Racism in sports is one of the ugliest things that have befallen the world of sports. It is a phenomenon that has plagued the sports industry for several years. Over time, it has led to depression for many athletes.
Some athletes went as far as retiring from their sports due to racial slurs regularly thrown at them. You’ll agree that the time has arrived when more actions need to be taken as regards reducing racism exponentially in sports.
In this article, you will be reading about five effective ways to reduce racism in sports. This article promises to be insightful, so don’t miss reading a word. Let’s begin by exploring the first way to reduce racism in sports.
1. By Enforcing Stiff Disciplinary Actions
In different sports, there have been several actions taken to reduce racism. However, these actions seem to be quite lenient.
These actions do not send the message that racism has no place in sports. Instead, these actions only prevent individuals from making racial slurs at sporting centers.
In some sports like football, it is only after the offender commits the offense multiple times in the stadium that’s when he is even held accountable. Other than that, the person may not be noticed enough to get the punishment.
So, that’s where establishing stiffer punishment for racial offenders comes into play. This stiffer punishment would serve as a deterrent to anyone who may likely commit any racist offense in the future at any sporting event.
For instance, when sports with live spectator audiences impose lifetime bans or imprisonment on offenders, that would send a warning.
So, reducing racism in sports goes beyond stating it by word of mouth. It should be shown by action. Racial offenders should face stiffer punishment that goes beyond fines.
If possible, it should be an action that could lead to jail or lifetime bans from the stadiums or sporting arenas.
2. Raising More Awareness
Indeed, some people who commit racism are not aware that it is wrong to do so. Others may think that it is part of having fun.
Many offenders have remarked that they thought that making remarks at athletes didn’t have any mental effect.
So, this goes to show that many people are still oblivious to how far racism can affect the mental state of individuals.
This, then shows that more work needs to be done on educating individuals about the impact of racism in sports.
There should be more sports organizations springing up solely to enlighten those who come to the sporting centers on the mental impact of racism on athletes.
This has been done in some leagues in football. For instance, before an English Premier League game, the players take a knee.
This action by the players before each game draws an awareness of the impact of racism on the sport. Actions like this should be adopted in other sports.
In addition, more banners should be placed at the entry and exit points of sporting arenas too. No doubt, these deliberate actions would show potential racial offenders that such actions would not be tolerated.
Furthermore, collaborations can be formed between sporting governing bodies and human rights organizations to change the narratives.
These collaborations can lead to the establishment of workshops and community outreach to address racism. It can also become an opportunity to address other underlying issues in the sporting world.
3. Creating Inclusiveness
Another way to reduce racism in sports is by increasing the representation of people of color in sports.
This means that more people from diverse origins should participate in sports teams and management. When people see a team filled with different races in a team, they learn to appreciate people of all races. Most especially if the teams are doing well.
So, in team sports, there should be more deliberate actions done to include people of color.
The governing body of sports competitions can make it a rule. This development would force rigid teams to embrace diversity.
4. Providing Accessible Racism Reporting Channels
You’ll agree that one of the major reasons why racism is common in sports is because of the lack of accessible reporting channels.
The problem could be that either these channels are no longer working or are not known.
So, due to this inefficiency, racism has become widespread and present in almost all sporting centers all over the world.
To tackle this, accessible reporting channels can be made available at sports arenas and stadiums.
A way to do that is by providing contact numbers of authorities in certain areas of these sporting centers.
These contact numbers can be called upon when certain spectators make racist chants. This would then alert the appropriate authorities to come to those areas to carry out justice.
When spectators see this in real play, they will be more careful about the actions they take at sporting centers.
In addition, others who may plan on carrying out similar actions in the future would not dare to do that. Don’t you agree?
5. By Rewarding Fairplay Actions
Lack of sportsmanship attitude is one of the leading causes of the high rate of racist abuses in sports.
Most times when racial slurs are carried out, it is usually the fans of the losing teams making those chants.
These actions show a bad example of a lack of sportsmanship. In recent times, there have been cases where sportsmen and women have even been attacked physically by bitter fans.
Well, these cases highlight the need to encourage fair play actions in sports arenas. To curb this, fans of teams who show exemplary behavior at stadiums can be awarded.
This award category can be inserted into mainstream sports awards ceremonies such as the Laureus Awards and Balon D’or Awards, among others.
This award, when earned, will encourage fans to show acceptable behavior at sports centers. There is no doubt that this will greatly reduce the incidents of racism in sporting centers.
Conclusion
As you’ve read, racism can be reduced exponentially. However, before that can be done, certain strict actions have to be taken. With the gradual enforcement of these methods outlined above, there would be a big change. Let’s learn to promote diversity and teach others to do the same.
