TV: New study reveals “obvious” racist prejudices in football commentaries

The Danish research organization RunRepeat analyzed more than 2,000 statements by commentators from 80 television games in the Premier League, La Liga, Serie A and Ligue 1. The study was conducted in collaboration with the Professional Footballers’ Association (PFA).

When commenting on intelligence, 62.60% of the praise was for players with a lighter skin tone, while 63.33% of the criticism was for players with a dark skin tone.

And when it came to work ethic, 60.40% of the praise was for players with a lighter skin tone, while commentators spoke 6.59 times more often for power when referring to a player with a darker skin tone, and 3.38 -speed talked about it more often.

“To address the real impact of structural racism, we need to recognize and address racial prejudice,” said Jason Lee, the PFA Equalities Executive, in a statement. “This study shows an obvious tendency in describing the characteristics of soccer players based on their skin color.

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“Commentators shape the perception that we have of each player and deepen any racist prejudice that the viewer already has. It is important to consider how far-reaching these perceptions can be and how they affect footballers, even if they change their careers ended as a player. “

“If a player strives to become a coach / manager, will the player be given an unfair advantage to regularly call the commentators intelligent and hard-working if these views seem to be due to racial prejudice?”

“Most blatant”

RunRepeat’s study was based on the analysis of 20 games from each of the four leagues during the 2019/20 season and recorded 2,074 statements on 643 players from English comments on Sky Sports, BT Sport, FreeSports, beIN Sports, TSN, NBCSN and ESPN . after The Guardian.

Using the extensive database of the computer game Football Manager, the skin tone of the players was rated from 1 to 20, with 433 players from 1 to 11 being classified as “lighter” and 210 players from 12 to 20 as “darker”.

The study found that the differences in the statements “were greatest when commentators discussed physical characteristics or athletic abilities – speed and strength”.

Renowned British commentator Clive Tyldesley believes the publication of the study will help his colleagues think twice before making certain statements on the air.

“Commentators have a responsibility to use the language properly, but – and this is the only” but “that I want to add – I wouldn’t hesitate to call Adama Traore a strong and pacy player. He’s other things, including valuable and effective, “Tyldesley told the Daily Mail, referring to the wolf winger.

“N’Golo Kante is not fast or powerful, so you call it what you see it,” added Chelsea midfielder Tyldesley.

“I would follow any advice to become a better communicator, but I would reject any suggestion if I was guilty of stereotyping soccer players based on their skin color. I cannot imagine an element of a player’s skin color.” would affect their performance.

“Traore is a different player than Kante, Virgil Van Dijk, Raheem Sterling and Tammy Abraham,” said Tyldesley, referring to the defender of LIverpool, the striker from Manchester City and the striker from Chelsea.

“They are all excellent in their own positions, but there are very few common denominators in their way of playing, so no survey is needed to show that stereotypes are not only morally wrong, but also imprecise.”

Sky Sports is already holding meetings with its moderators, reporters and commentators to discuss the importance of the language that describes athletes from different backgrounds.

In conjunction with PFA and Kick It Out, Sky Sports also held additional sessions on employee language use when specifically discussing stories and issues related to Black Lives Matter.

A spokesman for NBC Sports told CNN: “We have always valued balanced comments in our coverage of games and studios.”

A spokesman for BT Sport said the organization had not seen the details of the report, but referred to a statement released in connection with the Black Lives Matter movement, in which the organization promised “mandatory cultural sensitivity and unconscious bias training for to carry out all our employees “. “

FreeSports, beIN Sports, TSN and ESPN did not immediately respond to CNN Sport’s request for comment.

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