LITERATURE REVIEW

Racism
The term South Asian usually refers to people from the Indian subcontinent. The 2001
Census gave the statistics as 1,053,411 Indians (1.8% of the total population), 747,285
Pakistanis (1.3%), 283,063 Bangladeshis and 247,664 other Asians. The majority of other
Asians were Sri Lankan, but this group also comprises of third-generation Asians, Asians of
mixed parentage, people from Nepal, Bhutan and the Maldives Islands and some from the
Middle East.
Most of the community comes from three areas of the subcontinent: the Punjab (Pakistan and
India), Gujarat (India) and north-east Bengal (Bangladesh). The main languages spoken by
South Asians are Punjabi, Gujarati, Bengali (or Bangla), Hindi, Urdu and English.
Burdsey (2004) has defined the British Asian as people whose ethnicity can be traced back to
Indian subcontinent but are British through their passports which is given either due to Birth
in the Britain or Residence. Barker (1981) and Gilroy (1987) have given the idea that since
the Second World War and the successive Holocaust events have occurred, the term of racism
has changed in its context. It has escalated from the negative attitude towards the members of
society who are physically different, to towards biasness and disliking people of a different
culture. Then in 1990 Bauman further explained this variant of racism which is towards
culture, arises from certain markers such as language, religion, music preference, dress code
etc. These markers are the criteria for casting out and mixing in the members of a group or
society. Carrington and McDonald (2000) in their book state that the racism in Britain is
typical to the findings that have just been defined .More precisely the type of racism whereby
anything which the immigrants bring with themselves which is not a part of the British
culture and heritage is supposed to be unwelcomed by the natives. If such cultural signifiers
are not discontinued then the immigrants are subjected towards racism. In the same book, a
reference to Enoch Powells 1968 speech is presented in which he declared that citizenship
does not equate an immigrant to having approval inside the social class or culture of the U.K
and that ethnicity shall remain trumping citizenship every time.
Although there is advancement in the studies of genetics within modern science, the concept
of race has been translated into an idea which is not extremely discriminating the human race.

But the concept of race and science has only been filtered out for political reasons but not
thoroughly discarded Malik (1996) and Rose (1998). Moreover when considering genetic
gifts of performance, African Americans are thought to have stronger bodies and much more
stamina than any other race. South Asians are not their counterparts and for this reason their
physique, stamina and genetics are not brought into discussions of sports.
Bains and Johal (1998) in their work stated that Afro-Caribbean people have also faced
racism while pursuing football like Asians but they have had role models of their own race to
look up to during their struggles. Asians on the other hand do not have this luxury. African
descendants are believed to have the genetic make up for a powerful performance. Just like
the example of Usain bolt, Serena Williams. Almost all stars of NBA (National Basketball
Association in the United States the highest numbers of African American Players and not
just ordinary players, they are the most paid stars of the country and have very long
financially stable careers.
A report published in 2005 on the UK by the European Network against Racism (ENAR)
presents the status of various types of immigrants who they have become part of the British
society. The first thing in that report is the status of income an important component of
lifestyle and the related choice as a consequence of family wealth. Bangladeshi workers have
the lowest incomes in comparison to any other ethnic group. As a religious minority, the
Muslims are the ones with poor statistics in education, employment, housing and health. Also
after terrorist attacks of 9/11 2001 and 7/7 2005, there are many prejudices against them and
they face more hostility than Hindus or Christians. Most people insult the minorities by
urging them to return to their homeland. They are also disliked for the lack of good jobs that
has created as a result of positions secured by talented and qualified South Asian
professionals.
In history, even when there were instances of Asians and Whites playing each other, there
were incidents of racial abuse observed (Bains and Johal, 1998, Fleming, 2005 Asians in
Football forum, 2007). Afterwards the British Asians have wanted to play football in a secure
environment, due to the horrific memories of the past. Pilger (2007) has found that all Asian
leagues and amateur leagues have been subjected to racism and they have not been able to cut
it out. The term he used for analogy to this dilemma is cancer.
Johal in 2002 observed that the cause of formation of All- Asian leagues is because the
Football Association would not let them inside. Their gate keepers would not inject Asians in

the teams because of one reason or another hence leading to the formation of All-Asian
football leagues. Pilger in 2007 said that Khalsa Football Federation is one of the leagues
where many all-Asian football teams have been registered.
On the contrary, Garland and Rowe (2007) said that due to the All-Asian football leagues,
there are no entries of Asians into the mainstream football leagues. Not the opposite case.
They said that when Asians themselves isolate and play in leagues that are made up of AllAsian players they are unable to blend into mainstream teams and destroying the society,
ultimately.

As sports form a very integral part of a culture of a region, if racism cannot be easily let go of
then it is very difficult to imagine popular supports such as Cricket and Football from being
excluded from it. Due to lack of investigation for this topic as it concerns South Asians, some
researchers tend to hypothesize that racism for sports is not blatant and therefore a possible
cause of this phenomenon is that sport institutes themselves do not let players of South Asian
descend to rise by encouraging and aiding them like they do with the natives.
Bulmer and Solomos (1999) suggested that when an institute says that it is not in favour of
racism it still cannot fully guarantee that racism is completely stopped. Often it happens that
institutions and organizations use laws to protect the superior class or group and to prosecute
inferior or subordinate class.

Stereotypes
As said by Ian Wright, there are obstacles to the game as evident by the zero number of
Asians who play professional football. Bains and Evans (2008:2012) have said that football is
an important part of Britains culture, receiving enormous amount of coverage from all over
the world. Bains and Patel in their research (1996) have found that Asians are more interested
in playing football than whites.
According to a DESIblitz viewer poll, 33.9 per cent of British Asians said their favourite
sport was football, while 21.9 per cent said their favourite was cricket. It was also revealed
that the most popular sports league among Asians was World Cup football (28.7 per cent)
followed by Premier League football (17.1 per cent).
A young footballer name Zesh Rahman admitted that a coach discouraged him when he
wanted to play it. He was told that he dietary habits were bad and he was not tough enough to
deal with the weather. He was also told that he likes Cricket better so he should not be
continuing in football. All of this because of his ethnicity (Muslim, South Asian)
Bains and Johal also mentioned in their research paper Asians cant play football that there
are many problems faced by South Asian footballers in their clubs, leagues. Though they did
not put racism as an evident factor, they pointed out certain discrepancies between the word
and actions of top management and selectors of the clubs. They challenged their notions that
if the chief persons in an institution hold some false perceptions against Asians then this way
cannot help the young footballers in showing their talents. There is very little possibility for
them to and prove their worth by stand outside the field and not being given a chance to play.
Burdsey (2004) says that children from South Asian families who have made a career in
professional level football have one of parents a White resident of Britain .They are called
Anglo-Asian. As per Bourdieu (1986) there is a desire in people who are not of mixed
parentage that they become a part of (British) culture so they can be better accepted into the
social groups of that culture. And to do so they acquire habits of the culture they want to
become a part of. They also do not want to draw attention toward their ethnicity.
(Burdsey,2004, 2006)
Johal (2002) said that a footballer who wants to be successful does not have to be actually a
White descendant; he just has to showcase himself as White. His lifestyle, thinking and
attitudes present him as a White person without any reference to his lineage. Bains and Johal

(1998) and Johal in 2002 quote the example of Chris Dolby who was an Asian adopted by
White parents. His brought up was in traditional White environment without any influences
from his own culture. He became a successful professional footballer and easily penetrated
into top league teams.
Burdsey (2004) also says there are some Anglo Asian footballers with a dual ethnicity (one
white parent) who are not easy role models for the rest of the British Asians. Anglo-Asians
are different from those without nay white parents. They are thought to not being a true
representative of Asian community because they are not viewed as having enough Asian
characteristics. This situation is taken advantage of when it comes to questioning the number
of South Asian sport stars from Britain. Despite the views of Asian community, the Anglo
Asians are counted as enough representatives and their examples are quoted to silence the
dissatisfaction of the majority.
This phenomenon is also quoted by Ahmed in 2007 as the hybrid (in our case parentage)
members of the society are not viewed as a part of the original culture. Also the members of
the culture do not take hybrids as representatives of their culture .Michael Chopra a famous
footballer is quoted by Harrison in 2003 saying that he cannot think of himself as a
representative of the Asian community because that would mean only seeing part of his
family. In a way he is right because supporting one of the sides of his parents would mean
ignoring the other and loving children do not of this as a way of respecting their children.
However in many cases, if the father is of Asia then saying that you are a representative of his
side is a source of happiness and pride for the father. The father wants the children to accept,
represent and show their culture like he would have done. Since there are many cases of
racism even at school level against young South Asians, they prefer not to introduce the
elements of their culture in front of their fellows. They do not dress in the cultural fashion
.Do not bring refreshments from home. And do not like to share their problems with their
school teachers .The instructors in this regard often feel helpless as they have to create a
balanced and harmonious environment. Often times for the sake of peace, they do not help
the minority children when they face antagonism. Instead they leave the whole group
dynamic to itself for balancing things and restoring harmony. But sometimes things do get
out of hand and reach physical imitations then the teachers have to intervene but students feel
do that White are more privileged when it comes to punishments and retribution.

An interview cited in Burdseys work (2004) suggests that people want Anglo Asians to
succeed and are not very judgemental about his cultural habits but they would burst with joy
if someone from the Asian community rises to the top who actually values his religious
teachings and cultural values. Like someone who requests to offer his prayers before a game
and someone who says he would want to go see his relatives who rum a chicken food
business. In subtext, the interviewee meant that the Asian community would also like to see a
sports star that is proud of his identity and does not participate in Britains White people
societal norms just because his own are not seen as good enough by the natives. They want a
star to represent them who also looks like them (no white parentage) and seeing him achieve
success would make them happy.
King in 2006 quotes a football commentator suggesting the stereotype can be broken by roles
model from minority community (Muslims) .He said that if we get to have a sports star who
is Muslim , then the Authorities for Racial Harmony will be thrown out of work as they
would have no issues regarding minority racism. This in hindsight is an excellent solution to
crack the glass ceiling that is hindering the rise sport stars.
An organization called kick it out (2008) states that Asians are prevented from playing
football and for that many reasons are made up on their behalf which are completely false.
Such as that they are physically not strong enough, there are cultural differences and that their
only interest in sports is stuck in cricket.
Johal in 2002 said that many Asians feel excluded from British society because of racism ,
discrimination and the weak standings of British Politics.
The number of professional South Asian football players is none. This issue has been
highlighted in media but not thoroughly identified as to why and how this has been
happening. Taking advantage of this situation, the high level authorities have blamed the
South Asians for having no interest in sports. Not just that there are surprisingly no women
players either. However there are evidences that sport activities have been a part of the leisure
activities of even Indian women as told by Bains and Johal (1998)
However Tacon (2005) says that sport is a great mechanism through which people from
different cultures and regions come together and express enthusiasm in a natural and healthy
manner. Thus sports whether intra-nations or inter-nations are considered a vital tool for
helping countries and people to develop friendly and supportive ties with one another. Had
there not been any Sports, a lot of nations would still be struggling to bond with each other.

Since football and cricket are both popular in developed and developing countries these two
sports receive a lot of highlight from media world-wide. A lot of immigrants are from
developing to developing countries and due to the commonality of interest in sports, people
want mixed teams for matches.
As discussed earlier, racism has stereotyped different ethnicities as being not a part of British
heritage. Before bringing any cultural stereotypes in, the topic of South Asians playing sports
is already too saturated with anti native branding that they cannot jump in fields like the
whites can. This aversion to including them in British circles has been questioned in sports
but no one seems to look at the behavioural dynamic of this exclusion and they put blames on
South Asians themselves.
There are cases where the stereotype has been broken .Mark Ramparkash and Nasser Hussian
are both of South Asian descent (Indian, Pakistani) and have done captaincy for Britain
Cricket teams. But after their retirements there are no mentionable achievements made by any
South Asians. Or that could be due to the stricter filtering of ethnic groups in sport teams.
IndianFootball.com said that Asians
The stereotype may also have a lot to do with the social status of the ethnic groups. Usually
immigrants who may have been living abroad for generations do not live luxuriously and so
they cannot afford higher education for their young. The children drop out and look after
family businesses (shops, restaurants) or go for manual labours or other office jobs. They
have no time to invest in Cricket and Football and usually are not supported by the family to
pursue their dreams. Also they are not financially stable; they have the responsibilities to take
care of their households.
Meanwhile, social classes that can afford to invest time in sports , do not like to mingle with
the crowds who do not play .Even the youngsters who come to play in leagues or events
using financial aids scored on their merits, are also subjected to exclusion from blending into
groups as a form of racial differences.
The hostility has been softened a little after the introduction of South Asian media
(Bollywood) and food in the region. Various restaurants have opened up loaded with
delicacies. The movies, music has penetrated Britain since 2002 so at least while there cannot
be any positive reviews for the taste of the Asian culture, the general population has an idea ,
a concept of Asian lifestyles . Without any tangible or intangible element of a culture , there

can be issues of This step has opened many business opportunities for the immigrants.
Indians are more successful as there artists have mingled generously with the natives. Their
musicians, actors are known. Their comedy programs have aired on BBC (the kumars at 42).
Moreover there are many fashion stores, labels opened up in mainstream high profile
markets, strengthening the business ties. (Burdsey, 2004)
Bains and Johal (2002) showed in their studies that previously the coaches did not care a lot
about religious minorities in football. Nowadays the coaches are aware of various religions
and cultures and try to accommodate the players .

Diet
South Asians are often labelled as the one who consume food loaded with various fattening
substances, their kitchen and restaurants filled with pots of though appetizing but deep fried
dishes all of which contributes to obesity and other fatal diseases.
A study by Sevak in 1994 says that the mortality and morbidity rates from coronary heart
diseases is the most in South Asian men (Indian, Pakistani and Bangladeshi) which are settled
overseas than compared to those who live in their region of birth or the natives.
A study conducted in 2002 revealed that children of South Asian origin are more prone to
health risks associated with non-insulin dependent diabetes than the native white children.
The study although does suggest that South Asian children should have a healthy lifestyle as
early as possible in their lifetime .So morphologically, South Asian are thought to not possess
good genetic makeup when it comes to health. This could be an excellent excuse for clubs o
mark boundaries when it comes to blended Cricket and Sport teams. Like all English people,
if there are fair chances for South Asians to prove their level of fitness then there seem no
official reasons for high management to hinder their initiation.

Fleming (1995) says that British South Asians face institutional problems .They are ignored
since school levels in Physical Education courses. There is less focus on their physical
development and progress since an early age. A possible explanation for this phenomenon is
given by (Rassol .1999) that the teachers in schools may have made some negative
assumptions about the sporting abilities and level of interest of the South Asian children ,
which is why they do not concentrate on their physical education. Into their young adult years
this pattern sets hard as they are denied access in leagues as well (Johal, 2002)
They lack of numbers of young South Asians in professional Cricket and Football leagues are
considered as backwardness .Obstacles that are imposed due to the selection committee and
gate keepers of English sports clubs use this excuse as to when they are highlighted as a
cause for this absence. (Parmar, 1990)

Family
There are numerous debates and cases for particularly female Muslim South Asians who are
born and bred in Britain. There have issues surrounding their attire, the clashes with school
authorities about the length of their skirts and covering their hair. Henley (1982) identified
the conservativeness of Muslims families, that they are not happy about females playing
sports as they have to wear revealing clothing. Most of the females clothes that constitute as
sport uniforms do not fall into the category of modest South Asian attire (religious, cultural,
moral values).
Moreover South Asian families they want their females to stay and home and help with
household chores along with completing their academic studies (Dixey p. 1982, Lewis
p.1979, Lyons p.1990). If they are given such responsibilities then there is hardly any leisure
time for them to utilize in sports. On higher levels, sports require consistent training, practice
and coaching among teams. So females are almost non- existent in higher elite sports clubs.
Dorsetts (1998) study found out that South Asians mostly belong to less financially secure
classes and therefore they lack resources to play informally. There are even lesser
probabilities that they could afford equipment, gear and transport costs for football.
Talking about the pressure to study, there are similar findings of students other Asian
ethnicity (Vietnamese, Chinese, Japanese) in the U.S. Lorenzo (2000) suggests that though
these children perform academically better than Caucasian children in America, they have
social problems, psychological stresses and self- image issues. Studying all the time because
of upholding family values is very harmful for a childs upbringing. Most South Asians
expect the same from their children and see sports as a useless activity and a waste of time.
Because play time is study time that is wasted. Getting good grades is extremely important
for the parents.
Based on such discouragements by family for sporting activities, there is a very less chance
for the families, who fall under the middle class social line to accept their childs wishes of
becoming a sport star .They negatively react to choosing a career in sports. MacPhail et.al
(2003) found out that parents support play a great role in creating interest in children for
being physically active.
White in 1990 White studied the Asian family background influence and its weak relationship
physical activities saying that some Asian lifestyles decrease participation of people in sports.

Fleming (1995) suggests South Asian youth is involved in manual labour jobs which are
technically prone to downsizing .These jobs makes them financially unstable. Gillborn and
Gipps (1996) said that young South Asians have more probability to be unemployment than
Whites. The reason for such statistics may be the fact that they are not likable employees for
older generations of British people. Who have incorrect assumptions about their hygiene,
their work attitudes and the insecurity that they face in these times because of high rates of
crime. Immigrants are seen as untrustworthy and unreliable because of the robberies and
snatching catching cases involving high percentages of black people. As a result of the
actions of poverty stricken homeless and gangsters, there are diverse effects on all members
of the society. Because of the physical differences from Whites and the fact they have
migrated too, Asians are also put into the African Caribbean criminals category due to
prejudices against all immigrants.
Ahmed and Lemkau (2000) in their research quote findings about the South Asian family
structure .It is patriarchal with the flow of power from top to bottom. Male children are
preferred to females and they get a major share of spending on their education and lifestyles.
The elders and parents make important decisions for the family which a collective unit with
all the family members living together. The female moves and assumes her responsibilities as
a home-maker. During the rearing of their children they are reminded that they should not
carry acts such acts which causes disgrace of their family and to involve in careers that bring
pride to the family.
In such a family structure, the young are expected to act according to family wishes. They are
also required to care for their elders, parents and therefore choose a more stable income
generating career such as a doctor or an engineer.

Ghuman (1990) says that the British Asians have transformed into bi-cultural and bi-lingual
people and they mix up into British culture according to their religious boundaries. Since they
are trying their best to assimilate into another culture, they should be given chances by
influential people in Cricket and Football.

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