In Shanghai, an expat soccer team is coming under fire for its racist team name: Yellow Fever.
The club consists of decidedly amateur, mostly white players, and competes in Shanghai’s ASAS League. Their name is a slang term used to describe the fetishization of East Asian women by non-Asian people.
Many feel it’s unacceptable that the team has lasted this long — their slogan, “yellow as the skin, black as the bush” and their logo, a yellow circle with a black triangle in the middle, are both not-so-subtle sexual innuendos about Asian women.
God I’m glad I don’t really have anything to do with ‘expat circles’.
There are many good foreigners in China. I’m lucky to know plenty. Good, genuine people.
Unfortunately, it’s these kind of expat circles that tarnish their reputation. & it pisses me off no end. https://t.co/7inmdwxZ5g
— Curt 🕊 (@CurtExplores) May 18, 2023
Online expat communities debated the issue, with some calling the outcry an overreaction. Most, though, were frustrated at the incident, both for objectifying Chinese women, and also for reinforcing stereotypes about expats in China being culturally ignorant.
Yellow Fever FC was sponsored by a local Italian bar and restaurant called Funkadeli, who cut ties with the club and apologized after the name finally started to raise some eyebrows. As of May 26, the club’s Instagram has been deleted.
Cover image via WeChat
