23.02.2015

TV documentary explores racism and diversity in Dutch football

Three months after a Dutch national team selfie sparked a torrent of racist abuse on social media, a TV programme in the Netherlands is exploring prejudice and discrimination in Dutch sport and society.[/intro_paragraph]

The current affairs documentary, constituted of four 25-minute episodes, hears from a range of voices, including politicians, sportsmen, experts and social workers, to better understand the problem and its extent in the country.

Through the experiences of the Liberian-born Dutch player Seku Conneh and the Dutch-Moroccan football manager Alami Ahannach, the episode dedicated to football addresses different levels of discrimination in the sport, including racist incidents and the under-representation of ethnic minorities in Dutch football.

During the episode, Conneh, who in September 2014 was subjected to monkey chants during a Dutch KNVB cup match, talks about his experiences dealing with racism, as well as Ahannach, who also highlights the lack of opportunities for ethnic minorities in football's leading positions.

"I have heard people in a number of clubs say that a head coach is supposed to be white" Ahannach explains in the documentary.

The documentary also mentions Fare and UEFA The glass ceiling in European football report, which was presented last December in Amsterdam and looks into different levels of representation of visible ethnic minorities and women in leadership and management positions in European football.

Watch the full episode here.

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