Vol. 25 No. 272 (2021)

Media and racism in soccer
For some time, social scientists have raised concerns about the contents of songs heard in soccer stadiums. It is worrying that messages of extreme fanaticism, intolerance and machismo stand out.
Commentator-fans have proliferated in the mass media. Their widely heard voices reproduce for their audiences the same logic of excessive antagonism expressed by the most violent sectors of the fans. This intensifies tribalization in sport, moving soccer ever closer to the logic of war than to that of the game.
Many sectors are reacting to these events. Recently one of these commentator-fans had to publicly apologize for his racist comments in the face of widespread repudiation. There are numerous examples where sport has been and is a tool in the fight against injustice. It is important that the clubs and the Argentine Football Association express their repudiation of these discriminatory and xenophobic speeches so that they do not become natural and acceptable inside or outside the stadiums.
Tulio Guterman, Director - january 2021