How Does Europe's Racism Haunt Muslim Athletes?

It took France 24 years for a French footballer of Algerian origin to receive the Ballon d'Or, yet the hostility and racism against him did not stop by the French.

The same prize was last won by French-born Zinedine Zidane in 1988, out of five French people who have won it since 1958, AFP reported on October 18, 2022.

It was ironic that the French media celebrated the victory of its player of Algerian origin, Karim Benzema, with the Ballon d'Or and saw his victory as a sporting achievement for the French, while in the recent past, it was whipping the player with racist criticism.

They said that "the Ballon d'Or was crowned with Benzema," while Karim Hafez Mustapha Benzema was the subject of racist criticism by the same media, which branded him extremist because he is a "Muslim" and proud of his family's country (Algeria).

This raises questions about the double standards of France, which always sees the victory of athletes like Benzema as a success for the country while attributing their failure to their African and Islamic origins.

 

French or African?

It was repeated with other players who had been subjected to the same racism and attack because of their Islamic origins and religion in European countries such as Germany, the United Kingdom, and others, and the ridicule of some of them reached black skin if they failed to score a penalty kick.

Observers saw this as European "hypocrisy" and "racism," stressing that Europeans celebrate Arab and African athletes if they win.

But if they fail, they attack them and ridicule them as being from Muslim or African countries and that they are the cause of the defeat, and even accuse them of "terrorism."

Another aspect of this racism was expressed by Liverpool's German-born English coach, Jurgen Klopp, when on October 14, 2022, he linked European clubs owned by some Arab Gulf states to football conflicts.

Then, in comments to the British newspaper The Guardian on October 18, he tried to deny being accused of "racism" and "xenophobia," claiming that his statements about European clubs owned by some Arab Gulf states had been "misunderstood."

Among these racists came the statements of the European Union's foreign policy high representative, Josep Borrell, during the opening of the new European Diplomatic Academy in the Belgian city of Bruges.

"Europe is a garden, and most of the rest of the world is a jungle. The jungle can invade the park, causing anger and disapproval," he said. Prompting him to apologize later but raising questions about the "superior" Western mentality that espouses these ideas.

This "superior" mentality extends to sport, and the most prominent examples of such practices are the racism and discrimination faced by footballers of African and Arab descent in European teams.

Following Benzema's victory, French President Emmanuel Macron tweeted celebrating the coronation, writing, "KB9!" referring to the initials of the player's name and number.

"Two letters and a number will go down in history," he said, adding: "After 24 years of Zinedine Zidane, here is another golden ball won by France," although Zinedine is also of Algerian origin.

But former French player and former UEFA president Michel Platini tweeted racism against Benzema in which he said Karim must prove he deserved the Ballon d'Or with a major World Cup, angering Arab activists.

Benzema's incident began with the French press taunting him in 2016 when it said he was a Muslim who loved his native Algeria.

It incited large audiences to hate him, which prevented him from participating in Euro 2016 and winning the 2018 World Cup in Russia.

In an interview in early June 2016, Karim Benzema told the Spanish newspaper Marca that the reason he was removed from his country's Euro 2016 squad was due to the French coach's succumbing to "racist pressures" from the French people following the rise of two racist parties in the elections.

Although French newspapers attacked Benzema because he accused "part of the French people" of racism, former Manchester United star Eric Cantona defended Karim and called France "racist."

He told The Guardian on March 26, 2017, that he believed that the failure to summon Karim Benzema and Hatem Ben Arafa for the 2016 tournament was caused by a racist reason for their "African and Maghreb origins."

Cantona expressed surprise at French laws, as Benzema was barred from representing the electorate due to a lawsuit against him, while candidate Francois Fillon was not barred from entering the presidential election despite a lawsuit against him related to corruption.

In another interview with Eurosport quoted by Le Point on March 25, 2017, Cantona said: "France is a very strange country. If you are accused of a case in court, you will be denied the representation of the electorate, but you can still participate in the presidential elections.

"Fillon suggested canceling the match if there are people [Arabs and Africans] who don't respect the French national anthem, and in turn, I demand that the elections be canceled when there are candidates who don't respect public morals," he said.

Fillon had meant by his criticism that Benzema refuses to sing the national anthem played before the matches, although star Michel Platini stressed that he personally did not chant the national anthem either when he was a player.

On October 17, 2022, Algerian sports analyst Zakaria Habchi explained this French duality: "It is the hypocrisy in particular and the double standards that prevail in the French media."

"They celebrate athletes if they win as French, and if they fail, they attack them as Algerians," he told TRT Arabic.

Former French president François Hollande had previously criticized Real Madrid's Karim Benzema and said he was "mindless" in 2016, claiming he had blackmailed his team-mate, Mathieu Valbuena.

Hollande said Benzema was not a role model and that he was "the cause of a moral crisis and should not do such childish behaviors and blackmail one of his compatriots in this way."

The player responded by accusing Hollande of racism against him because of his Algerian religion and origins, saying that "instead of ending the problem, the president has contributed to igniting it further."       

As then-Real Madrid coach Zinedine Zidane said, the president had the right to criticize, "but not by saying strange things" that upset the player. Benzema was then punished with exclusion from the French national team.

 

Political Racism

Many Arab and Muslim players in European teams received the same racism, especially when their teams were defeated, while their achievement, if they won was attributed to their teams and their European, not African or Islamic nationality.

In 2019, Chelsea fans chanted racist slogans against Liverpool's Egyptian player Mohamed Salah and posted a video online insulting him because he is an Arab and a Muslim, claiming: "Salah is a terrorist bomber," AFP reported on April 12, 2022.

On September 3, 2022, a mural of Mohamed Salah was distorted ahead of the Everton–Liverpool match, and fanatics wrote the word "Paki" on his image, an English populist term meaning people of Pakistani descent and hinting that they were "terrorists."

Racism also prompted a German player of Turkish origin, Mesut Ozil, to retire from international play following the July 2018 Cup for being attacked for taking a photo with Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan in May 2018.

Ozil posted a response on his Twitter account, accusing the then-president of the German Football Association of racism, saying: "In the eyes of Reinhard Grindel and his supporters, I am a German when we win, and an immigrant when we lose."

The German newspaper Bild accused him at the time of supporting what it called "a tyrant trying to impose an Islamic dictatorship" after meeting Erdogan and gifting him his shirt, as well as other newspapers accusing him of weak loyalty to Germany.

Turkish Justice Minister Abdulhamit Gul responded at the time, saying Ozil's decision to leave the German national team was "the most beautiful goal against the Fascism virus."

In September 2020, former France national team player Patrice Evra revealed the racist practices to which he and his colleagues of African descent were subjected, both from some fans and from the management of the team.

He said it went so far as to liken them to monkeys and exclude them from taking pictures with the French president when he visited the national team.

On February 15, 2021, Birmingham City University published a study on the impact of Islamophobia on Muslim players on and off the pitch, exploring "how did the beautiful game turn into hatred?"

It explained a number of root causes of Islamophobia in football, such as the lack of representation of Muslims, especially in the Premier League, linking them to terrorist attacks as Muslims, and broadcasting negative media reports about Islam and Muslims to tarnish their image.