Montpellier University Department of Sports Science
Skills for sports, education, and health

Public lecture by SAMU KYTÖLÄ (University of Jyväskylä)

  • November 23, 2023
  • 12:30 PM – 1:15 PM
  • STAPS - Lecture Hall A

The University of Montpellier, the UFR STAPS, and the Santésih Laboratory are pleased to invite you to a lecture by Prof. Samu Kytölä titled“Sexual Minorities in Men’s Soccer in Finland and in the Finnish Media: Representations of LGBTQ+ Pride in Sports Media.”

This presentation will outline a research project on media portrayals and the visibility/invisibility of sexual minorities in men’s soccer in Finland, drawing on the findings of studies on media coverage:

  • the use of the rainbow flag and other symbols of LGBTQ+ inclusion during EURO 2020 and the 2022 World Cup;
  • about soccer players coming out.

A summary of the lecture is provided below. The lecture will take place onWednesday, November 22, 2023, in Lecture Hall A of the UFR STAPS in Montpellier, from 12:30 p.m. to 1:15 p.m. The presentation will be delivered in English with French translation. Admission is free and open to the public.

We look forward to seeing you at this conference!

The Santésih Team.

“ Sexual minorities in men’s soccer in Finland and the Finnish media: representations of LGBTQ+ Pride in soccer media“.”

Along with broader trends toward greater recognition and visibility of LGBTQ+ individuals in various areas of life (in Europe), issues concerning sexual minorities in men’s team sports have come to the fore, particularly in gender studies and the sociology of sport (e.g., Anderson 2011, 2015; Magrath 2016, 2019, 2020; Cleland, Magrath & Kian 2018). However, the overall empirical focus in this field has been on Anglo-American countries, particularly the UK. In Finland, often considered a socially liberal Nordic welfare state with a relatively strong human rights record, the issue of sexual minorities in (men’s) team sports is barely emerging, at best.

The conference will provide an overview of Samu Kytölä’s broader research project on media representations and the (in)visibility of sexual minorities in men’s soccer in Finland. It will present preliminary qualitative findings from two empirical sub-studies: media coverage of (a) the issue of Rainbow Flags and other symbols of LGBTQ+ inclusivity in the major competitions UEFA EURO 2020 (2021) and the 2022 FIFA World Cup; (b) the coming-out of male soccer players in other countries.

Samu Kytölä is a professor in the Department of Linguistics and Communication at the University of Jyväskylä (Finland). The research he will present in his lecture was funded by the Kone Foundation /Koneen Säätiö (https://koneensaatio.fi/en/).