How does harassment impact the performance of discriminated minorities? Using a natural experiment induced by the COVID-19 pandemic, we test how the sudden absence of supporters at football games impacts the performance of players from minority groups in Italy. We find that players from Africa, who are most commonly targeted by racial harassment, experience a significant improvement in performance when supporters are no longer at the stadium. Using data on ocially recorded episodes of racist behaviour by fans during matches, we show that performance improves the most among African players in teams that were subject to abuse prior to the lockdown. Our findings suggest that by damaging discriminated athletes, racial harassment lowers the overall quality of the game.

Keywords: discrimination, harassment, racism, performance, crowd, fans, sport, football, COVID-19, lockdown. J

EL Codes: D91, J15, J71, Z22.