ABSTRACT
Amateur football is a major sphere for the ethnic self-organization of migrants in Germany, with several hundred sports clubs that are more or less related to a particular national or ethnic group. This chapter examines how ethnic self-organization in football correlates with racism, ethnic discrimination, and interethnic conflict by identifying different patterns of linkage. From a historical point of view, migrant football clubs are a structural consequence of the social exclusion present in Germany’s former “guest worker” system. Even today, ethnic discrimination is a driving force behind the foundation of such clubs and members’ involvement. At the same time, ethnic sports clubs have shifted the balance of power in many settings, providing some protection against racist offenses and therein reducing their incidence. Nevertheless, many migrant football clubs also are (or at least see themselves as) discriminated against by opposing teams and sports association ogfficials just because of their club’s specific character. Furthermore, ethnic sports clubs are involved in conflicts at football matches distinctly more frequently than on average, because ethnic homogeneity within competing teams has the potential to mobilize ethnic solidarity in conflict situations. In addition, international conflicts consistently lead to tensions and violence at matches that feature the respective ethnic groups.
