What does this research mean for the field?

Racism in Chinese football is simultaneously obscured and reproduced on social media through discursive practices that downplay incidents, condemn discriminatory acts, and redirect discussions toward regional prejudice and xenophobia. Novelty: ClaimNovelty.INCREMENTAL. Consensus alignment: ConsensusAlignment.NEUTRAL.

What question did this study set out to answer?

To examine how racism in Chinese football is discursively negotiated, silenced, condemned, and reproduced on Chinese social media platforms.

September 2, 2026International Review for the Sociology of Sport

Silenced, condemned, and redirected: How racism in Chinese football is discursively negotiated on social media

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Authors

ZYZesheng Yang ZZZizhong Zhang

Discussion

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Overview

Critical discourse analysis reveals how racism in Chinese football is silenced, condemned, and redirected online, highlighting how platform dynamics obscure and reproduce racial discrimination.

Key Points

To examine how racism in Chinese football is discursively negotiated, silenced, condemned, and reproduced on Chinese social media platforms.
Applied Critical Race Theory and critical discourse analysis frameworks to examine platform-mediated discussions of football racism.
Analyzed discursive strategies, including vernacular and memetic expressions, across interactions involving clubs, players, fans, and state-affiliated media.
Racist incidents are frequently minimized by clubs, players, and fans by reframing abuses as routine sporting conflicts or simple miscommunication.
Targeted clubs, state-affiliated media, and ethical fans condemn discrimination as breaches of sporting norms while advocating for institutional accountability.
Racial discussions are systematically redirected toward regional rivalries and xenophobic resentment, displacing racial critique into other forms of social friction.

Cite This Study

Yang et al. (2026) studied this question.

synapsesocial.com/papers/6a97e2d9c562ede874ec7293 https://doi.org/10.1177/10126902261478960

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September 2, 2026International Review for the Sociology of Sport

Silenced, condemned, and redirected: How racism in Chinese football is discursively negotiated on social media

View Full Paper

Ask AI

Bookmark

Authors

ZYZesheng Yang ZZZizhong Zhang

Discussion

Member takes

Overview

Critical discourse analysis reveals how racism in Chinese football is silenced, condemned, and redirected online, highlighting how platform dynamics obscure and reproduce racial discrimination.

Key Points

To examine how racism in Chinese football is discursively negotiated, silenced, condemned, and reproduced on Chinese social media platforms.
Applied Critical Race Theory and critical discourse analysis frameworks to examine platform-mediated discussions of football racism.
Analyzed discursive strategies, including vernacular and memetic expressions, across interactions involving clubs, players, fans, and state-affiliated media.
Racist incidents are frequently minimized by clubs, players, and fans by reframing abuses as routine sporting conflicts or simple miscommunication.
Targeted clubs, state-affiliated media, and ethical fans condemn discrimination as breaches of sporting norms while advocating for institutional accountability.
Racial discussions are systematically redirected toward regional rivalries and xenophobic resentment, displacing racial critique into other forms of social friction.

Cite This Study

Yang et al. (2026) studied this question.

synapsesocial.com/papers/6a97e2d9c562ede874ec7293 https://doi.org/10.1177/10126902261478960

View Full Paper

Ask AI

Bookmark