Football, politics, and identity: The language of confrontation in the journalistic coverage of sports in Spain

A linguagem do confronto na cobertura jornalística do desporto em Espanha

DOI: https://doi.org/10.5209/esmp.101826
Keywords: Football, Sport Journalism, Information, Identity, content analysis
Agencies: The authors are grateful to the Research Vice-Rectory of the University of Tolima (Colombia), whose ‘Football and Identity’ project (code 470130516) funded the independent coders.

Abstract

El clásico (the classic) is the name given to any football match between rival clubs FC Barcelona and Real Madrid. It is a global event full of drama that reflects sporting rivalry, politics, and identity. This article analyses the treatment of 2090 journalistic pieces covering 34 clásicos published by leading sports newspapers Marca and Mundo Deportivo from the 2003-2004 season to the 2020-2021 season. We use content analysis and the framing theory to capture when journalistic biases link sports with politics and identity. Concretely, we search for signs of language that might fuel conflict. The results indicate that the dominant frame presents matches from an athletic and competitive point of view. However, there is also a significant number of journalistic pieces in which confrontation arises from national identity issues and political strife around the Catalan question. Sometimes, war-like language is used to describe football. This is a relevant issue since several studies point to a connection between conflict around sports and physical, psychological, and symbolic violence outside the stadium. The study concludes that sports journalism relies on a limited set of sources and spectacular reporting.

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Author Biographies

Lizandro Angulo Rincón, Universidad del Tolima

Professor and researcher at the University of Tolima, and PhD in Communication from the University of the Basque Country. He has carried out postdoctoral research on specialized journalism at Pompeu Fabra University and at the Olympic Studies Centre of the Autonomous University of Barcelona. His academic interests include community television, transmedia production, and the field of communication and sport. He has authored books, published articles in indexed and non-indexed journals, and presented papers at international journalism and communication conferences. ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0001-8954-4116

Toñy, Universidad de Mondragón

PhD in Communication and a researcher at the University of Deusto. She has carried out research stays in Colombia and Spain, funded by predoctoral and postdoctoral fellowships from the Basque Government and Ikerbasque. Her career combines scientific communication, strategic marketing, and the social appropriation of knowledge. She has published 34 scientific articles, 23 of them in JCR and Scopus-indexed journals (17 in Q1–Q2 and 6 in Q3–Q4), along with others in recognized databases such as FECYT, ERIHPLUS, Latindex, and MIAR. She is also the author of 18 book chapters (7 in SPI Q1 publishers), has coordinated two international conferences, and participated in national and international research projects. Her work focuses on communication, gender, sustainability, and digital ecosystems. ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0001-5231-785X

Miren, Universidad de Deusto

Professor and researcher at the University of Deusto, specialized in communication and digital activism. Her academic work focuses on the intersection of technologies, disinformation, and gender. She has led and participated in international projects on platform economy, algorithms, and digital resistance. She is the author of books —including Data Activism and Social Change— and numerous scholarly articles in high-impact journals, and collaborates in international research networks on communication and social justice. ORCID:https://orcid.org/0000-0003-1527-3434

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Published
2025-11-25
How to Cite
Angulo Rincón L., Moreno Cano A. y Gutiérrez Almazor M. (2025). Football, politics, and identity: The language of confrontation in the journalistic coverage of sports in Spain: A linguagem do confronto na cobertura jornalística do desporto em Espanha. Estudios sobre el Mensaje Periodístico, 31(4), 865-879. https://doi.org/10.5209/esmp.101826
Issue
Vol. 31 No. 4 (2025): Monográfico: El periodismo deportivo ante los retos de un contexto en constante evolución
Section
Monográfico

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