Football’s Groundhog Day
Notes from an unsent letter
Previously on The Good Football
June favorites
A lot of life, a little bit of football
Hey there!
Before anything, I want to thank you for the responses to the post about my grandpa. Thank you for taking the time to read something that falls a bit outside our usual realm. I’m still receiving messages and comments that warm my heart. You are the best.
Now we need to talk about Jess Carter.
In case you missed it, last Sunday Jess Carter published a statement announcing her decision to step back from social media because of the racist attacks she’s been receiving during the Euros.
When I first saw her post, I was struck by how unsurprised I was. This is not ok. It shouldn’t be normal for episodes like this to happen in football, or anywhere for that matter. I don’t want to feel disappointed but not surprised by this kind of news.
I usually like to take time to listen and reflect before writing about situations like these, rather than reacting right away. In fact, I’ve got a draft I’ve been sitting on for a while now, and this felt like the right moment to finally share it. Instead of updating and adapting it, I want to share it as a snapshot of that moment. A journal entry that captured my thoughts and feelings back in March.
Barcelona, March 2025
So, apparently, Juventus is going to the moon. And at SXSW, everyone is talking about AI, technology, innovation, and how these are already changing everything around us.
The world keeps changing; technology is evolving at a frantic, impossible-to-keep-up-with pace, affecting everything, everywhere, including football. We keep hearing about all the things that will be made easier, faster, better in the next months and years.
Yet last Thursday, a 18-year-old footballer cried after being racially abused during a match.
In a heartbreaking video that spread widely on social media, Luighi, Palmeiras’ U-20 striker, reacts in tears and disbelief to a reporter who ignored the incident and jumped straight into another question. Luighi’s immediate reaction was to ask, “Are you seriously not going to ask me about the attack I suffered?”
The fact that a U-20 athlete had to tell the reporter what the real post-match agenda was is embarrassing. Luighi’s spontaneous statement exposed the warped priorities in football.
“What is Conmebol going to do about it? Or CBF, I don’t know. You weren’t going to ask about it, were you? You weren’t. What happened today was a crime.”
On the other side, the reporter’s silence is a stark reminder of how unprepared and indifferent football still is in the face of racism. Black athletes are left to endure abuse alone, again and again.
Technology and innovation are changing and improving the game at many levels. Still, nobody seems to know how to tackle the big, persistent issue of racism in football. Or they keep pretending they don’t know, while there is an obvious obligation to protect the most fundamental pieces in the engine that makes this industry work. Providing a safe work environment for athletes is the bare minimum, and it’s not being met.
What happened in Paraguay that Thursday night should be absolutely unacceptable. And, at this point in history, completely solvable.
Four months later, here we are again. In that time, surely many more cases of racist abuse in football have happened, and not enough has been done.
The same feeling of indignation follows me. How are we here again? Watching athletes being abused at work while governing bodies and industry stakeholders respond with the same empty statements that only reveal them as inept allies. We can’t accept that those working in football continue to act as if they have no idea how to confront racism and protect players.
Most statements and responses seem to address the reaction to the issue, but not the issue itself. They say what they think has to be said, or what people want to hear. They think of brand image and PR crisis management, but not the root of the problem.
Until players are truly put at the center, and solutions come from listening to them and working to fix the real issue, we’ll stay trapped in this awful cycle.
By taking a public stand and speaking up about what happened, Jess, like many other players, is owning the narrative and taking the initiative that should never have fallen solely on them. It’s powerful, and it shows her leadership and courage, but it shouldn’t be like this. Federations, clubs, and sponsors should be stepping up and shielding her by anticipating solutions.
I spent the last couple of days listening to what the women of colour I follow had to say about this, and the exhaustion is clear across the board, far more profound than my own. I highly recommend following Hayley Bennett,
, Felicia Pennant, Eniola Aluko, and more - share more names in the comments, please.’s insights were, as always, sharp and opened my eyes to even more layers of this issue:
On her stories, Eniola Aluko pointed out that players can use legal means to hold social media platforms accountable for the abuse happening on their digital grounds. And in this excellent piece,
breaks down the impact of the media on racism and perception of black players in women’s football.I know my voice shouldn’t be the loudest in this conversation, and it isn’t meant to be. I still felt it was important to share these thoughts here, but if you take one thing from this, please keep listening to and amplifying the women and men of colour who keep pushing this fight forward.
I’m left with one conviction and many questions. It’s clear the industry is failing Black athletes, and protecting them is not a priority. The questions that linger are: how long and what more will it take for real change to happen? When will Black voices be brought in not just to teach how to respond but to lead the solutions to racism in the first place? When will this be treated with the urgency and seriousness it demands?
I hope (and work for, with the tools I have) that the push to make football better won’t stop at shiny new tech, but will finally tackle what really matters: the people at its heart.
THE GOOD LINKS
👨🏻 Y’all, he’s officially back.
😍 A wholesome video.
🙂↕️ If there’s a right way to present a new fashion collection, it’s this.
👸🏻 Her.
🇵🇹 This video for the Portuguese women’s national team at the Euros.
🗣️ Aitana’s response here. I’m a stan.
COMPLETELY OFFSIDE
Links that are not football-related but still worth sharing.
🥺 Did you also cry watching the viral Tiny Chef video? I’ll go to the trenches for him!!!
🎧 I’ve been completely obsessed with Olivia Dean for a few years now, and lately her curated playlists are my go-to for finding new music. Anyone else feel that AI is killing music discovery at Spotify? Everything is now “made for me,” but that only means Olivia Dean is in every playlist, lol. I miss Noisetrade.