Football as a Religion: on the Overlap of Two Conceptual Areas in the German Ethnolinguistic Culture
Journal: Izvestia of Smolensk State University
Year: 2025

The article considers the overlap of sports and religious discourses in the German ethnolinguistic culture. The sphere of concepts of ‘Football’ is taken as an example because this sport remains the most popular and prevailing in Germany when counting both – people playing it and supporting its players within football fans subculture. Using the instances presented in the German ethnolinguistic culture (fans’ behavioural pattern, including its verbal component, religionizing sports specific eleme