FIFA 2022: Prejudice off the ball

Ever since the French team won the World Cup in 1998, much enthusiastic media comment has been expended on the multi-racial — that is to say mainly African — composition of key European teams. That is true of European teams that will turn out for the 22nd edition of the FIFA World Cup in Qatar — Germany, Spain, England, the Netherlands, Belgium, Portugal, Switzerland. Even Denmark and Wales have African-origin players in their national teams.

Europe (and that includes the UK) takes great pride in this diversity, frequently touting it as evidence of its inclusive social instincts whenever it is collectively accused of racism. But turn your gaze from the touchline to the coach’s box and the strong undercurrent of racism that runs through the footballing business is immediately in evidence. How many Africans can you see there? 

At Qatar, everybody acknowledges that African or African origin players will play key roles in most big teams. Yet of the 32 teams, only four coaches are black, and they represent African teams. Two of them are European born but chose to represent their respective countries of origin both as footballers and coaches. These are Morocco’s coach Walid Regragui, born in France and playing for French and Spanish clubs in his heyday, and Ghanian coach Otto Addo, born in Germany (and a talent scout for Borussia Dortmund).

None of the big European squads have a black coach though  a casual once-over of team photos will reveal the depth of racial diversity on the pitch. The faces of footballers from Nigeria, Senegal, Cameroon, Algeria, Tunisia or Ghana, or even African-origin players from the Caribbean, are all well in evidence. 

Unspoken racism is reflected

in some non-European teams too. Qatar, for instance, has chosen a Spanish coach. This even though the host nation is one of the largest investors in European, particularly French, football and has had plenty of exposure to the cream of African talent. Ecuador, whose African-origin footballers ousted white players in the national team many years ago, has an Argentine coach. Saudi Arabia, another rising financial power in European football, has a French coach.

No one should be particularly surprised at this covert white-washing; it’s been the trend in Europe for ages. In the top five big European leagues, there are only two black managers. One is Patrick Vieira, of Senegalese birth, who featured

in that iconic 1998 French team and now coaches English Premier League side Crystal Palace. The other is Antoine Kombouaré, born in the South Pacific French territory of New Caledonia, who coaches Ligue 1 club Nantes. Had Zinedine Zidane not left Real Madrid in 2021, the grand total may have been three.

Some commentators have offered the specious argument that African players lack experience of European football to make the cut in coaching teams. But African-origin players have been around in European teams for at least 30 years — especially since the premier league tournaments began. According to an EY report of November 2021, there are some 500 African players in top European leagues. This is probably an underestimate in that it accounts for only those footballers who have retained African national citizenship, rather than those who were born in Europe to immigrant parents.

Certainly, over the past quarter century, Africa has brought an exciting new dimension to the game. That’s surely long enough to gain as decent a knowledge of strategy and tactics as any of the white coaches. In any case, many of these players have grown up in European youth systems. Algerian-origin Zidane’s coaching career at Real Madrid stands testimony to the abilities of non-white coaches.

Yet relatively few African-origin players venture to opt for coaching licences in their post-playing days. For that matter, fewer young non-white men in Europe care to apply for refereeing licences either. In England’s top seven football divisions, just 2 per cent of referees are black or Asian, a good index of the exclusionism in the larger footballing business. That’s no surprise given the invective to which referees are routinely subject from all corners; if you are coloured, the abuse is likely to be vicious and toxic. As Belgium’s gifted striker Romelu Lukaku once wryly commented, when he’s successful, he’s Belgian; when he fails, he’s that player from Congo. Cue the monkey noises from the stands.