Soccer, the most popular mass spectator sport in the world, has always remained a marker of identities of various sorts. Behind the facade of its obvious entertainment aspect, it has proved to
be a perpetuating reflector of nationalism, ethnicity, community or communal identity, and cultural specificity. Naturally therefore, the game is a complex representative of minorities' status
especially in countries where minorities play a crucial role in political, social, cultural or economic life. The question is also important since in many nations success in sports like soccer
has been used as an instrument for assimilation or to promote an alternative brand of nationalism. Thus soccer was appropriated to strengthen national identity during Nazi dominance in
pre-Second World War Germany while Jewish teams in pre-Second World War Europe were set up to promote the idea of a muscular Jewish identity. Similarly, in apartheid South Africa, soccer became
the game of the black majority since it was excluded from the two principal games of the country - rugby and cricket. In India, on the other hand, the Muslim minorities under colonial rule
appropriated soccer to assert their community-identity. In the USA or in certain African countries, the game has provided a means for minority ethnic communities to construct their unique
cultural identity. Similarly, soccer in contemporary Britain has been appropriated to fight racism, forge cultural resistance and integrate the minorities. Yet again the game can provide
autonomous space to women - traditionally considered to be minority participant and spectator - to assert their identity.
The book examines why in certain countries, minorities chose to take up the sport while in others they backed away from participating in the game or, alternatively, set up their own leagues and
practised self-exclusion. The book examines European countries like England, Ireland, Germany and Denmark, the USA, Africa, Australia and parts of Asia including Israel and India.
This book was previously published as a special issue of Soccer and Society.
