A/HRC/62/55 Special Rapporteur also received information about projects that have been developed to try to address racism within football at the grass-roots level.50 34. Elite soccer has a long history of deplorable racist incidents, such as racist chants, racist insults and banana peels being thrown at players of African descent. 51 The increasing integration of social media into football has allowed for the online replication of these long-established scourges. The abuse faced by Bukayo Saka, Marcus Rashford and Jadon Sancho, players of African descent, following the Union of European Football Associations (UEFA) Euro 2020 final is an emblematic case of online racial hatred in football. The three players for England were subjected to a torrent of scapegoating and racial abuse following the defeat of England in the final. According to an independent investigation, at least 80 monkey GIFs and other racial slurs were posted on Mr. Saka’s Instagram profile, with some content remaining online for over 24 hours despite user reports.52 Similar cases of racist abuse, such as those involving Vinícius Júnior, an Afro-Brazilian player who played in Spain, illustrates how racial abuse directed at players of African descent remains deeply embedded within contemporary football cultures and stadium environments. 53 In addition, the racist abuse directed at Jamaican women’s footballer Khadija Shaw is illustrative of how racism operates at the intersection of race and gender. 35. The scapegoating of athletes from marginalized racial and ethnic groups when fans face disappointment with their team’s performance is a common theme in many racist incidents. Followed the defeat of the Indian women’s hockey team in the Olympics semi-finals in 2021, the player Vandana Katariya was targeted. Two men allegedly danced and burst firecrackers outside Ms. Katariya’s house in a gesture of mockery. When her family members went outside, casteist remarks, suggesting that the team had lost because there were too many Dalit players, were directed at them.54 36. Racist incidents, which can include cases that reach the threshold for incitement to discrimination, hatred and violence, are deeply harmful to athletes at both the elite and grass-roots levels. They can have a detrimental impact on the mental health of athletes. This can become compounded when athletes face multiple incidents of racism, as is common. At the elite levels, these detrimental mental health impacts can disrupt the continuity of athlete’s careers and their livelihoods. At the grass-roots level, racism can impact the day-to-day lives of athletes, damage social cohesion and impact the socialization of children. In addition, the normalization of such racist incidences can have a ripple effect. Fans from racialized groups can be affected in a secondary manner by hatred directed at athletes. Moreover, the normalization of racial hatred within sport can mean that fans from racialized groups face similar abuse.55 37. The impact of racist incidents can be intensified in cases where inadequate action is taken by relevant authorities, sports governance bodies and other actors, including social media companies. The Special Rapporteur received information suggesting that some sports governance officials have trivialized racist chants from sports fans, attributing them to rivalry and to emotions associated with competitive sporting events. She is concerned by information suggesting that there may be a culture of silence within some sporting institutions, with multiple African and South American soccer players reportedly being advised not to speak out about their experiences of racism for fear of contractual sanctions. There can be specific challenges in addressing online racist abuse due to gaps in regulatory frameworks and an overreliance on self-regulation by social media companies. 50 51 52 53 54 55 GE.26-07112 Submission from Germany. Submission from Portugal. Submission from Juan Pierre and Mouvman Lavwa Dime. Vincent Sima Olé and Robbie Newton, “FIFA needs to call full time on discrimination”, Human Rights Watch dispatches, 24 February 2026. NDTV, “Caste slur at hockey player Vandana Katariya’s family, 1 arrested: report”, 5 August 2021, and Suman Ghosh, “Casteist cry in Indian sports: revisiting caste discrimination of Palwankar Baloo and Vandana Katariya”, Contemporary Voice of Dalit, 14 June 2025. Submissions from FAIR – Fide Research Monitoring Reporting; Elizka Relief Foundation; Juan Pierre and Mouvman Lavwa Dime; and humanrights.ch. 11