A soft solution for a hard problem? The value of football for European refugee resettlement

The Central Mediterranean Route (CMR) is considered one of the most dangerous migratory routes undertaken by asylum-seekers, who cross the desert and the Mediterranean Sea to reach Europe. After having undertaken the CMR, refugees need to resettle into the new host country. Much has been argued on the value of football for refugees, however little is known about the role of football in helping refugees in their resettlement process in their host country. This thesis, therefore, seeks to understand the value of football as a resource for refugee resettlement. The research was conducted through an interpretivist, qualitative, and instrumental case study approach. Knowledge was gained around the lived experiences of refugees across different locations within the Southern Italian region of Sicily, where most asylum-seekers are likely to arrive from the CMR. The qualitative data collected has been analysed inductively, deductively, and abductively, to produce four journal articles that inform the aim and objectives of the study.

The results show that football is a transnational resource that refugees possess and utilize to move forward towards an intended objective of resettlement. They see in the sport a way to socialize, initiating and maintaining positive interactions with the local community. Such interactions are functional to activate continued processes of mutual acculturation, eventually opening pathways for refugees to fit into their new communities and host country. While contextual barriers exist for a beneficial outcome of football for resettlement, overall football is a fundamental cultural resource that refugees utilize to surpass a condition of liminality created by their forced migration. Therefore, football can be a soft solution for the positive resettlement of refugees into a host country. Yet, it must be noted that what refugees consider positive resettlement varies significantly. For this reason, this thesis introduces the Interpreted Environment Transition (IET) model, to summarize how football as a cultural resource can work for the achievement of a given objective of resettlement for refugees.

Overall, this thesis contributes in advancing knowledge on the value of football for refugee populations, with particular relevance for the Sport for Development and Peace (SDP) sector, and the field of sport and forced migrations. It does so by presenting a case from an understudied region outside of the Anglophone Global North, thus expanding knowledge both in terms of geographical location and population. Most importantly, it shows the importance of contextualization for positive outcomes in SDP, proposing a model to better understand the role of sport in the life of individuals and how it contributes to their intended development. The model attempts to rethink the logic of development and challenge the deficit-based refugee discourse, where sport is used as an intervention for refugees to give them something they do not have. Instead, it presents a strength-based approach where the refugee is the ultimate actor within a liminal environment, creatively and strategically utilizing sport as a tool to achieve resettlement and self-realization within a new society.