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Home Front: Politix
Soccer Commentary Is Racist!
2020-07-02
Of course it is - everybody knows that!
[538, via Fark] - Soccer Commentary Is Full Of Coded Racism

A new study shows players with darker skin are often reduced to physical attributes, while players with lighter skin are praised for mental qualities.

A new paper published by Danish sports data company RunRepeat and backed by the Professional Footballers’ Association (PFA) makes it clear that soccer commentary in the United Kingdom, United States and Canada has a racism problem.

Researchers from RunRepeat sampled 80 games from the 2019-20 seasons of the English Premier League, French Ligue 1, Italian Serie A and Spanish La Liga — broadcast across seven different networks1 — and analyzed more than 2,000 statements made by commentators about 643 unique players. The study included 1,361 comments about players with lighter skin and 713 comments about players with darker skin.2 The study found that, weighting for the different number of comments made about each group, players with lighter skin were praised more frequently for their intelligence (62.6 percent of the comments coded as positive were about players with lighter skin), work ethic (60.4 percent) and overall quality (62.8 percent), while 63.3 percent of criticism about a player’s intelligence was aimed at players with darker skin, along with 67.6 percent of criticism about a player’s quality.

The study also found that players with darker skin were often reduced to racist tropes about their speed and strength, which is often coded by commentators as "pace and power."
Posted by:Raj

#11  Ari was....disposable
Posted by: Frank G   2020-07-02 19:19  

#10  It was only after 9/11 that I noticed that when NPR did a report on Israel or the Palestinians the Arabs were given full names, descriptions, jobs, relatives and relationships, while the Jews were given only first name and reason they were mentioned.

“Ari, who lives in the Old City of Jerusalem in a house that used to belong to a Palestinian family...”
“We tracked down the family that used to live in Ari’s house. Mahmoud El Baradei, who lives in a hovel in a refugee camp near Jerusalem with his parents, his wife and five children, and seventeen of his brothers and sisters, showed me the key to his house in the Old City as we sat together eating a scrumptious meal and talking. His grandparents were driven out by the Jews in 1948 — Jews live in the house now, and shut the door in his face when he rang the doorbell...”
Posted by: trailing wife   2020-07-02 19:18  

#9  And here I thought soccer had a homo problem. Both sexes.
Posted by: Shating Turkeyneck1016   2020-07-02 14:04  

#8  That man looked at me and now I must fall down with my fake injury!
Posted by: AlmostAnonymous5839   2020-07-02 13:07  

#7  It makes me think what quality do you need more, to be a researcher these days ? Do you have to be totally insane or just completely, shamelessly indecent ?
Posted by: Dron66046   2020-07-02 11:48  

#6  What was that about dog whistles again?
Posted by: AlanC   2020-07-02 11:40  

#5  Clem, it's now sanitzer wrestling,
Posted by: Deacon Blues   2020-07-02 10:06  

#4  Do they still do mud wrestling?
Posted by: Clem   2020-07-02 08:26  

#3  I gave up soccer for ladies beach volleyball many years ago. I've never looked back.
Posted by: Besoeker   2020-07-02 08:13  

#2  'Nitty gritty' on Sky Sports' banned list of words due to supposed links to slavery as broadcaster orders commentators to avoid using language which may offend viewers in emails containing list of prohibited phrases
Posted by: Skidmark   2020-07-02 08:09  

#1  'Fyre Festival. MLS edition': Soccer players blast the $65 sandwiches they are being served in the Disney bubble while preparing for their first tournament since the pandemic began
Posted by: Skidmark   2020-07-02 08:05  

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