The company RunRepeat, in collaboration with PFA, the English players' union, conducted a study to investigate any racism in football commentary. This is the first time a study has been conducted to see if there is a difference in how commentators talk about players with different skin tones.

80 matches from the 2019/20 season have been reviewed and these are matches from four top leagues: Serie A in Italy, Spanish La Liga, French Ligue 1 and Premier League in England. The study analyzed 2,074 opinions during those matches. The commentators spoke English and worked for English, American and Canadian media companies.

Got praise for speed and power

The result shows that the commentators were more likely to praise light-skinned players for their intelligence, their qualities as a player and hard work. Dark-skinned players were praised for their physical qualities - speed and power.

When commentators talked about intelligence, 62.60 percent of the praise was directed at light-skinned players. 63.66 of the negative criticism was directed at dark-skinned players.

When commentators talked about work ethic, 60.40 percent of the praise was directed at light-skinned players.