Say no to racism?: FIFAs antirasism ur ett postkolonialt perspektiv

Abstract

The purpose of this thesis is to historically describe how Fédération Internationale de Football Association (FIFA) interprets how the discourse of anti-racism has developed within their own organization throughout the years. In doing so, the thesis lands in a present time perspective and then aims to identify the norms which FIFA, according to the organization itself, stands for in regard to anti-racism within world football. That standard of behavior is then put in contrast with the hidden ideological conceptions which, with the applying of a post-colonial perspective, can be found in the rhetoric used by FIFA in expressing themselves about their anti-racism stand. The methodology used in this thesis builds upon a qualitative text analysis approach in which solely primary sources available through the official website fifa.com are considered. The study finds that anti-racism is a relatively young concept within FIFA and that the communicated ideal standard of behavior circles around terms such as unity, diversity, solidarity and equality. Further on, FIFA clearly articulates how the universal power of football as such can unite people and that FIFA, as the administrator of this the world’s greatest sport, can set an example for the rest of the world to follow when it comes to notions of tolerance and solidarity in preventing racism in the future. In following the terminology provided by the post-colonial theorists Homi Bhabha and Gyatri Spivak, and applying the concepts of fixity and essentialism on the rhetoric around anti-racism, the study discovers that FIFA, in sharp contrast to the articulated norms, in fact express ideological conceptions of skin as a barrier of difference between people, and that FIFA on good grounds can be accused of reproducing racist stereotypes rather than bridging them. The study concludes that its findings clearly demonstrates the increased need of considering sports, and more specifically international sport organizations, as a basis for research within the academic field of International Relations, and that a postcolonial perspective very much can provide alternative understandings of how these actors operate and what influence they might have in the international system.