<b>From resilience to depression – how racism affects the psyche of football players</b>
The violent death of George Floyd in the US has led to demonstrations and anti-racism protests worldwide – also in the Bundesliga.Both clubs and players are taking a stand against racism by publicly voicing their support for the Black Lives Matter movement, which originated in the US and fights against police brutality against Afro-Americans and People of Color.Showing solidarity is extremely important – and long overdue. Unfortunately, racism in football isn’t exactly a new phenomenon either: abusive chants and insults on the pitch and in the stadium are not unusual. There certainly has been progress in recent years, such as the numerous “fan projects” that see football fans working together with professional social workers.Nevertheless, the footballers who publicly spoke out against racism in the past were mainly players who had become victims of racial discrimination and abuse themselves, either in their daily lives or on the football pitch.Berlin-based sports psychologist <a href="https://twitter.com/UweKnepel">Uwe Knepel</a>, who is actively involved in the youth academy of Hertha BSC, says that the effects on a player’s psyche who has been exposed to racist insults or abuse depend on various factors.<em>“One one hand, you have to consider the matter of frequency, meaning the number of incidents they experience, and on the other hand, it is about their own psychological resistance, the so-called resilience,” he explains. “A player’s individual background always plays an important part.”</em>So, what happens to a footballer when he is racially abused on the pitch?<em>“In a situation like this, in the short-term, it is first and foremost a huge distraction for the player, who carries this incident with him in his mind and perhaps can’t fully focus anymore on the game,” Knepel says.</em><em>“Some players might be annoyed or feel emotional pain and look for ways to unload. For instance, it may cause the footballer to play rough, commit more fouls than usual or throw around a crate with drinks. Sometimes it happens that they’re not in the game anymore. The worst case scenario is that nothing they try on the pitch works anymore or that they are red-carded for a foul – as we know, this actually happened recently.”</em><a href="#in-extreme-cases-it-can-also-lead-to-a-depression"></a>In extreme cases, it can also lead to a depressionIn the long run, however, the consequences can be even more serious. According to Knepel, studies have shown that young people often show behavioural problems after experiencing prolonged and recurring discriminatory incidents.<em>“There are changes in their general behaviour, but depression symptoms, such as persistent fatigue, increased irritability or sleep disorders can also occur,” Knepel explains. “In extreme cases, it can also lead to a depression – for an athlete or football player, this could even mean that they have to end their career.”</em>When football players are exposed to racial discrimination during a match and recognize this outside stimulus, they have to evaluate it for themselves first – this is something that usually happens quickly and automatically.<em>“It’s not as if the player consciously decides to get angry, sad or scared in that moment, it happens automatically,” Knepel says. “Sports psychology offers a variety of measures and techniques to repeat certain processes and work out behavioural goals with the athletes, so they themselves are clear about how they want to deal with a situation like this. This is something that can be trained.”</em><a href="#theres-more-at-stake-here-than-just-fair-play"></a>There’s more at stake here than just fair playThe victims also have the opportunity to address the referee either directly or through their team captain. This would be the first step of UEFA’s three-step procedure that aims to help tackle racist incidents in the stadiums – the procedure includes…