Racism and homophobia in English football: The equality act, positive action and the limits of law

Date01 June 2016
AuthorSimon Gardiner,Louisa Riches
Published date01 June 2016
DOI10.1177/1358229116655648
Subject MatterArticles
Article
Racism and
homophobia in English
football: The equality
act, positive action
and the limits of law
Simon Gardiner
1
and Louisa Riches
2
Abstract
This article provides an analysis of two connected discriminatory practices in contem-
porary English male professional football. The first discriminatory practice concerns race
and employment opportunities as coaches and managers despite the relative high levels
of professional players from certain Black Minority and Ethnic (BME) backgrounds. An
evaluation is made as to whether the introduction of a Rooney-type rule that requires
BME candidates to be interviewed for these types of positions, which currently operates
in American Gridiron Football, should be introduced in the United Kingdom. The second
discriminatory practice concerns sexual orientation, appearing to result in it being
impossible for gay professional players to openly acknowledge their sexuality. There are
tensions between the right to privacy, on the one hand, and evidence of significant
elements of homophobia in the culture of professional football, on the other. Both these
discriminatory practices are complex and very much of the moment. This article pro-
vides an analysis of how these discriminatory practices manifest themselves. A key issue
is an evaluation of how the Equality Act, particularly in the context of the positive action
provisions under the Act, has provided a remedy to promote diversity in the particular
social field of football. A range of anti-racism and anti-homophobia sports-related poli-
cies and rules has been developed to engage with these issues and this article examines
the relationship between these normative mechanisms and the provisions under the Act.
1
United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland
2
Leeds Beckett University, Leeds, United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland
Corresponding author:
Louisa Riches, Leeds Beckett University, Leeds, LS1 3HE, United Kingdom of Great Britain and
Northern Ireland.
Email: l.j.riches@leedsbeckett.ac.uk
International Journalof
Discrimination and theLaw
2016, Vol. 16(2-3) 102–121
ªThe Author(s) 2016
Reprints and permission:
sagepub.co.uk/journalsPermissions.nav
DOI: 10.1177/1358229116655648
jdi.sagepub.com
It is contended that the Equality Act’s positive action provisions fail to promote effective
diversity in this social field in relation to race and sexual orientation. A case is made for
more radical elements of affirmative action to be given legal support to bring about
meaningful change in football in terms of diversity and inclusion.
Keywords
Football, equalit y, racism, homophob ia, positive action , affirmative actio n, diversity,
Rooney Rule, sporting rules
Introduction
Sport is a social field where meritocratic competition vies with equal opportunity pol-
icies as to participation. It is a pluralistic and overtly normative environment where
sporting rules have on occasion promoted diversity and anti-discrimination ahead of
legislative provision (Gardiner and Welch, 2001). On other general issues, anti-
discrimination legislation, now embodied by the Equality Act 2010 (the Act), has had
a positive impact on promoting diversity. This article will focus on manifestations of
racism and homophobia in male team sport, with a specific focus on the United Kingdom
and, in particular, English football.
For the vast majority of the 150 years or so of professional football in the United
Kingdom, the game has been ‘played and watched by predominantly white, working
class men’ (Cleland and Cashmore, 2013). Two significant changes to this have
occurred. Firstly, from the 1970s onwards, the participation of ethnic minority players,
notably Black players of primarily Afro-Caribbean descent, has dramatically increased.
Many of these players have been second or third generation children of immigrants from
the Caribbean who came to Britain in the 1950s and 1960s (Panayi, 2014). Secondly, the
new millennium has seen women increasingly participating in professional football with
the development of a professional domestic league and a vibrant international compe-
tition. These two challenges to the ethnic and gender homogeneity of the white male
dominance in professional football took place in the context of elements of a continued
discourse of both racism and sexism within the game (see Caudwell, 2012) and are
highly visible. This is in contrast to the participation of gay professional players,
although in this respect there is a clear gender distinction. In the women’s game, sexual
orientation is increasingly openly acknowledged,
1
whereas in the men’s game, homo-
sexuality largely remains an inv isible player characteristic and in deed, it is argued,
‘football remains one of the greatest fortresses of homophobia’ (Jones, 2014).
This article explores the protected c haracteristics of race and sexual orien tation
2
(section 4 Equality Act 2010) and positiv e action provisions (sections 158 and 159
Equality Act 2010) in the context of what appear to be chronic discriminatory practices
regarding these characteristics in English profes sional football. Davies and Robison
(2016) provide a succinct account of the background to the principles of positive action
contained within the Act in their article also included within this special issue. As part of
Gardiner and Riches 103

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