Racism in Football Sweden : From the coaches' perspective

Abstract: Aim: To access the level of racial incidents and coaching on anti-racism in football Sweden. Method: A qualitative interview was done with six coaches in different regions in Sweden. A base of eight main questions on three themes were asked – About you, Racism in football Sweden, and Working against racism in football. Interviews were semi-structured, done orally and recorded. The transcriptions were then thematically analysed. Results: The coaches expressed that the players both young and old are exposed to racial incidents, both on and off the field. Racism is manifested in jargon from diverse areas, from spectators including parents, other coaches, or referees. Coach training programmes do not have any programmes on racism. Conclusion: Racism does exist in all levels of Swedish football with a tendency to lesser incidents in junior levels. Coaches have almost non-existent training in anti-racist strategies and problems are solved ad hoc. There is a need for a structure to address this issue, both at club and federation level.