Games of Belonging Depiction of Athletes of Turkish Descent in German Football Broadcasts

This thesis investigates the depiction of football players of Turkish descent on the very popular weekly German public TV football broadcasts Sportschau and Aktuelles Sportstudio. The purpose of this research was to expand on existing research relating to racial discourses in sports. Various scholars of the field deem an update and extension into the more current theories of cultural, subtle racism as necessary. This research takes this step in the context of the heavily under researched, but immensely popular German football broadcasts, with focus on the large minority of Turkish descent within the country. A combination of thematic analysis and critical discourse analysis of 170 televised football games of the top three German football leagues was employed to trace discourses employed and circulated by commentators surrounding players of Turkish descent in German televised football. The analysis gives insights into covert biases, and a dynamic discourse of exclusion and ‘othering’ through suppression and diversion of attention relating to positive impacts on the game stemming from players of Turkish origin. These particular biases can in part be explained by theories of whiteness, reflecting unbalanced power dynamics that reinforce common stereotypes held about this minority with Turkish roots. As predicted by previous research in the field, obvious stereotypes did not play a large role in the discussion of players of Turkish origin but diverging framings of belonging–depending on the contribution to the team–were observed frequently in the presentation of these players. Success and perceived value to the team seem to be both a determinant and result of belonging to this majority group. This thesis concludes that it is necessary to bring the suppressed discourse relating to racism and whiteness back into public sphere in Germany to fight the false believe of ‘culturally enlightened’ sports reporting. As much as the sport yields an arena division and negotiation of belonging, as will be highlighted in this thesis, it has the potential to provide a space for discussions of the underlying problems and bring about change. Further research is suggested to investigate audience perceptions of the broadcast, as well as research into the production of the programs. Investigating the increasingly visible Asian ethnic group in German football is also suggested.