On the ball
June 26th 2010 01:37
Just as politics is the continuation of war by other means, sports are the continuation of politics by other means. This is never more obvious than when watching soccer’s World Cup. There are always complaints about referees’ decisions, particularly when a non-European referee rules against a European team. This year, however, the finals have become an actual issue in political debate, with some Italian politicians suggesting that their team’s dreadful performance was due to their clubs having too many foreign players. To some, soccer is only the world game when Europe is on top.
The reasons are clear, given the psychologically debilitating loss of superpower status suffered by various European countries since World War II. Soccer became the last outlet for asserting their supremacy, but now they are losing even that. South American countries have been equal to Europe’s in terms of ability since the very beginning, a fact that the Old World’s domestic leagues finally acknowledged in the 1970s as teams rushed to sign Brazilian and Argentinian players. Now, Asian teams like Japan and South Korea are rapidly approaching their level, and the continual improvement of the American national team threatens to end European dominance for ever.
There has been at least one war triggered by a soccer game, and numerous incidents just short of open war, including during the qualifiers for the current one. It would be a mistake to dismiss these as examples of the Third World's backwardness and shallowness, considering the exploitation of the sport for propaganda purposes by past fascist regimes in Italy, Spain, and Portugal. With extreme political movements rising in various parts of the continent, many of whom have the kind of old-school blackshirt worldview where losing to a Uruguayan or American team that includes black and Jewish players is an affront, it is definitely worth considering how much – or how little – it could take to overturn Europe’s fragile balance.
The reasons are clear, given the psychologically debilitating loss of superpower status suffered by various European countries since World War II. Soccer became the last outlet for asserting their supremacy, but now they are losing even that. South American countries have been equal to Europe’s in terms of ability since the very beginning, a fact that the Old World’s domestic leagues finally acknowledged in the 1970s as teams rushed to sign Brazilian and Argentinian players. Now, Asian teams like Japan and South Korea are rapidly approaching their level, and the continual improvement of the American national team threatens to end European dominance for ever.
There has been at least one war triggered by a soccer game, and numerous incidents just short of open war, including during the qualifiers for the current one. It would be a mistake to dismiss these as examples of the Third World's backwardness and shallowness, considering the exploitation of the sport for propaganda purposes by past fascist regimes in Italy, Spain, and Portugal. With extreme political movements rising in various parts of the continent, many of whom have the kind of old-school blackshirt worldview where losing to a Uruguayan or American team that includes black and Jewish players is an affront, it is definitely worth considering how much – or how little – it could take to overturn Europe’s fragile balance.
| 89 |
| Vote |
subscribe to this blog
