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Profit over inclusivity: how it's not just football's problem

A social media post by Mohammad Salah. A social media post by Hamza Choudhury. That’s all it takes for people asking the Premier League, the FA and the EFL to condemn these players and their actions. Their actions? A plea for help. A plea for peace for their fellow Muslims as Israel continues it’s genocide of Palestistinians. What comes of this, is no condemnation but no support either for these players. They dare not too. They fear the backlash. Financially and in terms of publicity. Just the latest example of where profit in sport comes before morals and inclusivity. 

Sport is a reflection of society. Sport is simply a footnote in the rolodex of history and modern life when we look at the wider problems of the world. Without trying to sound like Lenin’s vanguard and banging the drum of revolution, capitalism, conservatism and whatever other evil heads the right poses, are the sole reason why money and profit will be put before the lives of ordinary people in terms of inclusivity and collectivisation. This way of thinking is inherent with capitalism. It does exactly what it says on the tin. As long as capitalism is our mode of production, and thus our current ‘human nature’, sport will be a reflection of this. After every incident of discrimination, the rhetoric is that the sport has a problem. No it doesn’t. Society does. Transphobia is a current problem within sport, but how can we be surprised when you have the two leaders of the two main political parties in this country, denouncing even the existence of trans people in their latest party conference speeches. 

Especially when you have sports governing bodies acting like political parties and governments it should come to no surprise that profit comes before inclusivity.

One that stands out, especially in recent years is English football’s response to the emergence of Black Lives Matter in the midst of the coronavirus pandemic. Taking a knee has been a well known anti- racism symbol historically, which again rose to prominence following the murder of George Floyd in the U.S. There is no problem with the universal taking of the knee of footballers because, as you can imagine for young children seeing their heroes make such a stand against injustice, you can see why people may think that can make an impression.

But that’s where English football’s response to racism and in fact any forms of discrimination ends. It's all performative. Just slogans and symbols. Initially taking the knee is more than commendable but when you carry on doing it for a further 18 months without building upon it with actual action, then one must really question the intentions of the football governing bodies in this country. 

Taking a stand: After initially taking the knee, Crystal Palace star Wilfred  Zaha thought the impact of the knee was diluted through its constant use. (Getty) 

When Show racism the red card was first founded back in 1996, it was set up on the premise of educating against racism throughout society in the United Kingdom. There is little to no evidence of this. In an interview with Global citizen, Dr Paul Ian Campbell spoke about how organisations such as Show racism the red card and Kick it out haven’t done enough to tackle racism and that the two organisations  going into their third decade of existence is proof enough. However, Campbell goes on to add : “their remit is within football... they can only tackle those aspects solely within the game. Ultimately, they are, in many ways, toothless.”

Personally I can't see how these organisations are only limited to football. They are anti- racism organisations, it is their duty to call out racism and the possible root of it, even if that is from the very top. 

Gary Neville speaking following a racism incident during Chelsea’s 2-0 victory over Tottenham back in 2019, spoke eloquently on the subject, suggesting that the country has  a problem rather than just football, citing the problems of racism of yet again the two main political parties of this country. If Show racism the red card really is about educating the whole of society, it starts by questioning the people who lead and rule over this country. 

In what must have been of the most cringy and gut wrenching pieces of live British television, the presenter of this specific Sky Sports Super Sunday, Dave Jones then clarifies that these were the opinions and views of Gary Neville and not their employers Sky Sports. 

Here is where profit comes before inclusivity. Sky sports as an organisation, feared the backlash of Neville’s comments from the press and the government so much they thought the need to step away from one of their employees’ rather simple and rudimental observations of causes of racism in this country.

Watch Neville’s full verdict on racism in the UK here:  (Sky sports)

Sky sports, who have practically ran and dictated the sport in this country since 1992, cannot even associate with one of their employees who takes a real stand against racism never mind support them, then is there any wonder profit still comes before inclusivity when Sky’s obvious main target here was not tackling racism and the possible causes of it, but instead their image and how they might be perceived as a company which is all to do with financial gain.

Dr Campbell, whilst also acknowledging the much deeper societal issues of racism, he then concludes that Brexit has been another accelerant of racism in this country. This thinking severely downplays the impact of Britain's colonial past which has resulted in decades of obviously society cursed by racism but also football being intertwined and fused with jingoism and nationalism. 

In Simon Hughes book There She Goes, which examines Liverpool’s economic status through the lens of seven major impacts on the city’s reputation and economic status in the 1980s, the Liverpudlian writer explores how social depravity and poverty are the causes of unruliness, hooliganism and general crime, creating an ‘underclass’ nationwide. 

During this time, the National Front was at it’s peak. The white nationalist organisation, during the 70s and 80s targeted football fans, trying to recruit them and spread ‘awareness’ of what was happening to this country, at games. 

Social deprivation and poverty does create hostility. It is economic desperation. Desperation easily leads to hatred. An “Us and them” scenario. Just like sport. At the time when Hughes focuses his book, unemployment hit 3 million in 1983 in the UK. A peak not seen before or since. That level of social deprivation results in that level of restlessness. 

Class warfare, racial warfare and fighting against any other forms of discrimination are all the same battle. Margaret Thatcher’s monetarist and later neo- liberal economic policies pitted these different groups against each other in the name of economic progress. 

Typical: football violence yet again came to ahead at Italia 90’ for England fans with the country’s fortunes still at rock bottom. (BBC)

This is why Dr Campbell is naive in concluding that something as trivial as Brexit is the key cause for increased racism, when in fact football, politics and racism have been intertwined and equally as integral as each other in making the sport what it is today, since the professionalisation of football itself. 

Although the majority of sports are all alike in terms of this fixation of profit, resulting in inclusivity taking a back seat, football is the sport that results in the greatest turnover globally thanks to mainly tv rights and sponsorships and so it is only seems natural to find many more examples where inclusivity is compromised by putting profit over people in the arena of the not so beautiful game.  

FIFA. The mothership of all sporting corruption. Qatar recently held the 2022 FIFA World Cup, a country where homosexuality is illegal. With the 2034 World Cup looking likely to be held in Saudi Arabia where it is also illegal to be a homosexual, you must start to wonder if the LGBTQIIA+ is ever considered when the big decisions are being made by the football governing authorities. 

Nevermind the obvious connotations of sportwashing, Qatar being handed the 2022 tournament altogether was clouded in deception with, at the time, FIFA President Sepp Blatter being investigated for corruption including, how Qatar’s bid was successful back in 2010. This itself is where inclusivity is shunned for profit. Two countries, in Qatar and Saudi Arabia, where the persecution of women and the LGBTQIIA+ is not only normalised but also a part of law, can be seen as allies of football and FIFA, is the perfect example of where profit becomes before inclusivity.

In the light of the Newcastle United takeover by the Saudi Arabian government, Adam Crafton has been a bastion of shining a light on the real issues the LGBTQIIA+ community has to endure from the hands of the Newcastle owners. 

In his real focus piece on his investigations, the Athletic writer included interviews with the few who managed to escape their nightmare, with one interviewee discussing the psychologically and physically torturing ‘conversion therapy’ he had to endure. This is just a normal reaction from the Saudi Arabian government when it comes to homosexuals. They must be converted. They must become normal. These atrocities are being aided and abetted by the Premier League, the FA and the Conservative government. 

WIth his latest round of investigations, Crafton uncovered that the British government concluded that is would be in the best interests of this country for the Newcastle takeover to be granted by the FA and the Premier League with the UK’s relationship with the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia (KSA) being under serious threat if it was to fall through. 

Papers released by the foreign office in 2020, claimed that PIF, the Saudi Public Investment Fund would look to invest $30 billion over a ten year period into the UK.”

It remains to be seen if this money is still coming from the KSA, but it just shows that sportwashing, especially of the Saudi kind, is the ultimate example for profit coming before inclusivity. Whether that is the KSA, this government, the Premier League or the FA. Money, in allowing the KSA to become the owners of one this country’s biggest sporting institutions, has come before the LGBTQIIA community and everyone else who has suffered the human rights abuses inflicted upon them by Saudi Arabia. 

Howay the Jihads: Prince Mohammed bin Salman, current ruler of Saudi Arabia and Premier League club Newcastle United. (Libyan express) 

Sportwashing as a whole, is all about profit. Not only is it the disregard of inclusivity but everything. Acception. Morals. Justice. If we are to look at any example of sportwashing throughout history, from Hitler’s 1936 Olympic games to the current ownership of Newcastle United by Saudi Arabia, both profit and lack of inclusivity go hand in hand. Sportwashing cannot be successful without failing people. Failing inclusivity. 

In a journal of democracy article, Sarath K. Ganji, uses Nazi Germany’s 1936 games and Mussolini’s FIFA World Cup of 1934 to compare how Qatar also has tried to “lure and impress foreign publics with displays of iconic infrastructure and athletic success” though the use of their World cup, Ganji also points out how Qatar has also used other intermediaries such as state- owned enterprises of beIN and QSI. 

These organisations were known all over the World well before the actual tournament. They were already embedded throughout the globe, with people in this country often using beIN coverage to illegally stream matches. That is sportwashing. These state broadcasters and the country itself, already normalised before a ball is even kicked. 

These ‘displays of iconic infrastructure’ came in the form of the country's eight World Cup match hosting stadiums. Gary Lineker tweeted during the tournament about his “favourite stadium” in reference to Al Bayt Arena which is proof of how media personalities can be drawn into the grandeur. Now tweeting about how much you like the look of a stadium is not exactly a full endorsement of the Qatari government but it does show how sportwashing works perfectly. 

TV judge and all round TV personality Rob Rinder pointed out to the BBC presenter of just one the migrant worker deaths that occurred during the building of the Qatari stadiums. 

Even just tweeting about your favourite stadium already normalises how the many deaths of migrant workers can be almost justified if the stadiums look nice. 

Now there have been many more nuanced reports and research into the findings of the treatment and exploitation of migrant workers than a TV Judge, but Rinder’s point still remains. If a figure of Lineker’s stature, a man who denounced Qatar’s human rights record in the build- up coverage to the opening tournament match, can be taken in by the lure of “iconic infrastructure”, then how can the sceptics or the doubters of Qatar’s poor human rights record have a chance at being seduced by the sportwashing. 

Guilty!: TV judge Robert Rinder’s twitter exchange with BBC presenter Gary Lineker. (Daily Mail)

Money talks. In all walks of life. Whether it’s being influenced by whole sportswashing nations, sports governing bodies, the clubs themselves or even broadcasters. Their influence reigns supreme with people’s rights and lives taking a back seat. However, it isn’t just money and profit being the reason behind the lack of inclusivity for so many people in football. The sport just doesn’t want to be inclusive. You can have as many token BAME or LGBTQIIA+ members of the FA or a Sky Sports pundit panel as you like, there’s still an underlying agenda there that doesn’t result in real change. These people more often than not will hold similar opinions on how the game is run, and once part of the elite group, they will cut off this ‘inclusivity’ and prevent others from climbing the ladder. They too become part of the status quo. In recent years, BAME politicians’ opinions on immigration is example enough, of how it does not matter what minority you come from, if your views on the world and inclusivity don’t differ from the ‘middle- aged, straight white man’. So here yet again, football and sport are a reflection of society. It is non- negotiable. As Long as the world shuns inclusivity in the name of profit, then sport will continue to do so too.