Introduction

Abstract

Not only is association football the world’s most popular participation and spectator sport, but it is also the most ethnically, nationally and religiously complex. It is so genuinely multicultural that if one were to design a sport to reflect accurately the ethnic diversity of the world, it would resemble football. The sport’s world governing organization represents 209 national associations, 54 from Europe, 53 from Africa, 45 from Asia, the others from the Americas. But the sport has a dark side: it is riven with corruption, homophobia, violence and racism that seemingly can’t be tamed. In this chapter, the authors announce their intention to explore football’s dark side through the thoughts of the people who follow it — fans.