club and manager. In June 2023, in the inaugural The Soccer Tournament event, the team representing West Ham United walked off the pitch after alleged racist abuse from an opposition player. In June 2024, US national team players Folarin Balogun, Chris Richards, Timothy Weah and Weston McKennie all suffered racist abuse after the national team lost in the 2024 Copa América to Panama.

South America

Argentina

On 14 April 2005, the

Quilmes Quilmes () is a city on the coast of the Rio de la Plata, in the , on the southeast end of the Greater Buenos Aires, being some away from the urban centre area of Buenos Aires. The city was founded in 1666 and is the seat of the eponymous '' ...

player Leandro Desabato was arrested for racially abusing Grafite, a black Brazilian player. He was held for 40 hours, but no charges were brought against him after Grafite decided not to press charges. Damien Perez of Arsenal de Sarandi labelled his opponent Jerry Bengston a "negro de mierda", roughly translated to "black piece of shit". This is a common racial slur in Latin America. One Argentinian narrator, Alberto Raimundi even felt it was appropriate to use the slur when describing an opponent during a post-game interview. In November 2022, an Argentine television crew during the

caught Argentine fans singing chants against the France national football team claiming "they are from Angola", and singled out Kylian Mbappé in particular for his nationality, sexuality, and alleged relationship with model Ines Rau. In November 2023, Brazilian footballer Rodrygo was racially abused after an altercation during a game with Argentina's

. In July 2024, the French Football Federation complained about a racist song sung by Argentina national players. The video had been posted on social media by Enzo Fernandez, who was criticised by French club-mate Wesley Fofana; Fernandez was subject to disciplinary proceedings. Fofana later said that Fernandez was not racist. The anti-racism group Kick it Out accused Fernandez of being racist and transphobic.

Brazil

Racism in Brazilian football was discussed by the media in the run-up to the

2014 FIFA World Cup The 2014 FIFA World Cup was the 20th FIFA World Cup, the quadrennial world championship for list of men's national association football teams, men's national Association football, football teams organised by FIFA. It took place in Brazil fr ...

, held in the country. In September 2014, Grêmio were banned from competing in the

Copa do Brasil The Copa do Brasil () is a knockout football competition played by 92 teams, representing all 26 Brazilian states plus the Federal District. It is the Brazilian domestic cup and it is the Brazilian equivalent of the FA Cup, Taça de Portugal, ...

after some of their fans were seen racially abusing an opposition player. In June 2023, the Brazil national team wore an all-black kit as part of an anti-racism campaign. In July 2023, an anti-racism law in Rio de Janeiro was named after Vinícius Júnior, who had been racially abused in Spain. In December 2024, four female players from River Plate's women's team were arrested in Brazil after player Candela Díaz was alleged to have imitated monkey gestures against a Gremio ball boy. In a play against Gremio's women's team, the latter's players walked out in protest, and a heated exchange occurred, including more racial slurs against the Gremio players. The game was eventually forfeited and the win was awarded to Gremio.

Bolivia

In Wilstermann 0-2 loss to Blooming in March 2019, black Brazilian players Serginho, playing for the former team, left the field after being subjected to monkey chants by the opposition fans. Afterwards Serginho stated that racism must end in the Bolivian league.

Chile

Emilio Rentería, of Colombian-Venezuelan origin was forced off the field crying due to extreme racial abuse during a game played in the Chilean league. After scoring a goal against the opposing team, Renteria celebrated on the side of the pitch. After this the crowd began to chant numerous racist slurs forcing him to leave the game. Chilean senator later apologized to Renteria and made a joint effort to grow awareness for the problem in Chile.

Ecuador

In the 2006 World Cup held in Germany, The Ecuadorian team was the target of racism by an Argentinian commentator. The commentator was said to have commented on the color of the Ecuadorians' dark skin. After this statement, the commentator continued, saying that the Ecuadorian team were not real Ecuadorians, and were from Nigeria. His comments started an uproar in Ecuador over national identity.

Paraguay

Club Olimpia fans have been caught on camera uttering the word "monkey" at opposing Brazilian players Gabriel Barbosa and Gabriel Batista at a Copa Liberatadores quarterfinals match against Flamengo in 2021. Olimpia has been fined for the incident.

Peru

Jhoel Herrera a player for Real Garcilaso of the Peruvian first division brought family to his opponent's home stadium to celebrate mother's day. Herrera endured 90 minutes of racist verbal abuse from the opposing fans and players while the ref seemed to not react. At the end of the game, Herrera's mother was caught on tape being physically abused by the racist opposing team's fans. Universitario of Lima insulted the fans and players of Corinthians (Brazil) by making monkey gestures in match of the Conmebol Copa Sudamericana in 2023, and against

Botafogo Botafogo (local/standard alternative Brazilian Portuguese pronunciation: ) is a beachfront neighborhood (''bairro'') in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil. It is a mostly upper middle class and small commerce community, and is located between the hills of M ...

in a match of the Conmebol Copa Libertadores in 2024. Universitario is not new in

racist Racism is the belief that groups of humans possess different behavioral traits corresponding to inherited attributes and can be divided based on the superiority of one Race (human categorization), race or ethnicity over another. It may also me ...

displayings, Universitario fans and Jean Ferrari while playing for

Sporting Cristal Club Sporting Cristal S.A., shortened to Sporting Cristal, is a Peruvian sports club located in the city of Lima, best known for its association football, soccer team. It was founded on 13 December 1955 in the Rímac District, Rímac district by e ...

in 2001 made monkey gestures against Alianza Lima fans, he continuously made fun of Black players and supporters of

Alianza Lima Club Alianza Lima, more commonly known as simply Alianza Lima, is a Peru, Peruvian professional sports club based in La Victoria District, Lima, La Victoria District of Lima, Peru. The club was founded under the name of Sport Alianza on February ...

(a club known as the antiracist club).

Uruguay

In June 2024, Uruguayan player Rodrigo Bentancur apologised for saying all Korean people looked the same whilst talking about Tottenham teammate Son Heung-min. Bentancur was later charged by the English Football Association for his comments, receiving a 7-match ban and a £100,000 fine. Tottenham appealed the ban, whilst manager Ange Postecoglou defended Bentancur, desiring the incident as a "mistake". The appeal was unsuccessful. The BBC stated that the incident was an example of increasing racism against East and South East Asians in football.

References

association football Association football, more commonly known as football or soccer, is a team sport played between two teams of 11 Football player, players who almost exclusively use their feet to propel a Ball (association football), ball around a rectangular f ...