Foreign players, coaches, and the politics of belonging: strengthening citizenship in Czech football
The result's identifiers
Result code in IS VaVaI
<a href="https://www.isvavai.cz/riv?ss=detail&h=RIV%2F00216208%3A11510%2F25%3A10514162" target="_blank" >RIV/00216208:11510/25:10514162 - isvavai.cz</a>
Result on the web
<a href="https://verso.is.cuni.cz/pub/verso.fpl?fname=obd_publikace_handle&handle=WG9qmtdBs_" target="_blank" >https://verso.is.cuni.cz/pub/verso.fpl?fname=obd_publikace_handle&handle=WG9qmtdBs_</a>
DOI - Digital Object Identifier
<a href="http://dx.doi.org/10.14712/23366052.2026.6" target="_blank" >10.14712/23366052.2026.6</a>
Alternative languages
Result language
angličtina
Original language name
Foreign players, coaches, and the politics of belonging: strengthening citizenship in Czech football
Original language description
In a globalized world, the use of foreign players by elite sport clubs has become normalized, yet fan perceptions of this practice are not always positive. The top Czech football league has consistently included 100 to 120 foreigners per season, representing 22-27% of players, for more than 15 years. This article pursues two related aims. First, it examines Czech fans' views on the use of foreign players, drawing on survey data from 2018 and 2023. Second, it analyzes the case of AC Sparta Prague, where internationalization strategies under two foreign coaches, Andrea Stramaccioni in 2017 and Brian Priske in 2023, produced contrasting fan responses. While Stramaccioni's tenure was deemed a failure, Priske's multicultural squad secured the league championship and shifted perceptions toward greater acceptance. Complemented by interviews with club executives, marketing directors, and sport managers, the analysis highlights how foreign players and coaches can be integrated in ways that strengthen not only club performance but also broader forms of citizenship, understood as practices of belonging, respect, and inclusion within Czech football and society.
Czech name
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Czech description
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Classification
Type
J<sub>ost</sub> - Miscellaneous article in a specialist periodical
CEP classification
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OECD FORD branch
30306 - Sport and fitness sciences
Result continuities
Project
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Continuities
I - Institucionalni podpora na dlouhodoby koncepcni rozvoj vyzkumne organizace
Others
Publication year
2025
Confidentiality
S - Úplné a pravdivé údaje o projektu nepodléhají ochraně podle zvláštních právních předpisů
Data specific for result type
Name of the periodical
Acta Universitatis Carolinae. Kinanthropologica
ISSN
1212-1428
e-ISSN
2336-6052
Volume of the periodical
61
Issue of the periodical within the volume
2
Country of publishing house
CZ - CZECH REPUBLIC
Number of pages
14
Pages from-to
127-140
UT code for WoS article
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EID of the result in the Scopus database
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