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Prejudice against foreign footballers

Arnhildur Hálfdánardóttir, MA student at the Faculty of Social and Human Sciences

The topic of Arnhildur Hálfdánardóttir's research is whether footballers of foreign origin experience prejudice or discrimination. Arnhildur is a Master's student in journalism and mass communication with a BA in anthropology from 2012. She has been awarded a grant from the Student Innovation Fund.

"It is very difficult to research prejudice and therefore I used both qualitative and quantitative approaches. Icelandic football teams now often hire foreign players. All foreign players at Icelandic teams in the Pepsi League, and First, Second and Third Divisions for both men and women were sent a list of questions – around 200 foreign players played in Icelandic leagues last summer. In-depth interviews were also conducted with ten players."

Arnhildur Hálfdánardóttir

"A third of participants had experienced prejudice, as it was defined in the research. A very small proportion had experienced frequent or serious prejudice."

Arnhildur Hálfdánardóttir, MA student at the Faculty of Social and Human Sciences

Arnhildur says that discourse on prejudice and discrimination within football has been striking in recent years. "Various campaigns against prejudice have been run in the sport. I was curious to know whether prejudice against foreign players existed and, if so, how it manifested itself."

Arnhildur's results reveal that the majority of the foreign players who took part in the research reported positive experiences and did not feel they had been the victims of prejudice or discrimination. "A third of participants had experienced prejudice, as it was defined in the research. A very small proportion had experienced frequent or serious prejudice. The in-depth interviews provided a valuable insight into the experiences of the interviewees, most of whom were pleased with their club and their stay in Iceland. Many reported misunderstandings and language difficulties. Three reported serious prejudice such as humiliating verbal insults, bullying and physical violence following verbal insults."

Arnhildur says that the research promotes increased understanding of the circumstances of foreign footballers in Iceland. "The information provided by the research could prove useful for both the Football Association of Iceland and its member clubs, helping in the battle against prejudice."

Supervisors: Elsa Arnardóttir and Ari Klængur Jónsson of the Multicultural and Information Centre.