NEW publication in French: CIES focuses on the links between football and integration

Neuchâtel, August 27th 2012

A book based on the relationship between social integration and amateur football is out today in the collection “Savoirs sportifs” managed by the International Centre for Sports Studies (CIES) and issued by the publisher Peter Lang.

The book examines the role of amateur football clubs created by people migrating to Switzerland in the development of social ties in their living environment.

The study focuses on twelve clubs - six Portuguese and six Albanian. The clubs are located in both the Swiss German and French speaking regions of Switzerland. It appears that over time the participation of these teams in competitions organized under the auspices of the Swiss Football Association have positively influenced social integration between the different groups present at different territorial levels. Although tensions during confrontations were observed, they tend to decrease in intensity over time through a process of mutual adaptation and acceptance.

The empirical research which governs the writing of this book and its publication were supported by the Federal Commission of sport.

The book can be purchased at the price of 36 CHF from the publisher's website:

                                             Please, click here to order this book:


For more information you may contact the secretariat at CIES [email protected]  or by phone at 0041 32 718 39 00.

Notice bibliography

Raffaele Poli, Jerome Berthoud, Thomas Busset, Bülent Kaya 2012, , Football et intégration. Les clubs de migrants albanais et portugais en Suisse. Collection Savoirs Sportifs, Berne Bern: Peter Lang. 162 pages.

The authors

Raffaele Poli is head of the CIES Observatory at the International Centre for Sports Studies and lecturer at the Institute of Geography of the University of Neuchâtel.

Jerome Berthoud is teaching assistant at the Institute of Sport Science of the University of Lausanne.

Thomas Busset is research associate at the International Centre for Sports Studies at the University of Neuchâtel.

Bülent Kaya is scientific collaborator at the Swiss Forum for Migration and Population at the University of Neuchâtel.