“Let the N***** play so that he can score goals”: racism and racialization towards African football players in Czechia

Abstract

While critical race theory provides some useful paradigms for analysing Czech racial dynamics, its embeddedness in Anglo-America also has limited explanatory powers for Central Eastern Europe (CEE). This paper addresses specificities of local realities and historically traces Czech football racisms in relation to African players from outright racist abuse during the 1990s to the more subtle forms of racisms and racializations today. Czech hegemonic whiteness has serious consequences for players from racialized backgrounds. Drawing from the concept of aversive racism and methodologically rooted in an ethnography where the “field” constitutes football stadiums, this paper provides insights into how Czech fans’ behaviour is characterized by an array or racial meanings in relation to African players. Specific Czech language terminologies and labels are analysed by showing that although overt racism is still present at Czech football stadiums, racisms are multiple, and they are shifting into more subtle forms.