Not to be confused with the English football 'hooligan', the UltraS are the hardcore subculture of fans at the two main Rome football clubs - AS Roma and SS Lazio. With neo-fascist sympathies, these groups (the Boys at Roma and the Irriducibili at Lazio) are political and well-organised.Following years of work inside the groups and interviews with the leading figures within the organisations, Gary Armstrong and Alberto Testa have written a fascinating expose and e...

This book examines the ways that nationalist leaders and extremist groups have used football to advance their often-violent ideological narratives and to recruit and radicalise young people.Drawing on applied ethnographic research with the Ultra fan groups of Bosnia and Herzegovina (BiH), the book explores the behavioural dynamics of the BiH Ultras both on, and outside of, the football terraces. The book shines important new light on the Ultras' ideology, organisation and youth rec...

Whilst corruption and organized crime have been widely researched, they have not yet been specifically linked to sport. Corruption, Mafia Power and Italian Soccer offers an original insight into this new research area. Adopting a psycho-social approach based mainly on Pierre Bourdieu's praxeology, the book demonstrates that corruption and the mafia presence in Italian soccer reflect the Italian socio-political and economic system itself.Supported by interviews with securit...

Sport is often seen as an indicator of the civic maturity of a community, an aspect of the rights of citizens to health, education and social integration. This book examines the relationships between participation in sport and physical activity, and welfare policies across Europe.It argues that the success of campaigns for the promotion of sport depend on the existence of dedicated welfare policies promoted by the European states and explores variations in cultural models and struc...

As Islam’s visibility in global society increases, Muslim populations grow, and Muslim countries compete to take up positions at the heart of global sport, the interplay between sport and Islam becomes ever more illuminating. Sport in Islam and in Muslim Communities is the first book to analyse this relationship through a pluralist lens, exploring the questions it raises about contemporary Islam, globalisation, and the challenges faced by (in particular young) Muslims in negotiati...