Football is War

Over at Project Syndicate, Ian Buruma has written on the World Cup, and the tribal passions that football invokes.  In particular, he talks of Football Nationalists, as opposed to Nationalists.  The latter are frowned upon generally, at least in European society, the author suggests, due not least to the influence of the Second World War.  But all that restraint in public life led to the expression of nationalism finding an alternative outlet – in the football stadium.

This is, in general, true.  English football fans haven’t really let the nation down at a major Championships now since the Holland-Belgium European Championships in 2004 – but that’s only because the more unpleasant parts of the England fan base (skin-heads, tattooed, singers of songs about the IRA and the Second World War) are now unable to travel during major championships hence cannot get there to make trouble.

The unpleasantness though, remains, and sometimes its remarkably hard to fathom.  Recently I had the misfortune to cycle past the back of Oxford United’s stadium (I live within 5 minutes walk of the stadium) after a match.  The match was in the 5th division of English football (the Blue Square Premier) between Oxford and Kettering.  Yet there were police officers and stewards having to keep groups of supporters of the two teams apart!  The groups were singing various inflammatory songs at each other, yet I’m sure if the groups didn’t have shirts on and weren’t at a football match, they wouldn’t have given each other the time of day, and might have even shared a few comments over a pint watching an England match in a pub.

Then if you’re ever at a match where the home and away supporters are segregated, you’ll find the kinds of people that sit near the segregation are the most odd people you’ve ever come across.  Their interest is actually not the match, but is shouting across the segregation, looking for some reaction from the fans of the opposing team.

I don’t understand it, and probably I never will…

More on Corruption

Declan Hill, author of the excellent book The Fix, is an authoritative writer on corruption in football (soccer) and writes the blog How to Fix a Soccer Game.  Following up on my post from yesterday about corruption involving the building of the Giraffe Stadium in South Africa, Declan makes a number of very important points in this blog post.

Many of the teams participating from poorer nations, those teams that perhaps we all have a soft spot for, are almost certainly the most likely targets for corruption.  Honduras is mentioned because most of the players for that team play in the domestic league and are paid, in relative terms, pittance – and nothing much has happened since they managed to qualify for the World Cup.  South Africa’s players even, it seems, are the last to be paid, and their pay from their FA is anything but certain.

It is fairly standard common sense/economic theory that if the punishment is low (you aren’t losing much in terms of pay!), you are more likely to undertake criminal activities.  Thus you imagine the ridiculously over-paid England stars won’t be the targets for corruption, but the players for many poor African nations (Cameroon’s national team has gone on strike in the past during a World Cup) and other poor nations like Honduras will be much more susceptible targets to the criminal groups descending on South Africa right now.

My apologies if you like to think of football as a nice, pure sport where everything is what it seems and I’ve just spoilt this by linking up Declan’s fine work!

He’s also on twitter if you’re that way inclined and want quick updates during the World Cup…

Man Utd Owner in Financial Trouble?

In the build up to the World Cup, soccer (football) news seems to be churning out of the fourth estate every minute.  The news which caught my eye today was this report from the BBC (linked through ESPN’s soccernet) indicating that the Glazer family, owners of Premier League club Manchester United and the National Football League’s (NFL) Tampa Bay Bucs.  The Glazer’s, who have taken quite a beating in England from Man Utd supporters were dealt another publicity nightmare today when it was found by the BBC that the Glazer’s are $1.6 billion in debt.  While it was known that the Glazer’s owed a great deal of money, this new figure is more than half a billion dollars greater than previously estimated figures.

There is indication in the BBC report and ESPN article that the Glazer’s are in trouble, but the Glazer’s have pointed out that Man Utd is worth $1.8 billion in the newest Forbes rankings, and that their total assets total over $2.3 billion.  It is notable that of the $1.6 billion debt, the largest portion of it is one billion dollars which is owed because of the Glazer’s $1.4 billion purchase of Manchester United in 2005 (currently they only owe $95 million on the Tampa Bay Bucs who are valued at $1.09 billion).  The Glazer’s continue to reiterate that they will not be selling Manchester United.  My feelings are that if someone offered enough money, they would possibly entertain an offer to sell the club.  Yet considering the gradual progress they have made in chipping away at the debt on Man Utd and the Tampa Bay Bucs, it is possible that the Glazer’s have bigger long term plans in regards to their professional sport franchises.