After suffering months of racial abuse on the field and off, Brazilian soccer star Vinícius Júnior had enough.

On May 21, 2023, the Real Madrid forward – commonly seen as one of the best soccer players in the world – brought a halt to a game at Valencia’s Mestalla Stadium, pointing to fans who were making blatantly racist remarks and gestures.

He later made it clear that this was not an isolated event: “It was not the first time, nor the second, nor the third. Racism is normal in La Liga,” he tweeted in reference to the Spanish top division. “The competition considers it normal, the federation considers it normal and the rivals encourage it.”

As a soccer scholar whose latest book includes analysis of how players, fans and the game’s governing bodies have responded to the Black Lives Matter movement, I believe the latest incident points to how difficult it is to change fan behavior when racism remains institutionalized in the sport itself. While it is true that teams and leagues have made progress in signaling their lack of tolerance for racist behavior, there remain systemic problems working against real progress – not least the lack of Black representation in management positions.

Soccer has a long-established racism problem. Black players throughout the decades attest to both abuse by fans – monkey chants are still common during games in parts of Europe – as well as more subtle forms of discrimination, such as being left out of national squads or overlooked for coaching positions.

Black Brazilians such as Vinícius and stretching back to Pelé have been subjected to racism both overseas and at home. Indeed, as soccer writer Franklin Foer has pointed out, in the early days of Brazilian soccer Black people were not allowed to play for professional clubs or the national team. Even when finally accepted, some of the star Black players like Arthur Freidenreich and Joaquim Prado would straighten their hair and attempt to lighten their skin in the hope of gaining popularity.

While there has been great change since such times, the roots of subtle and overt racism facing Black soccer players run deep – be it in their home countries or playing for prestigious European clubs.

While one can argue that there have always been minor attempts to address racism in soccer, it has only really been in the last decade that such efforts have gained steam. And it has been geared very much toward changing attitudes among fans.

For example, in England, the Football Association has long partnered with anti-racist group Kick It Out to create programs and punishments for racist fan behavior. Meanwhile, the Royal Spanish Football Association has codes for applying financial penalties against clubs with racist fans.

Such anti-racist efforts and messaging increased as part of a more general societal reckoning over racism after the killing in the U.S. of George Floyd by a police officer in 2020.

...continued