Misogyny in Football
Trigger warning: sexual assault and rape
Although dubbed the 'beautiful game', football becomes less beautiful when one looks beyond the colossal stadiums, the star-studded half-time commercials, and the grand tournaments. Football appears to have a misogyny problem that is yet to be properly tackled.
Having been an avid fan of the sport growing up, it has been disappointing to see some of my favourite footballers and teams be involved in perpetuating regressive views about women and contributing to women’s subordination. It is evident that football remains a highly male-dominated and masculine sport where women are frequently pushed to the sidelines.
A Neglected Problem?
Misogyny has permeated deeply into football, from fandom culture to the behaviour of footballers to the institutions and structures. Research has highlighted the historical exclusion of female footballers in football, the sexist and misogynistic attitudes of male football fans, and the continued devaluation of women’s football. In contemporary times, we see misogyny manifest in various forms, particularly in footballers’ (mis)treatment of women and the perceptions of male fans on social media platforms, both of which I address here.
Sexual Violence in Football
Over the last few years, a series of gross sexual misconduct involving prolific footballers has been exposed which left the media in a frenzy and teams in turmoil. Some prominent cases involve the Manchester City star Benjamin Mendy who was accused of assault by six women, popular ex-Barcelona player Dani Alves who was found guilty of rape, and several current and former Real Madrid players who are alleged to have engaged in sexual acts with a minor and distributing videos. Additional cases include former English footballer Daniel Senda who was banned from the sport for four years in early 2024 for sexually violating women on a coaching course as an assistant manager for Charlton Athletic. Former Manchester City footballer Robinho was arrested for a rape he was convicted of in Italy in 2013. A sexual assault case was also filed against the formidable Cristiano Ronaldo in 2018 but has since disappeared from dominant media and fandom discourses. It is not just the players who have perpetrated terrible crimes as powerful men running footballing bodies have also been involved; one cannot forget the scenes of the Spanish football president Luis Rubiales kissing Jenni Hermoso right after the Spanish football team was crowned champions in the Women's World Cup final in 2023.
It is worth noting that these are only the cases that we know of because of the survivors who could take high-profile sportsmen to court. Many survivors likely suffer in silence and have to witness their oppressors be paraded as 'heroes' and 'legends' on weekly television and worshiped by millions around the world while they are labeled as 'liars' and 'greedy'.
Contrary to the popular belief that such allegations ‘ruin a man’s life’, sexual misconduct barely leaves a mark on a player’s career, and the perpetrators often demonstrate a lack of accountability and remorse. Mendy, who was cleared of rape and attempted rape in mid-2023, said during his trial that it was ‘honestly, so easy’ to pick up women at clubs and take them to his home because of his status; the star had to leave Manchester City following the allegations, but it should be highlighted that he has since quietly made his return to the sport. Alves, who was initially sentenced to four and a half years in prison before subsequently being released on bail, unabashedly asserted that the victim was trying to take advantage of his fame. Although he has been away from the spotlight since the case, he reappeared on social media last year and maintains a large following on X. After being investigated for his non-consensual kiss, Rubiales blamed ‘false feminism’ for causing ‘social assassination’ claiming that ‘False feminism does not seek justice or truth. It does not care about people’ during a general assembly and garnering applause from Spanish Football Federation members including the former coach of the Spanish women’s football team. Not only do these cases testify to legal failings across different national and sociocultural contexts, they are perhaps symptomatic of a more sinister issue plaguing the sport.
Like Players, Like Fans
Mimicking their idols, male football fans often exhibit biased and hateful attitudes towards women, with football fandom spaces being hotbeds for misogyny. To illustrate, sexual harassment has been common during football matches as many women have shared harrowing experiences of being violated by male fans; women have also endured sexist language during matchdays such as being questioned for their football knowledge. With the growth of social media, much of the contempt women are subject to transpires on online platforms where many male fans mistreat women using gender stereotypes and offensive language all the while celebrating footballers who commit sexual crimes.
When I am on social media, I regularly see posts from male football fans which objectify women, dismiss women’s love for the sport, and refute allegations of sexual violence involving their beloved players. A well-known football account, ‘Troll Football’, stands out in this regard as its social media posts are packed with sexual innuendos, sexualised or objectified imagery of women, and outdated views on gender identities and gender relations. Beyond the subtle promotion of sexist and misogynistic views, there is also a strain of male football fans who treat issues of sexual violence lightly as they are too occupied debating statistics and boasting about their team’s silverware. After the recent case involving Real Madrid players came to light, fans were more worried about the impact the news would have on the team’s upcoming matches while rival team fans were busy using it as a ‘gotcha’ moment. It is indeed typical of fans to reduce sexual misconduct allegations to ‘conspiracies’ intended to damage their team’s or player’s reputation and use such cases to mock their rivals and their fans while failing to acknowledge that sexual violence is a serious issue affecting actual people.
What perhaps continues to enable women’s dehumanization and discrimination is the very fact that footballers are more often than not silent about the misogyny prevalent in and beyond the sport. In 2023, when Mendy was cleared of his charges, Dutch footballer Memphis Depay was quick to come to his peer’s defence on X and Instagram claiming that he did not see ‘any evil in the man’; the now-deleted Instagram post received likes from popular stars such as Neymar, Jérôme Boateng and Lucas Digne. The post, which is still visible on X, is littered with derogatory comments that say ‘This is why the Me Too movement is so full of garbage’, ‘The system is rigged against men!’, and even a reply from British politician George Galloway. Depay has also defended his friendship with Alves, ‘Benjamin Mendy and Dani Alves were also involved in criminal cases, but that doesn't mean they are no longer my friends. That doesn't mean I say they do the right thing or that I support everything they do, but I won't let them down’. It should be highlighted that such grace and support are rarely extended to survivors of sexual crimes, with some exceptions being the Jenny Hermoso case when footballers around the world stood in solidarity with her using expressions such as ‘We stand with Jenni’. However, to reiterate, this is unfortunately an exception, not the norm.
How about the football teams? They are no less complicit in sustaining misogyny as they fail to hold accountable players and staff who have espoused regressive values and engaged in problematic behavior. After Alves’s case was publicized, his former team, FC Barcelona removed him from its ‘legendary players’ section only to reinstate him later. Similarly, football teams continue to sign players with a record of sexual violence or accept them back after a hiatus prompting the question of whether these teams care about the plight of women and survivors of sexual violence.
Change is Long Overdue
While women are more visible than ever as players and fans, it seems that the biases and discrimination have not receded. Football is a global sport that attracts billions and wields significant sociocultural and political influence; certainly then it has a role in (re)shaping societal perceptions and attitudes towards women as well as broader gender relations.
As a woman, it is difficult for me to continue enjoying the sport without actively thinking about the spectre of misogyny that looms around it. When I am celebrating my favourite team’s win, I have to remind myself that many of the players on the field likely hold sexist and misogynistic views or inadvertently (re)produce such views. All parties, including institutions, teams, players, and fans have a responsibility to foster a safe and dignified environment for women. For football to be truly ‘beautiful’, it is thus necessary for an overhaul of the current culture and ecology, making way for meaningful reforms.
References:
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About the author:
Raisha Jesmin is currently a research assistant at a think tank having completed her master’s in Gender and International Relations from the University of Bristol. Her research interests include the gender-sports nexus and gendered nationalism in South Asia.
