6–10 Jun 2022
Tübingen
Europe/Berlin timezone

Sport Careers of Footballers with a Refugee Background: A Socialisation Theoretical Analysis

8 Jun 2022, 11:00
20m

Speaker

Enrico Michelini

Description

Objectives
Against the background of the recent European ‘refugee crisis’ and its long-term consequences, this project investigates the research question ‘What do sport biographies of refugee professional footballers look like?’.
Methods
To assess this question, eight competitive footballers with a refugee background and two football experts were interviewed via a teleconference. The video material was examined using methods of qualitative content analysis and interpreted through a socialisation theoretical framework.
Findings
The results show that the careers of the interviewees were strongly influenced by the adverse events related to their forced migration. Therefore, migration phases instead of conventional age-related developments have a higher explanatory power for these cases. After their resettlement, the direct and indirect consequences of these events on the re-inclusion in football can be clearly viewed in relation to factors such as: distortions in the perceived time; current suboptimal performance level; difficult relationship with football clubs; unstable personal situation; and strong ambition to achieve sporting goals.
Discussion
Building upon the respondents’ experiences and suggestions, the discussion focuses particularly on the conception of measures to adequately support sport inclusion in organised football from the perspective of the German sport system and refugee athletes.
Conclusion
The former professional athletes interviewed for this study, who migrated to Germany during the ‘refugee crisis’, play football today at the amateur level. How to promote talented people who have experienced forced migration is a relevant topic from both a scientific and social perspective in times of recurring ‘migration crises’.

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