Speaker
Description
Over the past two decades, players with a migration background have rapidly risen to the top of the Finnish football. Although in the Finnish society debate around migration has commonly focused on problems and challenges, within the context of the football the tone has been very different. Migrant players have been regularly depicted as the great hope of Finnish Football. Building on concepts of racialization (Murji & Solomos 2005; Ansari 2004) and white gaze (Ahmed 2007; Dyer 1997) this presentation takes a critical look at the dimensions and consequences underlying this discourse of hope. The results of a content analysis of nearly two hundred media texts highlight a tension between a praise speech, which emphasizes the exceptional football skills of the players with a migration background, and a critical speech, which refers to their alleged attitude problems and difficulties of adjusting to the Finnish way of playing. As a result, the way the media frames the migrant players tends to leave them with two possible roles: a potential superstar or a potential troublemaker. Based on these findings, this presentation raises a broader question of whether excellence has become an entry requirement for the inclusion of migrants not only on the football field but also in society in general.
