Barriers and Facilitators to Inclusion in Sport for People from Black Ethnic Background in British Sports

This dissertation explores the barriers and facilitators to inclusion in sport for people from black ethnic background in British sports, with a focus on football. It examines the extent of racism and discrimination faced by black individuals in sports, analyzes measures taken by governing bodies, and provides recommendations to address the issue.

Running head: DISSERTATION
Barriers and facilitators to inclusion in sport for people from black ethnic background in the field
of British sports
Name of the Student
Name of the University
Author Note

1DISSERTATION
Acknowledgement
Thank you to all of those who have helped listened and encouraged me throughout this study. I
am indebted to my supervisor ……………………. whose guidance, advice and patience have
been immeasurable. My sincere thanks to all members of the…………… [Mention your
university/college name], both staff and students, whose continuous support have made this
thesis possible.
I would like to thank all of the participants in the study: students, teachers and Local Education
Authorities, for the time and help given throughout. Without their participation, this research
would not have been possible. In this context, I am also thankful to them, whose research work
helped me to execute this paper well.
Finally, I thank my family, without whom this thesis would not have been started or completed!
Your encouragement and support have never faltered; thank you.

2DISSERTATION
Abstract
The human society is not homogenous in nature as it is believed to be. There exists many
different stratifications, all of which have a different characterizing distinct feature. These
stratifications are aimed at diving the human community in a manner which cannot be overcome
by a single individual or by one of the communities themselves. In order to change these
dividing characteristic stratifications, there is a need on the part of the entire human civilization
to ensure that such classifications are done away with. One of the main issue where the human
civilization remains stratified is that of racism. The issue of racism has plagued the world in
severe concerning ways. Racism refers to the situation where an individual is discriminated
against based on the skin color of that human being. This has impacted the psychological
orientation of the people who are discriminated against and has negatively impacted the different
fields of human employment, one of them being sports. The aim of the research is to understand
the various barriers and facilitators that a person belonging to the black ethnic community faces
in the field of British sports, especially within the area of football. The research follows a
positivism research philosophy of inductive approach and descriptive research design. The data
is collected from semi-structured interviews and analyzed with the aid of qualitative analysis.
Sports is considered to be a field which brings people of passion together with one another.
People play for themselves and for a greater aim of bringing glory to their own team and nation.
In this manner, being racially discriminated in this field shows the extent of the prevalence of
this social evil within the British society that is considered to be a very tolerant human society. In
this manner, this research study proves to be a significance area of examination.

3DISSERTATION
Table of Contents
Chapter 1: Introduction....................................................................................................................4
1.0 Overview................................................................................................................................4
1.1 Research Aim.........................................................................................................................4
1.2 Research Objectives...............................................................................................................4
1.3 Research Questions................................................................................................................5
1.4 Research Rationale................................................................................................................5
1.5 Research Structure.................................................................................................................6
1.6 Summary................................................................................................................................6
Chapter 2: Literature Review...........................................................................................................7
2.0 Overview................................................................................................................................7
2.1 Theme 1: Issue of racial discrimination and the feeling of exclusion by the people in the
field of sports...............................................................................................................................7
2.2 Theme 2: Measures undertaken by the governing bodies to help solve the issue of racial
discrimination..............................................................................................................................9
2.3 Theme 3: Recommendations in order to solve the issue of racial discrimination...............11
2.4 Summary..............................................................................................................................12
Chapter 3: Research Methodology................................................................................................13
3.0 Overview..............................................................................................................................13
3.1 Research Outline..................................................................................................................13

4DISSERTATION
3.2 Research Philosophy............................................................................................................13
3.2.1 Justification of Research Philosophy............................................................................13
3.3 Research Approach..............................................................................................................14
3.3.1 Justification of Research Approach..............................................................................14
3.4 Research Design..................................................................................................................14
3.4.1 Justification of Research Design..................................................................................15
3.5 Research Strategy................................................................................................................15
3.5.1 Justification of Research Strategy................................................................................15
3.7 Data Collection process.......................................................................................................15
3.7.1 Justification of Data Collection Process.......................................................................16
3.8 Data Analysis Technique.....................................................................................................16
3.8.1 Justification of Data Analysis Technique.....................................................................16
3.9 Ethical Issues.......................................................................................................................16
3.10 Accessibility Issues............................................................................................................17
3.11 Summary............................................................................................................................17
Chapter 4: Data Analysis and Findings.........................................................................................18
4.0 Overview..............................................................................................................................18
4.1 Data Findings.......................................................................................................................18
4.2 Data Analysis.......................................................................................................................19
4.3 Summary..............................................................................................................................20

5DISSERTATION
Chapter 5: Conclusion and Recommendations..............................................................................21
5.0 Conclusion...........................................................................................................................21
5.1 Recommendation.................................................................................................................21
5.2 Future Scope of the Study....................................................................................................22
References:....................................................................................................................................24

6DISSERTATION
Chapter 1: Introduction
1.0 Overview
The human society is not homogenous in nature as it is believed to be. There exists many
different stratifications, all of which have a different characterizing distinct feature. These
stratifications are aimed at diving the human community in a manner which cannot be overcome
by a single individual or by one of the communities themselves (Paul, Weinbach and Mattingly
2018). In order to change these dividing characteristic stratifications, there is a need on the part
of the entire human civilization to ensure that such classifications are done away with. One of the
main issue where the human civilization remains stratified is that of racism (LaFave, Nelson and
Doherty 2018). The issue of racism has plagued the world in severe concerning ways. Racism
refers to the situation where an individual is discriminated against based on the skin color of that
human being (Carroll and Hollinshead 1993). This has impacted the psychological orientation of
the people who are discriminated against and has negatively impacted the different fields of
human employment, one of them being sports.
1.1 Research Aim
The aim of the research is to understand the various barriers and facilitators that a person
belonging to the black ethnic community faces in the field of British sports, especially within the
area of football.
1.2 Research Objectives
The objectives of the research can be stated as follows:
1. To examine the extent of the problem of racism which makes the people feel that they are not
included in certain number of sports.

7DISSERTATION
2. To analyze the various measures that are being undertaken to raise issues of the barriers that
people from black and ethnic minority face to the local and national governing bodies.
3. To provide certain recommendations to help solve the issue of racism within the field of
sports.
1.3 Research Questions
The research questions can be stated as follows:
1. How much of a factor does racism have to the people of black ethnic minority to feel that they
are not included in certain number of sports?
2. Is there enough being done in our own communities to raise issues of the barriers that people
from black and ethnic minority face to the local and national governing bodies?
3. If so what has been the response of tackling this issues?
1.4 Research Rationale
The issue of racial discrimination is against the very spirit of human freedom and liberty.
People are being discriminated for something they have no control over. As a result, racial
discrimination is seen to be illegal in nature but as a result of its societal perspective, there is
little chance of this issue being resolved without changing the mentality of the people
(Kilvington and Price 2017). Sports is considered to be a field which brings people of passion
together with one another. People play for themselves and for a greater aim of bringing glory to
their own team and nation. In this manner, being racially discriminated in this field shows the
extent of the prevalence of this social evil within the British society that is considered to be a
very tolerant human society (Long et al. 2009). In this manner, this research study proves to be a
significance area of examination.

8DISSERTATION
1.5 Research Structure
The first chapter provides a brief overview of the aim of the research which is to be
conducted. The aim of the research is to understand the various barriers and facilitators that a
person belonging to the black ethnic community faces in the field of British sports, especially
within the area of football. The second chapter provides the various secondary sources of
literature which are examined in detail in order to collect data for the purpose of the research.
The third section mentions the research methodology which is employed in the making of the
research. The research follows a positivism research philosophy of inductive approach and
descriptive research design. The data is collected from semi-structured interviews and analyzed
with the aid of qualitative analysis. The fourth chapter provides an in-depth, qualitative analysis
of the data which is collected from the semi-structured interviews and various secondary sources
of literature. The fifth chapter is the concluding chapter which synthesis all the data gathered and
analyzed with those of the research objectives. This chapter also provides certain
recommendation that can be adhered to in order to minimize the issue of racial discrimination
which is felt in the field of British football.
1.6 Summary
To summarize, this chapter provides an overview of the aim of the research and the
rationale of the study. It also mentions the various research objectives and also provides a frame
work of the future course of the research study.

9DISSERTATION
Chapter 2: Literature Review
2.0 Overview
This chapter provides an overview of the various secondary sources such as that of
books, academic journals, articles and newspaper articles in order to understand the aim of the
research study. The research proposes to understand the various barriers and facilitators that a
person belonging to the black ethnic community faces in the field of British sports, especially
within the area of football. In this respect, the different secondary sources provide an overview
about the extent of the existing problem of racial discrimination within the field of British sports.
2.1 Theme 1: Issue of racial discrimination and the feeling of exclusion by the people
in the field of sports
The term ‘race’ refers to the different groups of people who have similar physical
features due to their inhabitance of a particular geographical place (Tainsky, Mills and Winfree
2015). Initially it was meant to define such different groups of people so that better
understanding about their origination can be derived. However, with the changes in the human
civilization, the issue of race underwent a change in itself. The era of colonization was mainly
responsible for bringing about this change in the concept of ‘race’. The imperial masters of the
western developed nations of the world sought to expand their geographical territory in order to
gain control over more human resources and natural resources of the world (Martin 2015). In this
respect, they set on a course of occupying the under developed parts of the world which were
inhabited by ‘black’ skinned people. In order to justify their rule over such under developed
countries, the imperial colonial masters advocated the idea about the ‘white man’s burden’.
Through this they wanted to espouse the idea that the ‘black’ skinned people were inferior to
them since they were barbarians and hence, did not have the ability to rule over themselves. This

10DISSERTATION
period of colonization therefore set the idea of racial discrimination whereby the ‘white’ skinned
people were thought to be more superior to the ‘black’ skinned people (Oliver and Lusted 2015).
This feeling of inferiority is still prevailing in the modern contemporary period.
According to Bryson and Chevalier (2015), racial discrimination refers to the situation where a
particular community of people, especially those belonging to the ‘black’ ethnic population in a
particular geographical location, is widely discriminated against by the ‘white’ skinned people of
that community (Atkinson, J.M. and Heritage 1984). Usually in such communities, the ‘blacks’
constitute a minority population. This discrimination may exist in different fields such as in the
educational sector, the employment sector and even in the field of sports. In such instances of
racial discrimination, the ‘black’ skinned people are made to feel inferior and undeserving by the
other people of the community due to the fact that their complexion is darker than them (Zhang
2017). This idea shows how the mindset of the people has refused to change throughout the
period of development of human history.
The main concerning issue of such prevalence of racial discrimination is that it is a
violation of the human rights on the part of the ‘black’ skinned people who are involved in the
situation. However, it is not only their legal rights which get adversely impacted but also their
psychology gets affected in a negative manner also. Such ‘black’ skinned people are made to feel
inferior for something they have no control on (Henry 2005). As a result of such discrimination,
they often feel alienated and excluded from the mainstream society. This problem becomes more
severe in the context of the field of sports. Sport is such an activity which necessitates team spirit
and team cohesion among the different individual players who are involved in this activity
(Hylton 2018). If they are made to feel alienated then the problem may arise that the team is not
synchronized in its activity. According to Wolfers, File and Schnurr (2017), this might have a

11DISSERTATION
serious negative impact on the performance of the team as a whole. Furthermore, the
psychological setup of the person who is being discriminated against also suffers to a severe
extent which is again the responsibility of the team in its entirety (Jewell 2017). In this manner it
can be noticed that the issue of racial discrimination within the field of sports generates a feeling
of exclusion and alienation among the individuals who are being discriminated against that is the
black; ethnic community (Martin et al. 2017).
2.2 Theme 2: Measures undertaken by the governing bodies to help solve the issue of
racial discrimination
The issue of racial discrimination was in existence since times immemorial. However, no
actions or measures were undertaken by the nation states to help resolve this problem. In fact,
this issue was advocated by the different state leaders themselves, such as in the region of the
United States, which was known as North America and South America during that time (Dufur
2017). The state leaders of South America migrated the people from Africa in the form of
‘slaves’ in order to carry out the process of cultivation in this part of the world. The Africans
were made to believe that were inferior to the ‘white’ supreme and as a result of this, they were
made to work hard without little or negligible compensation for their work (Delgado and
Stefancic 2017). This scenario was prevalent in the other parts of the western world also,
especially within the countries of the European continent.
However, the situation changed after the end of the Second World War. The state leaders
realized the importance of maintaining and guaranteeing the sovereignty of the geographical
boundary of the different states of the world. In this mannerism, they also realized that the
freedom and liberty granted to the individuals of the human society should also be upheld and
ensured to them. Thus, in the middle of the twentieth century, the institution of the United

12DISSERTATION
Nations Organization came in to existence which sought to provide equal status to all individuals
on Earth without any form of discrimination being made amongst them (Avery, Volpone and
Holmes IV 2018). This meant that the practice of racial discrimination that was bring carried on
for so long without inviting any form of penal punishments, would know now becomes an
offensive action. In other words, in the words of Crawley et al. (2017), it means that racial
discrimination would now be a criminalized in nature.
However, within the societal frame work of Britain, it can be seen that racial
discrimination is still very much prevalent. This flows from the colonial historical back ground
of the country (Mwaniki 2017). Britain was one of the leading powers in the era of colonization
where it undertook different measures in order to expand its hold over the different territories of
the world. In this regard, Britain held a considerable portion of Asia, Africa, the Northern part of
North America and several islands in the Indian Ocean. In this regard, the present generation of
people of the British community still believes in this period of colonization and holds the various
values that they gained from their forefathers (Agan and Starr 2017). The country is multicultural
in nature, which means that people belonging to different ethnic cultural back grounds are
coexisting gin this country (Blumer 1969). However, the native ‘white’ skinned people are
prejudiced against the people who belong to the black ethnic cultural background. They are of
the opinion that they black’ skinned people are inferior to them and therefore, do not occupy the
same place in the society as they hold. They are lower to the ‘white’ skinned people and this
mind set plays a significant role in determining the structure of the British community (Spaaij,
Magee and Jeanes 2014). Several laws and policies have been formulated by the governing
bodies of the country in order to ensure that racial discrimination is eliminated in an absolute
manner from the society. For instance, the Equality Act of 2010 prohibits any person from

13DISSERTATION
engaging in discriminatory activities and says that strong penalties shall be imposed if they are
found to be engaged in such social evil practices. However, such policies are still very much
feeble in nature and do not have much power and authority to induce a change in the opinions of
the people even if they get incriminated for their discriminatory behavior.
2.3 Theme 3: Recommendations in order to solve the issue of racial discrimination
The problem of racial discrimination is sought to be solved by the different members of
the British community who feel that this issue is seriously hampering the growth and
development of the country. The existence of this social evil in the field of sports has also
adversely impacted the national team of football to a significant extent (Rowe and Champion
2000). In this regard, certain recommendations have been provided in order to solve this issue of
racial discrimination.
The first recommendation which has been opined by Lauren (2018), it that there is a need
on the part of the British government to ensure the formulation of more stringent measures in
order to solve the problem of racial discrimination. It is only when the people would face severe
legal consequences as a result of them partaking in the activity of racial discrimination, would
then understand the extent of misery and self-degradation faced by the victims. However, there is
an inherent problem in this. Even if there is a formulation of a more stringent Act, there should
be an accompanying mechanism to ensure its effective execution and implementation.
The second recommendation as provided by Edelman, Luca and Svirsky (2017), is that
the very mental orientation of the human society needs to be changed. There needs to exist a
positive opinion among the people of Britain who do not look down upon the people who belong
to the different ethnic backgrounds of the world. In this manner, there needs to be a change in the
pinions held by the people with regard to their colonial mind set. However, this recommendation

14DISSERTATION
is extremely weak in nature as the beliefs and opinions held by people cannot change overnight.
The personality of the people changes in an gradual manner over the years.
2.4 Summary
To summarize, this chapter provides an in-depth examination of the various secondary
sources which are looked in to in order to study the research under investigation. The research
proposes to understand the various barriers and facilitators that a person belonging to the black
ethnic community faces in the field of British sports, especially within the area of football. In this
regard, various books, journals, articles and newspaper sources have been consulted in order to
provide a comprehensive idea about the existing issue and how it affects the field of football.

15DISSERTATION
Chapter 3: Research Methodology
3.0 Overview
This section attempts to provide an overview of the various kinds of methods that is
employed in the making of the research study. The aim of the research is to understand the
various barriers and facilitators that a person belonging to the black ethnic community faces in
the field of British sports, especially within the area of football. In this manner, it is important to
organize the research in a careful and systematic manner in order to understand the study under
investigation.
3.1 Research Outline
The research employs the positivism research philosophy, inductive approach, descriptive
research design and interview research strategy, all of which have proved to be necessary in the
effective execution of the research study. Furthermore, the semi-structured interview has been
used in order to collect the data and this has been analyzed with the aid of quantitative data
analysis.
3.2 Research Philosophy
There exists three different kinds of research philosophy such as positivism,
interpretivism and pragmatism. The positivism research philosophy aims to understand the
research study under investigation with the help of statistical analysis of the data (Silverman
2016). As a result, there is prevalence of rational and logic in this type of research philosophy.
Interpretivism research philosophy aims to understand the various differences that exists in the
human society as a result of their individual characteristics.

16DISSERTATION
3.2.1 Justification of Research Philosophy
In this research study, the positivism research philosophy has been utilized. This has
enabled the re searcher to evaluate the collected data in a statistical manner so that a
comprehensive idea about the study can be gained. In this manner, it has become possible to
understand what the various implications are that racial discrimination brings about in the field
of sports in Britain.
3.3 Research Approach
In the course of research study, there exist two different kinds of research approaches
such as that of deductive research approach and inductive research approach. Under deductive
research approach, the researcher tries to prove a preexisting hypothesis with the help and
support of some existing theories and concepts (Taylor, Bogdan and DeVault 2015). In the case
of inductive research approach on the other hand, there is an attempts made by the researcher to
formulate a particular hypothesis. In this manner, there is also the formulation of a new theory
and conceptual idea.
3.3.1 Justification of Research Approach
The research study attempts to follow the inductive research approach whereby the
researcher tries to formulate a new research hypothesis. The aim of the research is to understand
the various barriers and facilitators that a person belonging to the black ethnic community faces
in the field of British sports, especially within the area of football. In this manner, it is important
to understand how racial discrimination has penetrated in to the field of British football and
adversely impacted the players.

17DISSERTATION
3.4 Research Design
The three kinds of research design are those of explanatory, exploratory and descriptive
research design. Exploratory research design aims to explain the various causes and effects of a
particular incident under investigation. On the other hand, explanatory research design tries to
explain the incident without making an analytical view about it. Descriptive research design
involves the combined features of both these kinds of research design (Sutton and Austin 2015).
3.4.1 Justification of Research Design
In this research study under investigation, the descriptive research design has been
utilized. As a result, there is an attempt on the part of the researcher to understand the various
causes of racial discrimination in the field of sports as well as to understand the implication of
such discrimination within the society of Britain.
3.5 Research Strategy
The different kinds of research strategy which are applicable in a research work include
those of case study, survey, interview and action research. Case study involves the study of a
particular case under focus and making an assumption by analyzing this case. The research
strategy of survey enables the researcher in the collection of significant and relevant data from a
huge population (Mayan 2016). On the other hand, interview research strategy employs the
gathering of data from the people through the method of private communication.
3.5.1 Justification of Research Strategy
This research study has employed the research strategy of interview. The concerned
group of people were interviewed by the research through the form of semi-structured
interviews. The responses collected from this group of people were later analyzed in order to
understand the implication of the issue of racial discrimination in the field of British sports.

18DISSERTATION
3.6 Sampling Technique and Sampling Size
3.6.1 Justification of Sampling Technique and Sampling Size
3.7 Data Collection process
There are two main types of data collection process that are primary data collection
process and secondary data collection process. In primary data collection process, data is
collected in a firsthand manner from the target population (Merriam and Tisdell 2015). On the
other hand, secondary data collection process involves the study of various literature sources
such as books, journals, newspaper sources and academic articles.
3.7.1 Justification of Data Collection Process
In this research study, the primary data collection process has been followed. The
researcher has used the mechanism of semi-structured interview in order to collect the responses
of the students. This has enabled the researcher to understand the impact of racial discrimination
on the players of football within the context of the British region.
3.8 Data Analysis Technique
There are two methods to analyze data such as qualitative data analysis technique and
quantitative data analysis technique. Qualitative data analysis technique includes the subjective
analysis if the data (Patton 2002). On the other hand, quantitative data analysis technique
includes the objective analysis of data from the various facts and figures which are provided in
the research study.

19DISSERTATION
3.8.1 Justification of Data Analysis Technique
In this research study, the qualitative data analysis technique. This has aided the
researcher to understand the deeper implication of the issue of racial discrimination as prevailing
within the region of Britain.
3.9 Ethical Issues
In the course of the research it is important to undertake the informed consent of the
participants under study (Flick 2018). However, the participants have the right to change their
mind at any given on whether they want to participant in the research and that right must be
acknowledged. Furthermore, there is a need to ensure that while observation the participants are
not obstructed, their personal space should be given when such observations are taking place.
3.10 Accessibility Issues
In the making of this research, two particular hurdles were faced. There was not enough
time to conduct an in-depth survey which included every one of the target population so that
their responses could be recorded as well. Second, there was a limit of the financial resources to
be spend due to which the research was limited only to the region of Britain and British sports of
football.
3.11 Summary
To summarize, this chapter provides an overview of the various kinds of methods that is
employed in the making of the research study. This helps to understand the data in a systematic
and comprehensive manner.

20DISSERTATION
Chapter 4: Data Analysis and Findings
4.0 Overview
This chapter tries to understand the various issues which are related to the factor of
sports, particularly that of the factor of racism. Under the societal evil of racism the people who
are involved in the field of sports are subjugated to wide scale discrimination. This has been
analyzed by conducting various semi structure interviews on the participant population. This
candidates who have been interviewed, have discussed about how racism has affected their
ability to participate in the various sports in the region of Britain. Furthermore, in order to garner
a comprehensive idea about the research study under investigation, the data gathered in the
section of literature review has also been analyzed and related with the data collected from the
interviews.
4.1 Data Findings
The aim of the research is to understand the various barriers and facilitators that a person
belonging to the black ethnic community faces in the field of British sports, especially within the
area of football. In this respect, the people who are included in the field of sports have been
selected to be the target population. The chosen candidates from this targeted population have
been selected with the help of non-probability random sampling.
One of the candidates interviewed has stated that she was interested in football from a
very early age of six years. It was his parents who motivated her to stay in football and practice
it. The interviewer asked the candidate if he ever was discriminated against in the field of
football. To this he replied that he was not but it was quite difficult on the part of the black
population to sustain themselves in football. In the contemporary times period, the sport of

21DISSERTATION
football has been overrun with the issue of money (Lamb 2016). The various betting and the
money involved have taken away all the passion from this sport. Not only did it change the
character of football, but it also changed the way its players are perceived. The candidate replied
that he did not face any particular problem in the sport and either was e discriminated against. In
this respect, it can be observed that the ‘white’ skinned population did not have a difficult time in
the field of football. They were allowed to pay without much issue while the black’ skinned
people were discriminated against as a result of their skin color.
Another candidate that was interviewed revealed that he did face certain problems while
he was playing for his team. Often time it was noted that he was not picked to play in the team as
he belonged to the black ethnic community. When he put this issue forward to the team captain,
they resolved it immediately. However, it shows that the ‘black’ skinned people were truly
discriminated against in the field of sports. The candidate chose to believe in the fairness of this
sport by opining that while the factor of drugs was quite consistently present in other sports such
as that of cricket. However, in football, this was not the case. People who are engaged in the field
of sports, starts to love it from a very early young age. This shows the passion in them to play for
their team members and for their country. However, due to the existence of several social evil,
such as that of the factor of racial discrimination, most often majority of such passionate young
children do not find the avenue to play for the nation (Hamrick and Rasp 2015). Such
discriminations leads to them being rejected and in the cases that they do manage to make it to
the national team, are not allowed to play. This happened in the case of this candidate who had to
repeatedly point out to the team captain before the mistake could be rectified.

22DISSERTATION
4.2 Data Analysis
From the analysis of the data that have been collected it can be observed that in the
contemporary time period, the people belonging to the black ethnic community face certain
problems as a result of their skin tone. The colonial hangover and the ‘white man’s burden’ is
still in prevalence in the modern society (Walker and Melton 2015). The blacks are considered to
be secondary to the white skin toned people and this issue has also penetrated itself in to the
arena of sports. The main concerning issue of such prevalence of racial discrimination is that it is
a violation of the human rights on the part of the ‘black’ skinned people who are involved in the
situation. However, it is not only their legal rights which get adversely impacted but also their
psychology gets affected in a negative manner also. Such ‘black’ skinned people are made to feel
inferior for something they have no control on (Uchacz 2017). As a result of such discrimination,
they often feel alienated and excluded from the mainstream society. This problem becomes more
severe in the context of the field of sports. Sport is such an activity which necessitates team spirit
and team cohesion among the different individual players who are involved in this activity. If
they are made to feel alienated then the problem may arise that the team is not synchronized in
its activity (Mitten et al. 2016). This might have a serious negative impact on the performance of
the team as a whole.
4.3 Summary
To summarize, this chapter has tried to relate the findings of the literature review to the
responses of the candidates who took part in the interview. It is observed that the people who
belong to the black ethnic community of the world do indeed face a problem in the field of sports
as a result of their skin color.

23DISSERTATION
Chapter 5: Conclusion and Recommendations
5.0 Conclusion
To conclude it can be observed that the factor of racial discrimination is still quite
perverse in the modern time frame. The human society is divided along various cultures and
traditions and one such division is the issue of races. The colonial definition of ‘races’ is still
continued to be present in the modern time period where it is seen that the ‘white’ skin colored
people are considered to be superior to that of the ‘black’ skin colored people. It is due to the
idea which was advocated by the ‘white’ skin colored colonial masters as a colonial race. This
issue of racial discrimination has found a strong foot hold in the modern society. This factor is
seen to be present in the field of sports as well which has adversely affected the morale of the
concerned individuals and of the team respectively. The aim of the research is to understand the
various barriers and facilitators that a person belonging to the black ethnic community faces in
the field of British sports, especially within the area of football. This has been sufficiently
observed, examined and analyzed to a great extent in the research study under investigation.
5.1 Recommendation
The issue of racial discrimination is a pervasive social evil which exists in the society and
all of its corners. This has impacted the field of sports as well which is considered to be one of
the most important passions of human beings. As a result, there is an imminent need on the part
of the society to eliminate this or at least reduce this evil to a considerable extent (Pope, Price
and Wolfers 2018). One of the recommendations that can be provided with respect to the
reduction of racial discrimination from the field of sports is that the managers of such teams must
ensure that a proper and fair judgments done while taking in members for the teams. The main
objective of every team, no matter the level they play at, is to win. This can be ensured as a result

24DISSERTATION
of the induction of those players in the team who are meritorious in the playing of the sport.
They should have the ability to propel their team to victory. In this respect, the factor of racial
discrimination should not play any role in the choosing of such candidates.
The second recommendation that can be provided to the elimination of racial
discrimination is that the society should be made aware of the legal right of equality. In this
respect, it should be noted that right to equality is one of the universal rights which are granted to
the people. The state and its various agencies should undertake all the necessary means to
eliminate racial discrimination and uphold the right to equality.
5.2 Future Scope of the Study
This research study under investigation is important in the context of understanding the
prevalence of the issue of racial discrimination in the field of sports. The aim of the research is to
understand the various barriers and facilitators that a person belonging to the black ethnic
community faces in the field of British sports, especially within the area of football. In this
respect, this research study would provide a guiding point to all other future researchers in the
field of sports and racial discrimination prevalent in this field.

25DISSERTATION
References:
Agan, A. and Starr, S., 2017. Ban the box, criminal records, and racial discrimination: A field
experiment. The Quarterly Journal of Economics, 133(1), pp.191-235.
Atkinson, J.M. and Heritage, J. eds., 1984. Structures of social action. Cambridge University
Press.
Avery, D.R., Volpone, S.D. and Holmes IV, O., 2018. Racial discrimination in
organizations. The Oxford Handbook of Workplace Discrimination, pp.89-110.
Blumer, H., 1969. SvmboHc interactionism. Englewood CHffis.
Bryson, A. and Chevalier, A., 2015. Is there a taste for racial discrimination amongst
employers?. Labour Economics, 34, pp.51-63.
Carroll, B. and Hollinshead, G., 1993. Ethnicity and conflict in physical education. British
Educational Research Journal, 19(1), pp.59-76.
Crawley, F.P., Hoyer, P., Mazur, A., Siderius, L., Grosek, S., Stiris, T. and Neubauer, D., 2017.
Health, integrity, and doping in sports for children and young adults. A resolution of the
European Academy of Paediatrics. European journal of pediatrics, 176(6), pp.825-828.
Delgado, R. and Stefancic, J., 2017. Critical race theory: An introduction. NYU Press.
Dufur, M., 2017. Race logic and “being like Mike”: Representations of athletes in advertising,
1985–1994. In African Americans in Sports (pp. 67-82). Routledge.
Edelman, B., Luca, M. and Svirsky, D., 2017. Racial discrimination in the sharing economy:
Evidence from a field experiment. American Economic Journal: Applied Economics, 9(2), pp.1-
22.

26DISSERTATION
Flick, U., 2018. An introduction to qualitative research. Sage Publications Limited.
Hamrick, J. and Rasp, J., 2015. The connection between race and called strikes and
balls. Journal of Sports Economics, 16(7), pp.714-734.
Henry, I.P., 2005. Sport and multiculturalism: An European perspective.
Hylton, K., 2018. Contesting ‘Race’and Sport: Shaming the Colour Line. Routledge.
Jewell, R.T., 2017. Sports economics: The state of the discipline. In Handbook of sports
economics research (pp. 9-18). Routledge.
Kilvington, D. and Price, J. eds., 2017. Sport and discrimination. Taylor & Francis.
LaFave, D., Nelson, R. and Doherty, M., 2018. Race and retention in a competitive labor market:
The role of historically Black colleges and universities in NCAA basketball. Journal of Sports
Economics, 19(3), pp.417-451.
Lamb, C. ed., 2016. From Jack Johnson to Lebron James: Sports, Media, and the Color Line. U
of Nebraska Press.
Lauren, P.G., 2018. Power and prejudice: The politics and diplomacy of racial discrimination.
Routledge.
Long, J., Hylton, K., Spracklen, K., Ratna, A. and Bailey, S., 2009. Systematic review of the
literature on black and minority ethnic communities in sport and physical recreation.
Martin, L.L., 2015. White sports/black sports: racial disparities in athletic programs: racial
disparities in athletic programs. ABC-CLIO.

27DISSERTATION
Martin, L.L., Fasching-Varner, K.J. and Hartlep, N.D., 2017. Pay to Play: Race and the Perils of
the College Sports Industrial Complex. ABC-CLIO.
Mayan, M.J., 2016. Essentials of qualitative inquiry. Routledge.
Merriam, S.B. and Tisdell, E.J., 2015. Qualitative research: A guide to design and
implementation. John Wiley & Sons.
Mitten, M.J., Davis, T., Smith, R.K. and Shropshire, K.L., 2016. Sports law and regulation:
Cases, materials, and problems. Wolters Kluwer Law & Business.
Mwaniki, M.F., 2017. The Black Migrant Athlete: Media, Race, and the Diaspora in Sports. U of
Nebraska Press.
Oliver, P. and Lusted, J., 2015. Discrimination cases in grass-roots sport: comparing Australian
and English experiences. Sport in Society, 18(5), pp.529-542.
Patton, M.Q., 2002. Qualitative research and evaluation methods. Thousand Oaks. Cal.: Sage
Publications.
Paul, R., Weinbach, A. and Mattingly, J., 2018. Tests of racial discrimination in a simple
financial market: Managers in major league baseball. International Journal of Financial
Studies, 6(1), p.24.
Pope, D.G., Price, J. and Wolfers, J., 2018. Awareness reduces racial bias. Management
Science, 64(11), pp.4988-4995.
Rowe, N. and Champion, R., 2000. Sport participation and Ethnicity in England. Headline
findings. Sport England, London.
Silverman, D. ed., 2016. Qualitative research. Sage.

28DISSERTATION
Spaaij, R., Magee, J. and Jeanes, R., 2014. Sport and social exclusion in global society.
Routledge.
Sutton, J. and Austin, Z., 2015. Qualitative research: data collection, analysis, and
management. The Canadian journal of hospital pharmacy, 68(3), p.226.
Tainsky, S., Mills, B.M. and Winfree, J.A., 2015. Further examination of potential
discrimination among MLB umpires. Journal of Sports Economics, 16(4), pp.353-374.
Taylor, S.J., Bogdan, R. and DeVault, M., 2015. Introduction to qualitative research methods: A
guidebook and resource. John Wiley & Sons.
Uchacz, C.P., 2017. Black sports images in transition: The impact of Tiger’s roar. In African
Americans in Sports (pp. 53-66). Routledge.
Walker, N.A. and Melton, E.N., 2015. The tipping point: The intersection of race, gender, and
sexual orientation in intercollegiate sports. Journal of Sport Management, 29(3), pp.257-271.
Wolfers, S., File, K. and Schnurr, S., 2017. “Just because he's black”: Identity construction and
racial humour in a German U-19 football team. Journal of Pragmatics, 112, pp.83-96.
Zhang, L., 2017. A fair game? Racial bias and repeated interaction between NBA coaches and
players. Administrative Science Quarterly, 62(4), pp.603-625.

29DISSERTATION