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This article offers an original contribution by examining both the quantity and quality of English print media coverage of the 2019 FIFA Women's World Cup and how fans perceive and respond to this coverage. It is the first longitudinal analysis of media coverage of women's football in the United Kingdom and compares print media coverage between the 2015 and 2019 FIFA Women's World Cups. We draw on a content analysis of five English national newspapers and 49 semistructured interviews with fans. We develop new theoretical insights through the development of our framework of the "next stage" of the "new age." Our findings show media coverage of women's football has substantially increased, with respectful coverage sustained. The new theme of gender equality made visible several types of inequality, but the media industry failed to acknowledge its own role in reinforcing gender inequalities. Interviewees were critical of the time-limited "revolution" whereby coverage was limited to the duration of the World Cup. To advance gender equality, future media coverage must be sustained, meaningful, and prominent. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In this research, we conducted two studies to validate a multidimensional scale of fan engagement behavior. In Study 1, we generated survey items through a systematic review of the relevant literature, collected data from fans of professional baseball (n = 319) and soccer (n = 301), and provided evidence for the construct and concurrent validity of the scale composed of six dimensions. In Study 2, we reassessed construct validity in professional baseball (n = 582) and found that fan engagement behavior was represented by the proposed six dimensions with a final list of 21 items. Further, our predictive analysis throughout a season showed that fan engagement behavior fully mediated the relationship between predictor (team identification and awareness of fan engagement initiatives) and outcome variables (media viewing frequency, attendance frequency, and flourishing). The developed scale advances our understanding of fans' voluntary actions that are culturally embedded in spectator sport. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In July 2021, numerous audio recordings dating back to 2006 through 2012 were leaked. In them, Real Madrid's President Florentino Pérez was heard insulting some of the most beloved legends of Real Madrid fans, including celebrity Cristiano Ronaldo. Despite his lack of manners, the seriousness of the president's insults, and the lack of a formal apology, the images of Pérez and Real Madrid barely suffered because of this incident. This scholarly commentary examines the variables of culture and country as well as the specific characteristics of the soccer industry and fandom that explain the lack of public accountability when a top executive of a soccer organization commits verbal excesses in form and substance, as in the Pérez case. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Women athletes are often asked to participate in unpaid or underpaid community appearances and youth camps to generate fan interest, promote their sport, and inspire the next generation of athletes. The expectation to invest in the future of one's sport for the benefit of others is a gendered process—requiring athletes to employ different forms of labor in addition to their athletic labor. Drawing from the literature on future-oriented labor and immaterial labor, we show how the sport industry is structured to extract value from what we refer to as women's "inspirational labor." Interviews with 29 women athletes and 15 managers in professional softball and soccer in the United States are used to illustrate the ideological and economic structures of inspirational labor. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This article is a response to a commentary on football violence in Europe and England. The authors criticize the original commentary for lacking methodological rigor and ignoring existing knowledge on football hooliganism. They argue that cultural contexts and the issue of misogyny in English football should be considered. The authors address the conceptualization and scale of football-related violence in England and the effectiveness of measures to prevent it. They challenge claims about the decline of hooliganism in the UK and argue against the notion that all-seater stadiums contribute to safety. The article discusses safe-standing policies and the broader culture of violence associated with football. It emphasizes the importance of cultural differences and diverse perspectives in researching football fandom and calls for a more critical understanding of football violence. [Extracted from the article]

Copyright of Retos: Nuevas Perspectivas de Educación Física, Deporte y Recreación is the property of Federacion Espanola de Asociaciones de Docentes de Educacion Fisica and its content may not be copied or emailed to multiple sites or posted to a listserv without the copyright holder's express written permission. However, users may print, download, or email articles for individual use. This abstract may be abridged. No warranty is given about the accuracy of the copy. Users should refer to the original published version of the material for the full abstract. (Copyright applies to all Abstracts.)

Copyright of Retos: Nuevas Perspectivas de Educación Física, Deporte y Recreación is the property of Federacion Espanola de Asociaciones de Docentes de Educacion Fisica and its content may not be copied or emailed to multiple sites or posted to a listserv without the copyright holder's express written permission. However, users may print, download, or email articles for individual use. This abstract may be abridged. No warranty is given about the accuracy of the copy. Users should refer to the original published version of the material for the full abstract. (Copyright applies to all Abstracts.)

This study distinguishes between two performances of solidarity—a performer–audience structure and a network structure—illustrated through a review of two case studies from the field of sport: a cross‐national survey of football fans and a historical study of French cycling clubs. Research on nationhood, sport and performance has centred mainly on public events and how they generate focused attention to foster mass solidarity. Scholars have overlooked an alternative model of performance situated in horizontal networks and interpersonal interactions staged in front of a third party, such as found in clubs. Distinguishing between these performance models in sport and beyond can further our understanding of the relations between identity and solidarity in studies of nationhood. Whereas in the former model, expressions of solidarity mainly reaffirm pre‐existing feelings of national identity; in the latter model, solidarity is performative: it does not simply represent social reality but serves to create it. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This article commentary highlights the pattern of findings from various projects conducted in the United Kingdom on football fans and in Australia on football, Australian Rules football, and rugby league fans, regarding the extent of fan racism present in each sport. It is from these projects I argue that toxic Whiteness is present in a White dominant society through a practice that locates the characteristics associated with Whiteness (power, privilege, dominance, supremacy, difference) at the top of the racial hierarchy. Although Whites can consciously or unconsciously express or resist engaging in racist behaviour, I argue that expressions of racism that are meant to cause harm or distress to "Other" individuals or groups are at the core of toxic Whiteness. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

7 October 2023, marked a significant shift in Israeli football’s commemoration practices. Previously focused on honouring prominent figures by naming sports facilities, these practices have evolved following the Hamas massacres and the Israeli response in Gaza. Football fans who were killed or kidnapped have become central to memorials, as can be seen in the cases of Maccabi Haifa and Maccabi Netanya, the two clubs discussed in this article. However, these commemorations have also sparked tensions, fuelled by club rivalries and occasional racist outbursts. While expressing genuine grief, clubs use collective mourning to bolster their morale and patriotic image and reinforce a sense of belonging. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Introduction: In the modern competitive landscape of football, clubs are increasingly leveraging data-driven decision-making to strengthen their commercial positions, particularly against rival clubs. The strategic allocation of resources to attract and retain profitable fans who exhibit long-term loyalty is crucial for advancing a club's marketing efforts. While the Recency, Frequency, and Monetary (RFM) customer segmentation technique has seen widespread application in various industries for predicting customer behavior, its adoption within the football industry remains underexplored. This study aims to address this gap by introducing an adjusted RFM approach, enhanced with the Analytic Hierarchy Process (AHP) and unsupervised machine learning, to effectively segment football fans based on Customer Lifetime Value (CLV). Methods: This research employs a novel weighted RFM method where the significance of each RFM component is quantified using the AHP method. The study utilizes a dataset comprising 500,591 anonymized merchandising transactions from Amsterdamsche Football Club Ajax (AFC Ajax). The derived weights for the RFM variables are 0.409 for Monetary, 0.343 for Frequency, and 0.248 for Recency. These weights are then integrated into a clustering framework using unsupervised machine learning algorithms to segment fans based on their weighted RFM values. The simple weighted sum approach is subsequently applied to estimate the CLV ranking for each fan, enabling the identification of distinct fan segments. Results: The analysis reveals eight distinct fan clusters, each characterized by unique behaviors and value contributions: The Golden Fans (clusters 1 and 2) exhibit the most favourable scores across the recency, frequency, and monetary metrics, making them relatively the most valuable. They are critical to the club's profitability and should be rewarded through loyalty programs and exclusive services. The Promising segment (cluster 3) shows potential to ascend to Golden Fan status with increased spending. Targeted marketing campaigns and incentives can stimulate this transition. The Needs Attention segment (cluster 4) are formerly loyal fans whose engagement has diminished. Re-engagement strategies are vital to prevent further churn. The New Fans segment (clusters 5 and 6) are fans who have recently transacted and show potential for growth with proper engagement and personalized offerings. Lastly, the Churned/Low Value segment (clusters 7 and 8) are fans who relatively contribute the least and may require price incentives to potentially re-engage, though they hold relatively lower priority compared to other segments. Discussion: The findings validate the proposed method's utility through its application to AFC Ajax's Customer Relationship Management (CRM) data and provides a robust framework for fan segmentation in the football industry. The approach offers actionable insights that can significantly enhance marketing strategies by identifying and prioritizing high-value segments based on the club's preferences and requirements. By maintaining the loyalty of Golden Fans and nurturing the Promising segment, football clubs can achieve substantial gains in profitability and fan engagement. Additionally, the study underscores the necessity of re-engaging formerly loyal fans and fostering new fans' growth to enable long-term commercial success. This methodology not only aims to bridge a research gap, but also equips marketing practitioners with data-driven tools for effective and efficient customer segmentation in the football industry. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Objective: This study explores the motivations and justifications driving Palestinian sports fans to watch the 2022 FIFA World Cup and support specific national teams. The objective is to understand the underlying factors that contribute to their engagement with this global sports event. Methods: The study targeted 732 residents of Nablus Governorate with a primary interest in watching football matches on television. A five-point Likert scale was used to assess Palestinian fandom preferences concerning the FIFA World Cup 2022, covering demographic information and reasons motivating Palestinians to watch the World Cup. Results: The study reveals several significant associations between the variables under investigation. Participants argued that the FIFA World Cup serves as a platform to generate interest in the Palestinian cause and showcase the Arab and Islamic cultures to foreign delegations. Additionally, the event contributes to dispelling misconceptions about these cultures on a global scale. Palestinian football supporters use their engagement with the 2022 FIFA World Cup to express not only their passion and love for football but also their national, cultural, and political identities. Conclusion: The findings underscore the multifaceted nature of sports fandom as a means of communication, contributing to a broader understanding of how global sports events intersect with cultural and political dynamics. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This qualitative study uses Bourdieu's sociology of practice to help understand how different actors in football consider 'unhealthy' sponsorships (defined as promoting gambling, food and drink high in fat, sugar or salt (HFSS), and alcohol) in the English Premier League. Eighteen informants were interviewed including those employed by football clubs and their charitable foundations, others with a commercial interest in the football industry, and members of fan organisations. Their responses were examined using a thematic approach and reflected the distribution of economic and cultural power between the agents in the field of football. Tensions within these fields of power are illustrated diagrammatically between those in possession of economic capital (the clubs), and those who protect the cultural capital of 'their' clubs (the fans). [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In recent decades, the administrative and competitive structures of men's elite club football in Europe have undergone a profound transformation toward Europeanization. As a result, football fans are increasingly exposed to European influences. These dynamics shape fans' perceptions of and orientations toward Europe and contribute to constructions of collective identities. Because football is a highly mediatized sport, fans' exposure to European influences and their constructions of identity are highly dependent on the representation of Europe in football media. To analyze this, we conducted a quantitative analysis of text-based online news media. Using selected German media outlets, we examined the extent and the patterned variation of media representation of Europe in football news articles. Our results indicate a highly selective media environment focused on a limited set of countries with high sporting relevance and a presence of German national-team players, while other countries rarely enter the media discourse. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Eighty percent of football fans involved in the present study do not want EURO2024 to be deployed as a platform for protest against the extensively covered conflicts in Ukraine and Gaza. The majority accept that, as one of 2024's global sports spectacles, EURO2024, like the Paris Olympics, will be watched by billions and command the attention of the global media. They also understand how sport has catalysed geopolitical change, for example, playing a role in isolating apartheid-era South Africa. Yet a majority believe EURO2024 is a sporting event and, as such, should not be weaponized by social and political events. This commentary is based on a self-contained project involving 1010 fans conducted during April–May 2024, though it continues themes the authors have explored in the recent past, their central question being: has sport been prominently politicized since Colin Kaepernick's gesture in 2016? Since then, many of the world's governing organizations have relaxed their traditional positions on political and socio-cultural issues and, in some cases, have approved of athletes taking the knee as a symbol of their commitment to inclusivity. Individual athletes have displayed their values, but fans are not convinced of their sincerity. They also question governing organizations' genuineness. Many are sceptical enough to believe football's corporate sponsors are the chief beneficiaries of protest. Fans agree football can be a potent platform on which to mount social and political missions. They just do not want it to happen during EURO2024. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Life-story interviews with 39 Jewish supporters of a football club whose quasi-Jewish identity is the catalyst for antisemitic abuse were used to explain the under-researched everyday experiences among members of the Anglo-Jewish community. All interviewees said their experiences of antisemitism within English men's football supporter culture were much worse than in wider society. All interviewees believed references to Hitler and the Holocaust exceeded any threshold of acceptability and that the death of 6 million people should never be associated with football. While denigration of Jewish rituals and practices was offensive and problematic for some, Jewish stereotypes tended to be downplayed, dismissed, or tolerated by most interviewees as part of the "banter" endemic in English supporter culture to lessen or disrupt the impact of the hate speech they endure. These responses indicate complex processes of anger, acceptance and rationalisation as recipients attempt to make sense of and deal with everyday antisemitism. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Despite growing interest in women's football, limited research exists on its fans and their fan experience. Thus, findings from women's football culture against the background of hegemonic masculinity are presented, demonstrating how the space counteracts this concept. An online survey for fans located in Australia and Germany was developed to explore perceived differences in the culture of women's football. Participation in online (social media, broadcast) and offline (in stadium, in-person events) communities was examined. Further findings identified relevant themes for women's football fans: (1) the authentic character of women's football; (2) the strong bond between teams, players and fans; (3) the stadium as a safe space; (4) the friendly atmosphere in the stadium; and (5) less commercialisation, mediatisation and professionalisation. Implications for women's football, its fans and fan culture are discussed. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Despite interest in multi-sports training as a strategy to enhance long-term player development in soccer, current practice within English professional soccer academies is not well understood. This study explored the use of multi-sports training by English professional soccer academies (i.e., if multi-sports training was used, how often, session duration, activity type and age-group variations), and practitioners' perspectives with respect to player development (i.e., perceived physical/sociological benefits of; and barriers to use) using an online survey. One practitioner per club, per age category (i.e., Foundation (<9 to <12 years), Youth (<13 to <16 years) and Professional (<18 to <23 years)) was permitted to respond. Sixty practitioners responded, of which, 48% worked with U18-U23 players; 42% with U13–14 and U15–16 players, respectively; 20% with U9–10 players and 33% with U11–12 players. Half (n = 30) of the respondents used multi-sports training for a total of 1 (IQR 1–2) session and 30 (13 to 60) minutes per week. Respondents 'agreed' or 'strongly agreed' that multi-sports training improved physical outcomes, reduced injury risk, helped to avoid early professionalism, and improved communication and problem-solving. Several barriers to inclusion were identified, such as limited training time, lack of equipment and attrition from other staff and players. In summary, although multi-sports training was used by only ∼50% of practitioners, indicating that many clubs specialise in deliberate soccer practice, most practitioners perceived multi-sports training to be beneficial to player development. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Purpose: The study aims to identify critical factors that influence football fans' support of their favorite team by examining the impact of social responsibility, brand credibility and team brand equity on patronage intentions of professional football teams. Design/methodology/approach: An online survey collected data from 331 football fans of the Persian Gulf Premier League (PGPL) in Iran. The data were analyzed using partial least squares structural equation modeling (PLS-SEM). Findings: The findings revealed that corporate social responsibility (CSR) is able to influence brand equity, brand credibility and patronage intentions. Also, brand equity and brand credibility were found to be positively related to patronage intentions. In addition to that, the findings show that brand equity and team credibility partially mediate the relationship between CSR and patronage intentions. Practical implications: The findings provide valuable insights to sports teams/club managers aiming to attract new fans and retain current ones by investing in CSR and enhancing brand credibility and equity. Strategies to integrate CSR into relationship marketing and brand management are outlined. Originality/value: This study empirically highlights the critical role of adhering to CSR and the effects of brand credibility and equity in enhancing patronage intentions among football team fans. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Copyright of Sport & Tourism Central European Journal / Sport i Turystyka Srodkowoeuropejskie Czasopismo Naukowe is the property of Jan Dlugosz University in Czestochowa and its content may not be copied or emailed to multiple sites or posted to a listserv without the copyright holder's express written permission. However, users may print, download, or email articles for individual use. This abstract may be abridged. No warranty is given about the accuracy of the copy. Users should refer to the original published version of the material for the full abstract. (Copyright applies to all Abstracts.)

Purpose: The purpose of this study is to identify which dimensions of perceived value best mediate football club branding and fan loyalty from a developing league perspective. Design/methodology/approach: Using a cross-sectional design, we collected data using questionnaires from football fans in Ghana (N = 700). The data were analysed using SmartPLS V3, applying structural equation modelling with bootstrapping procedure. Findings: The results indicate that club branding is an effective precursor of fan loyalty. Moreover, the findings suggest that functional, social and emotional values mediated club branding and fan loyalty, whereas epistemic and economic values did not. Originality/value: This study contributes to sports management literature by identifying the dimensions of perceived value that will be relevant in the development of club brands in the developing league context. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Claiming spaces as homes indexes hierarchies. I focus on the home/away (deplasman) binary in football (soccer) where through the case of Turkey, I show how affective football fandom layers the normative charge of home versus deplasman. Home attachments and away antagonisms are formed and solidified as fans connect emotionally to stadiums and to neighbourhoods. This carries over to the national scale when (footballing) home is conceptualized as homeland. The emotionality and power-laden implications of the home/away binary leads to (the acceptance of) social exclusion but this acceptance is challenged through the very spaces of football. I refer to migrant experiences in Istanbul and to the cases of stereotypically nationalist Trabzonspor and Kurdish Amedspor to offer a novel way to conceptualize exclusion vis-à-vis the emotionality of home/away. This article is based on over a decade of ethnographic research on football in Turkey including men's professional football, women's football, and migrant footballers. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The main assumption of the text is that, in Poland, small fan groups are facing a threat to their existence, and many of them are functioning in an evident crisis. Based on secondary data, the main mechanisms influencing the problems of fan groups from smaller clubs in maintaining and developing their potential will be reconstructed. These mechanisms are: economic emigration of supporters, ageing of supporter group members (lack of generational replacement), 'old-fashioned' style of supporting based on violence and aggression, the changing attitude of the young generation to spend free time and decreasing interest of young people to participate in fan culture, lack of sporting success of clubs, lack of fan rivals in low-level football leagues. The article concludes that in the near future, the number of fan groups of small clubs will drastically decrease, and the whole fan culture in Poland will face crisis and uncertainty. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This study focuses on Chinese football fans' reactions to the Japanese national team and their fans' behaviour during the World Cup 2022. Despite the historical and contemporary problems that make friendly relations with Japan difficult to achieve, football fans in China largely welcomed the good performance of the Japanese national team. This attitude may be described as 'thin cosmopolitanism' because Chinese fans' major frame of reference was still nationalistic. For them, the impressive performance of the Japanese national team means that Asians and the 'yellow race people' can also play good football. However, the Japanese fans, whose cleaning up of stadia received wide coverage during the World Cup, were criticized by the Chinese fans who interpreted the Japanese fans' action as reinforcing the existing global racial order. The findings of this paper help reveal the limits regarding football's role in contributing to a more cosmopolitan worldview. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Qatar 2022 World Cup provides a unique opportunity to explore how Zimbabwean football fans play out their 'Africanness' through supporting African teams. Most studies on transnational fandoms tend to focus on the growth of European football fandoms across the continent. Yet, there are transnational fandoms that are more regional and 'localized' to the continent. This paper uses the case of Zimbabwean soccer fans to explore these transnational fandoms within the context of supporting African teams at the Qatar World Cup. It utilized interviews with fans at various watching spaces during the competition and cyber ethnography focusing on the most popular social media sites related to Zimbabwean football. My main argument is that our understanding of transnational fandoms is enhanced by explaining the creation, recreation, celebration, and contestations related to supporting another African national football team. This is mainly because research has shown that football is intricately linked to national, ethnic, and social identities. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This is the first attempt to describe and explain the varying patterns of support for football in Australia from the very early games played by First Nations people and the arrivals from overseas down to the present day. It discusses the Indigenous forms of football and the subsequent involvement of Indigenous people in the codified games of the nineteenth century. The majority of the article covers the development of spectatorship since codification and tries to bring out the distinctive features of changing Australian spectatorship where this is appropriate. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The world of elite football is woven from complex and intriguing relations informing the identities of players, clubs and supporters, across local, national and international boundaries. Often, key players with a global presence become a catalyst informing such relations. This paper considers one stark example of this: the case of Wayne Rooney, a local Liverpool lad and football protégée who raced through the ranks of Everton's youth academy to establish himself in the first team aged sixteen before being transfered to Manchester United in the summer of 2004 for a fee of £30 million. The paper describes how, set in the wider context of tense dynamics between club and country and between local and national sentiment, the specific manner in which the transfer unfolded pitched Rooney at the centre of an identity defining power struggle between clubs, agents and fans. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

An introduction is presented about soccer fan culture. Topics include identity and loyalty of fans, the impact of globalization on fandom, and the relationship between fans and clubs. In addition the intersection of fandom with issues like nationalism, gender, and politics are included. [Extracted from the article]

The article explores how national and local identities influence Chinese football fandom. Previous research has failed to provide detailed analysis about how these two social identities influence the process of fans' self-identification. This study uses fans of Henan Jianye Football Club and Shenzhen Football Club because they can typically represent native and internal immigrant fans in China as examples to fill the knowledge gap. By combining the experiences of these two fan groups, the article reveals that international games and the feeling of supporting the nation can strengthen the influence of national identity on fandom for the national football team. It also reveals that fans' recognition of their teams' local symbolic status stimulates local identity in developing native fans' support for local football clubs. Although internal immigrant fans do not share their local identities, their desire to acquire local affiliation also allows local identity to affect their fandom. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The 2022 FIFA Men's World Cup is poised to leave a complex legacy, marked by the array of social, economic, and political controversies that enveloped the tournament. In this study, we utilized a netnographic approach to explore the identities of satellite fans within two online communities during the World Cup tournament. By specifically focusing on the cooptation and dismantling of sport activism within a non-western satellite fan context, we offer critical insights into the intricate interplay between politics and sport on an international platform. Through a case study on Chinese satellite fans, our findings reveal a pronounced inclination among fans towards seeking authenticity, which acts as a defensive mechanism for rationalizing their role identity. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Televised football is still one of the main ways in which football fans consume football. Earlier studies into audience receptions of televised football often used focus group interviews with football fans and generally concluded that majority ethnic audiences tend to be engaged in 'football talk' that reproduces already existing racial/ethnic stereotypes and identifications. The current study takes one step further and has explored the consumption of televised football amongst White, male football fans while it takes place. We have watched matches together with young people in England combining participant observations in domestic settings with group interviews. Results give insights into the 'backstage setting' of football consumption, identifications amongst fans with the national team, and the reproduction of racialized discourses. We will pay specific attention to the different 'shades of whiteness' that participants in our study (re)constructed based on their interpretations of the football matches. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

No detailed account is necessary for tracing the historical background of several football clubs and national football teams in Europe. While certainly not rejecting the obvious merits in detailing football's history at local and national level, it is of equal importance to identify that specific, but often undefined, element that so elaborately encapsulates the essence of any given football team in a profoundly symbolic manner. While also addressing concepts denoting to political culture, political symbolism, and political identity, this paper examines the often-ignored finer details of a team's crest, also decorating the sport shirt of football players, since the association between football fans and the iconic crest of the club and nation they support unreservedly are an integral part of their distinct football identity. The identity of a football team is effortlessly illustrated on its crest, thus succinctly expressing an abundance of historical and cultural evidence. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Ted Lasso (2020–23) has garnered much acclaim from both fans and critics, racking up an impressive 21 Emmy nominations for its final season. Commentators repeatedly highlighted that the show's emphasis on kindness, compassion and empathy was a key aspect of its success. This article will investigate how this emphasis played out when tackling complex issues such as racism, xenophobia and anti-immigrant sentiment in the context of English football and its fandom. I argue that the show used special episodes and emphasized individual action with regard to systemic issues, employing post-racial narrative logics, appeals to multiculturalism, tokenism and strategic Whiteness, to deflect from organizational and societal accountability for entrenched discrimination. The same pattern is also seen in the narrative arcs of Sam Obisanya and Nate Shelley. Though the two have contrasting depictions – the latter turning villainous for a time while the former remains virtuous – I maintain that both reflect a larger disinterest in the interiority of characters of colour relative to their White counterparts. I will also examine how the show sidesteps systemic racism in English football fandom to portray fans as largely positive. Finally, through an analysis of Edwin Akufo, I argue that the show's commentary on issues in world football also reinforces racist stereotypes. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Purpose: Traditional sports have seen declining participation at many levels, with football being no different. This is occurring at a time when emergent technologies present new challenges, particularly to the crucial yet ignored cohort of millennials. Without meeting the needs of millennials, football cannot be successful in the future. This research seeks to understand how millennial football fandom (sport, not team) in Australia impacts football participation, whilst empirically examining the impact of football video games (FVGs). Design/methodology/approach: Survey data are collected from online groups, forums and social media pages of Australian football (soccer) fans. Quantitative analysis of millennial fandom and its influence on football participation (for the first time demarcated into play and engagement) is undertaken, including the moderating influence of time spent playing FVGs, amidst covariate influences of age and number of children. Findings: Results highlight the multi-dimensionality of millennial football fandom in Australia, reveal the typical hours spent playing football across a range of participation types (including play and engagement), support fan involvement's influence on engagement with football, establish that a desire to interact with other football fans manifests in playing more football, specify how playing FVGs moderates these relationships, supports the covariate influences of age and evidences that playing FVGs does not hamper football play. Originality/value: This is the first study to examine millennial fans of football (the sport, not tied to a club) and the influence of fandom on football participation. By separating football participation into two forms, play and engagement, we highlight discrete influences, whilst evaluating for the first time the moderating influence of the time millennials spend playing FVGs. For sport managers and administrators, these are important findings to facilitate better segmentation, recruitment, retention and participation, each with broader societal health benefits. This is undertaken in Australia where football is not a dominant code, relegating fandom to a niche, thus revealing important findings for sports and business management. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The paper examines which themes drove the collective action of football fans against the project of a European SuperLeague in 2021. Two unique datasets on the Twitter discourse about the Super League project were retrieved. Themes were analyzed using methods of inductive content analyses. Legitimacy gains and losses were measured using a dictionary approach. Supporters invoked a logic of autotelism insisting on maintaining sporting merit and a logic of identity claiming fan ownership of clubs. However, the fan protests might primarily reinforce the status quo and not inspire a fundamental reform. Institutional tensions within European football are likely to persist. Given strong supporter preferences for the institutional status quo, European football clubs appear to be trapped in disequilibrium economics, which should discourage profit-oriented investors. Regarding institutional theory, the findings suggest that a strong stakeholder preference for institutional complexity represents a decisive barrier for institutional entrepreneurs trying to shift dominant logics. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The purpose of this work is to validate and test for measurement invariance of the Motivation Scale for Sport Consumption (MSSC) across two samples of football fans from different countries (Turkey and Spain). A confirmatory factorial analysis (CFA) was carried out on a sample of 668 respondents from Turkey and Spain, and on the two samples separately, followed by a measurement invariance of the MSSC across countries. Convergent validity was calculated by composite reliability and average variance extracted (AVE) values and discriminant validity by the square roots of the AVE values and its comparison with MSSC and SSIS dimensions' cross-correlations. The CFAs showed a good fit. The progressive country invariance test stated that configural, metric and scalar invariance across country produced a good model fit. CFI change between configural and metric invariance tests and between metric and scalar invariance tests is within the threshold of 0.01. This scale proves a robust instrument to measure the motivation to consume sport in the two studied samples. The article provides validated instruments for assessing fans' motivations in the Turkish and Spanish populations. Further investigations based on more heterogeneous samples are necessary to confirm the models found. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

It is often suggested by fans, the media, and football commentators that English players are over-valued and receive higher salaries than those of comparable players from different countries. This study examines whether the suggestion can be empirically substantiated. Using a unique database covering all of the European elite leagues, we show that there is an English player value premium of around 40% and a wage premium of 25%. Exploring the reasons for this phenomenon in a regression setting, we find that the excess valuation and salary differential can be partly justified by several factors. First, and most importantly, there is a higher value attributed and wages paid to players in the English Premier League (EPL); second, that English players are more likely to play as strikers than in other positions in EPL clubs; third, that their performance in some positions is somewhat better than the average of players from other nations; fourth, that there are fewer of them in the top European leagues, leading to a shortage in supply. There is, however, evidence that the higher valuation of English attackers and the higher salaries of English attackers and of English midfielders evades explanation by any of these groups of variables. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

One of the most debated topics when it comes to football, especially in Italy, is the possibility for football clubs to have their own stadium. In Europe, especially in the top five leagues, most teams either have their own stadium, or have recently renovated their facilities and modernized them. In Italy, however, the situation is quite different. Most football stadiums are municipally owned and have one of the highest obsolescence rates in Europe, as the last renovations date back to 1990, coinciding with the World Cup in the country. It is therefore clear, that for a nation like Italy, where football is the most played and followed sport, the situation has become unsustainable. Many clubs, in fact, have significant financial difficulties and must also deal with the costs of rent and stadium management, expenses that would be reduced to zero with the construction of a stadium of their own. The objective of this paper is to analyze the impact of an owned stadium on club accounts and to analyze the way in which a stadium is built. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Building on Della Porta's work on social movement events, critical junctures, and legacies, this article studies the discursive practices, emotions and networks of the instant 48-hour mobilizations of the anti-European Super League (ESL) movement in English football in April 2021. In doing so, we show how this case reveals a new generation of conflict between the different supporter demographic and corporate constituencies that characterize elite football in England, and their politicized temporal structures. Showing how social movement 'legacy' operates as a multifaceted concept of power and time, we argue that the 'puzzling out' of a new post-ESL regulatory regime in football reveals the tensions between what are considered legitimate, and illegitimate, practices, which characterize the moral economy of the contemporary English football crowd. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This article focuses on how Dalkurd, a club founded in 2004 by Kurdish-Swedes in Borlänge, Sweden, inserts itself within a century-old tradition of Swedish football, predicated on local belongings. By using their ethnicity in order to be able to play, the presence of Dalkurd FF leads to a reconfiguration of local rivalries through the lenses of the club's ethnicity and its claims to Swedishness. The reconfiguration occurs through a process known as schismogenesis, in which relationships of rivalries and oppositions are used to maintain a larger structure comprised several members. Dalkurd fans, thus, place their team in relation to other teams, interpreting themselves and other clubs in Swedish football through those very rivalries. By doing so, they insert Kurdishness as another relevant element in playing football in a Swedish environment and their club in a Swedish tradition. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Football as an attractive sport generates huge volumes of tweets concerning fans' opinions, feelings, and judgments during prime events. Such data can be leveraged in sentiment analysis, an algorithmic approach to analyzing text in tweets by extracting emotional tones. This paper presents a novel benchmark dataset of 132,115 tweets collected during the 2022 world cup on X (formerly Twitter) for football-related sentiment classification. We also performed sentiment analysis on the dataset using lexicon-based tools, traditional machine learning algorithms, and pre-trained models, robustly optimized bidirectional encoder representations from transformers (BERT)- pretraining approach RoBERTa and distilled version of BERT (DistilBERT) to understand the emotions and reactions of football fans during different phases of the football matches. Results from the study indicate that most tweets had neutral sentiments in both context-aware and context-free analysis. We also describe our novel GhaFootBERT, a sentiment classification model based on transfer learning on BERT, which provides an effective approach to sentiment classification of football-related tweets. Our model performs robustly, outperforming the traditional models with 92% accuracy. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Although team sports, particularly football, are extremely popular in sub-Saharan Africa, numerous major investments in the region's sports infrastructure have failed, often because of sub-optimal requirements planning and low spectator demand. In light of FIFA's recently announced aim to considerably invest into football stadia in Africa and in response to the lack of research into spectator demand in emerging countries, the present study assessed the impact facility-related factors on stadium attendance intentions in sub-Saharan Africa. Football fans in Ghana, Nigeria, South Africa, and Zimbabwe (N = 1,005) completed a questionnaire on facility-related factors that might affect their intentions to attend games. Structural equation modeling of the resulting data indicated which factors impact spectator behaviors. Results and Findings: Not all the factors with the greatest impact on spectator behaviors in the four countries studied are the same as those identified in developed economies. In addition, each country's specific characteristics appear to influence the extent to which different variables impact intentions to attend games through satisfaction with the stadium, satisfaction with the team, and trust in the team. The study provides a better comprehension of facility-related variables and their effects on spectator demand in sub-Saharan Africa, a region which has seen very little investigation, despite the popularity of sports in this part of the world. In addition, the study is one of among a few that analyses the relevance of trust for purchase intentions in a sports setting. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The English Premier League (EPL) has sought to expand its consumer base globally over the last three decades, leading to the establishment of fanbases all over the world. South Asian football fans constitute today a significant proportion of all supporters of English football clubs. This has social and cultural effects in South Asia itself, where urban elites are starting to show affinity to football over cricket. South Asian EPL fans participate in a form of 'post-national' masculinity that confers them with status as 'modern' in the context of neoliberal globalisation. Through the structures of masculinity enabled by EPL fan culture, South Asian fans participate in cosmopolitan 'global' communities centred on the football club, contesting the exclusion from modernity that South Asia has been historically subjected to. South Asian EPL fans wearing their team's jersey, in that sense, amounts to wearing 'the jersey of modernity'. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In order to better understand current efforts by German soccer fans to defend the game they love, this article sheds light on the deeper relevance of the broad history of association formation in Germany. German soccer culture stands out among the “Big 5” leagues of European soccer for more proactive engagement of club fans, but to date, there has been scarce consideration of how the long history of Vereine and their civic relevance figure in today’s public debates surrounding soccer culture. The value of Mitbestimmung, so central to fans’ fight for soccer today, has strong roots in the widespread formation of associations in the long 19th century. Retracing these roots reveals that while these values are not unique to professional sports, it is in soccer that we see social engagement amid modern paradoxes crystallize in a glocal battle to maintain deeply held social values that reach beyond the playing field of one sport. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This study examined the representation of women in several sports, focusing on the issue of fans, in which women have extremely little engagement. In this context, the present study aimed to better understand women's fan experiences in football and basketball, two sports with gendered structures. One of the qualitative research methodologies utilized was phenomenological design, and the sample was determined using criteria sampling and snowball sampling procedures, both of which are purposive sampling techniques. Interviews were carried out with 22 women football and basketball fans who fit the requirements. The research used a semi-structured individual interview approach to thoroughly analyze the concept of fanhood, with data obtained between February and March 2023. During the interviews, the participants were given seven questions to get a thorough understanding of their fan experiences. The participants agreed to having their video recorded on Zoom and having it transcribed by the researcher. The interviews took an average of 30 minutes. The data was analyzed using MAXQDA, which was then displayed. At the conclusion of the research, both fan groups see fan as a passion and form emotional relationships by offering moral support to their teams. Both sets of fans cited team failure and management failure as reasons for abandoning their fan. Additionally, it was established that both sets of fans identified family responsibilities as a significant hindrance for women in attending matches. Furthermore, participants expressed that sports matches and the atmosphere in the stands are generally influenced by male dominance. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Representing the nation in sports mega events has become a highly contested issue with the acceleration of the transnational movement of athletes. This research has examined Chinese people's attitudes to the naturalization of football players. The article discusses the findings in the context of the qualifying stages for the 2022 FIFA Men's World Cup by presenting and analysing data collected from semi-structured interviews and social media extracts. Two main issues were debated by Chinese people concerning the identity of naturalized athletes. One was the ethnicity of the naturalized footballers in relation to nationality, with some people questioning whether they belong to China and can represent China. The other issue concerned the players' skills and ability which influenced considerations of how much they could help China to qualify for the World Cup Finals. In relation to Chinese nationalism, national identity and Chinese sports, this study reveals, through the window provided by the presence of these naturalized footballers, how football, instrumentalism, nationalism and naturalization have been inextricably linked and have interacted with one another within the current context. The article analyses how pragmatic values have negotiated with ethno-cultural nationalism and impacted on the Chinese public's attitudes towards naturalized athletes, their image being presented in variable and dynamic ways by football fan netizens after each qualifying game. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The possession of certain psychosocial characteristics can offer performance advantages in a range of domains. However, integrating a program to support the development of psychosocial characteristics is a lengthy process and involves context-specific knowledge and effective working relationships with stakeholders. The aim of this article is to present a real-life example of the design, delivery, and implementation of a theoretically informed psychosocial development program for players within an academy soccer setting to include player workshops, coach delivery, and ways to influence the environment. This multifaceted approach included formal and informal meetings, observations, coach education, and social media groups. Initial reflections suggested workshops are an effective method to "teach" some of the aspects within the program. Integrating coaches throughout design and implementation is recommended. Key stakeholders should consider investing time in education for coaches to develop strategies to foster psychosocial development in their players. Limitations and future recommendations are discussed. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This study offers a unique opportunity to understand audiences' multiplatform experiences during the 2019 FIFA Women's World Cup. The authors conducted surveys in three countries—China, Germany, and the United States—to determine relationships between and among structural and identity factors that predicted viewership in each country. Results indicate that structural factors significantly predicted World Cup viewing on TV across all three countries, although some variation existed related to access. Furthermore, fandom and identity were significant predictors of viewing on digital platforms across all three countries. By better measuring the experiences and relationships within each country, this study offers a unique opportunity to present a true cross-country assessment to help build understanding of how global mega events are viewed across the world. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper examines the role of collective memory in the protection of "traditional" sociocultural and symbolic aspects of football vis-à-vis the processes of commodification and globalization. Empirical evidence that underpins the analysis is drawn from a multisite ethnographic study of football fan activism in the Czech Republic, Italy, and England, as well as at the European level. The authors argue that collective memory represents a significant component of the supporters' mobilization and is related to the protection of specific football sites of memory, including club names, logos, colors, places, heroes, tragedies, and histories. The authors further explain that collective memory operates through three interconnected dimensions: embedded collective memory, transcendent collective memory, and the collective memory of contentious politics. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Introduction: Investigation of the psychological impact on soccer athletes during the pandemic is essential given their unique challenges, including training disruptions and competition postponements. Understanding these effects will allow the development of specific strategies to preserve the mental health and performance of elite athletes, contributing to effective interventions with both short and long-term benefits. Objective: To analyze the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on the psychological aspects and mental health of elite soccer athletes. Method: The review adhered to PRISMA criteria, and the study protocol was registered in the International Prospective Register of Systematic Reviews (CRD42022341545). Searches were conducted until July 2023 in databases including Cochrane, PsycINFO, PubMed, Scopus, SPORTDiscus, and Web of Science. Only original, peer-reviewed studies in English, Portuguese, or Spanish assessing the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on the psychological aspects and mental health of elite soccer athletes were included. Results: The search identified 1,055 records and 43 studies were included in this review between 2020 and 2023. In total, the sample included 16,321 soccer athletes of different age groups. Anxiety, depression, mood states, and mental well-being were the most investigated variables. Increased levels of anxiety, depression, and worsening mental well-being were observed in elite soccer athletes. Maintaining fitness during the pandemic showed positive results. Other variables, such as coping, resilience, and sleep quality monitoring, were less widely investigated. Evaluating methodological quality was considered regular for observational and experimental studies. Conclusion: The study reveals a negative impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on elite soccer athletes, considering psychological aspects and their mental health, notably heightened anxiety and depression. Observational methods predominated, showing mood swings linked to individual characteristics and fitness maintenance efforts. Studies with better-designed methodological approaches and controlled experimental interventions are recommended in the future to mitigate the negative effects of the pandemic on soccer players. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]