Race, ethnicity, and class issues in Fiji soccer 1980-2015

Abstract

This article explores the race and class issues which continue to define Fiji soccer and perplex its stakeholders up to the present day. Cultural hegemony is clearly present with indigenous Fijian ex-star players finding it difficult to reach positions of status in administration and management after their playing careers end; this usually condemns them to a life of village-based poverty and (from a secular western standpoint) unemployment. The Fiji-Indian community (37.5% of the total population) 'controls' the game, and indigenous Fijian stars are basically accepted as players but not as managers or administrators. Although deliberate racism is probably not common, the game's culture is imbued with a 'racial feeling', to quote the ex-Ba and Fiji player (and Fiji-Indian) Julie Sami, and is exclusionary in its effects. Fiji-Indian stereotypes of indigenous Fijians as lazy, ill-disciplined, and prone to drunkenness mirror white stereotypes about black footballers referred to in prior literature.

“They Couldn’t Win and Didn’t Want to Lose”: The 1982 Inter-District Championship Final (Fiji Soccer)

“…In this thoroughly depressing and tragic case, on June 26, 2005, three Indo-Fijian sisters, Aashika Sherin Lata (aged 19), Renuka Roshni Lata (aged 18), and Radhika Roshni Lata (aged 17), disappeared near Rakiraki (in northeastern Viti Levu). 82 The man probably behind their disappearance, and likely murder, was an Indo-Fijian, 42-year-old Mr. Dip Chand (a neighbor and family friend). 83 On being approached by police, Chand attempted to place the blame on "some [Indigenous] Fijian men," "several Fijian men," and "three Fijian men in a boat."…”

“…Consistent use over the years, even in formal press accounts, of "Waqan" (pronounced "Wang-un") as the (nick)name for popular and prolific Nadi and Fiji striker, Rusiate Waqa (pronounced "Wang-ah"), seemed like an affectionate and ennobling gesture by the fans (and it was no doubt intended as such). 87 Waqan directly replaced Waqa in press accounts so that Rusiate Waqa became Rusiate Waqan. In fact, Waqa was being deracinated and decultured by the removal of his real Indigenous family-name, which is an important signifier within Indigenous Fijian culture.…”

Gesturing Elsewhere and Offshore Memory: Amateur Elite Soccer in the Fiji Islands, 1980–1992

“…There is a balance-of-power equilibrium, which works fairly well, on the whole, whereby Indo-Fijians support soccer and attend mosque and temple whereas the indigenous people support the rugby codes and attend church. 10 Indigenous Fijians dominate the military and the police, 11 while Indo-Fijians control the business-world (especially the Small and Medium Enterprises or SME sector), the left-wing trade-unions, academia, and the press. Each group has its own carefully preserved and highly-valued culture.…”

“…The Indo-Fijian community includes people from all social classes and nearly all occupational groupings, as you would expect from a 330,000-strong community. 20 It includes a Marxist urban proletariat or underclass, 21 working in the cities and towns in low-paying and menial jobs 22 such as bus and van-drivers, barbers and barbers' assistants, seamstresses, supermarket-cashiers, and restaurant and café employees. 23 (The ex-Nadi player, Peter Dean, an Indian-Muslim, still drives the public-bus from Lautoka which arrives at Nadi Bus Stand at 5:00 p.m.) This group makes up the bulk of domestic soccer supporters and has the least prospects of emigration.…”

“…20 It includes a Marxist urban proletariat or underclass, 21 working in the cities and towns in low-paying and menial jobs 22 such as bus and van-drivers, barbers and barbers' assistants, seamstresses, supermarket-cashiers, and restaurant and café employees. 23 (The ex-Nadi player, Peter Dean, an Indian-Muslim, still drives the public-bus from Lautoka which arrives at Nadi Bus Stand at 5:00 p.m.) This group makes up the bulk of domestic soccer supporters and has the least prospects of emigration. 24 Other Indo-Fijians lease out small, and often economically unviable or suspect, land plots from indigenous landowners.…”