The Politics of Football

Football Imperialism
By: Sarwar Morshed∗

Football is like the English language. The global numero uno lingua franca is considered
by many(specially, by lovers of linguistic diversity) as a killer language. By committing
what linguists call ‘linguicide’, English elbows languages to graves. The case is almost
identical with football. Like English, this game has emerged as the undisputed,
phenomenally popular and wooed on-field and in-screen darling of the Homo sapiens,
irrespective of their anthropological, ecclesiastical or geo-political backgrounds. This
pan-earth detonation of the unprecedented football-craze bomb has caused ‘sporticide’.
Football is threatening most of the indigenous sports of the different parts of all the
continents. It has already killed many games and many are on their way to the cemetery.

Historically speaking, the English language was a colonial tool- it helped in the
perpetuation of the British rule in the occupied lands. Under the changed geo-political
circumstances, football has become an imperial tool. The English language, spatially
speaking, is omnipresent under the sun. So is football. English is the language of the
imperialists. Who does not know that by origin football is of British descent?

Football is an imperial or Western tool, as we have already mentioned, like English. The
Westerners have promoted its global dispersal. Football is like Coca-cola, to be found
even in the remotest corner of the world. The Europeans have marketed it with the
success of Coke, McDonald’s, the English language and Google.

Football, of course, does not enjoy the same degree of popularity in all the parts of the
world. For example, in the USA it is not as popular as it is, say, in Russia. In India, the
popularity of cricket has totally eclipsed that of football. However, things are changing
for the better for football. What does the presence of Bill Clinton in the South Africa
(SA) World Cup Football signal? What message does the glamourous (scandalous as
well) presence of the American fashion icon Paris Hilton in the same tournament in SA
convey to the lovers of football? What do the visits of Diego Maradona and Diego Forlan
to India imply? Who on earth can indulge in the luxury of penning his autobiography at
the unripe age of mere twenty excepting footballers? Even the WAGs (Wives And
Girlfriends) are scribing their precocious autobiographies keeping good pace with their
HABs (Husbands And Boyfriends) and those illustrated volumes are hitting the stands of
even un-footballing nations! The message conveyed by all these facts is simple-the
barometer of the game’s popularity in the USA (as it is evident from the presence of
Clinton and other big guns in the SA tournament) and in other parts of the world shows
an upward trend. On this plane, football is akin to the English language. The famed
researcher Braj B. Kachru, in his now famous ‘Concentric Model’ of the English
language has divided the world into three circles basing on the status of English-
The Inner Circle (Native speaking countries like the UK, USA, Canada, Australia etc.)
The Outer Circle (Ex-colonies like India, Bangladesh, Pakistan Nigeria, Malaysia etc.)
The Expanding Circle (China, Japan, Korea, Indonesia, Thailand etc.)

The ‘Concentric Model’ is concomitant with ‘ELT products’ like English language
teaching textbooks, softwares, CDs, teacher-trainers, consultants, teachers etc. These
products are contributing billions of dollars to the exchequers of the UK, USA, Canada,
and Australia. Football is making the same contribution to the ‘Inner Circle’ of the game
i.e. the eight founding members of FIFA and other European and American countries.
The African and Asian countries belonging to the Outer and Expanding Circles of the
sport are fully dependent on the core block for ‘football products’ like coaches, trainers,
doctors, physios, balls, jerseys, boots and what not?

‘Football products’ are draining away a fabulous amount of money from ‘the Periphery’
to ‘the Centre’. Think of the remuneration, for example, that Sven Goran Eriksson took
from Ivory Coast for his interim service to the Elephants during the SA World Cup. Or
just cast your glance at the pay-slip of the Bangladesh football coach- he is a host in
himself, financially speaking. Think of the revenue generated by the sky-kissing sales of
paraphernalia like Man U mugs, Barca and Chelsea jerseys, Real Madrid caps in China,
Japan, Korea and other Asian and African countries. Most of the on-field, non-playing
personnel like physios, trainers, referees, linemen, match administrators, medical team
members are white Westerners and the amount that they draw is incredible. Are there any
African or Asian company that manufactures FIFA recognized balls, shoes, socks, jerseys
etc.? Companies like Adidas and Nike have monopolized the business. True, the balls are
sewn in Indonesia or Pakistan or socks and jerseys are embroidered with the sweat and
tears of underpaid RMG workers of Bangladesh. But that is mere outsourcing done by the
Western companies to increase their profit margin. And what about the ‘forward
linkages’ of football like medicines, treatment of injuries, operations, post-operative
services, insurance, agents, sponsorships, advertisements, telecasting deals etc.? All these
products are controlled by the Europeans.

Let us have a glimpse at the FIFA. The current FIFA boss is Sepp Blatter. His
predecessor was Joao Havelange. Since its inception in 1904, FIFA has seen eight
presidents. But from the FIFA roll of honuors, can you find out an African or Asian who
reached the summit of the game’s regulatory body? What percentage of the apex football-
body’s executives are from Asia or Africa? Statistically, it is not significant at all.

There are other layers of manifest discrimination almost in-built in the fabric of this
spectator sport. Off-field, paparazzi are not very much interested in the girlfriend of
Drogba but surprisingly the mainstream media keep a hawk eye even on the sneeze of
Collin McLaughlin or Sara Carbonero. We know nothing about the wife or girlfriend of
Thierry Henry but Victoria Beckham and all her ‘Posh’ activities have passed into
general knowledge. Football, really, is an un-Afro-Asian game. Who C’Ron is dating
currently is a billion dollar question to the media but fluent scorers like Samuel Eto or
Solomon Kalou are ignored to the extent as if they were not supposed to have any affaire
de coeur! Even at the ebb tide of his career, David Beckham far out-weigh players like
Drogba, Essien, Kalou, Eto, Henry in terms of his income from advertisements and
sponsorships. Interestingly enough, when asked whether he would play in the UAE with
a bigger financial bundle, this money-minded football tycoon categorically replied that he
preferred the USA. All the footballing Genghis Khans spend their prime in the European
leagues. They (re)turn to non-European leagues only after they are discarded by the Inner
Circle giants.

Precisely speaking, Asia and Africa are the hinterland for FIFA and the Western
footballing nations-they enjoy unloading their football cargo in these countries. They
have transformed these countries into their ‘Football Colonies’. Football, the golden egg-
laying goose, is minting money for them from these regions. The Western ‘football
Brahmins’, in return, spend lavishly to lift the ‘white men’s burden’. It is the same old
imperialism, in a different form albeit- repetition of history. They feed us, of course, but
with the leftovers of strawberries from our own garden.

[∗Sarwar Morshed is Assistant Professor, Department of English, University of

Chittagong]