In Germany, soccer becomes more than just a sporting contest: It also has the power to affect collective attitudes, identities and change national image. This is football-related nationalism.
Markus Gerke
Markus Gerke is a visiting scholar at the Department of Sociology at Middlebury College in Vermont. His research focuses on how sports fans and spectators actively engage with professional sports, and how sports impact collective identifications, attitudes, values and political outlooks in the population. He has investigated football-related nationalism, the media portrayal of Olympic victories, and the politics of organised soccer fan groups in the US and Germany.