RESEARCH: Football and Politics
- James M.
- Feb 7, 2017
- 4 min read
Sports in general have been used to represent cultural identities, political agenda and lately for economic purposes as a valuable means of income.
During the 1936 Olympics, Adolf Hitler took advantage of the sporting event to promote his ideological belief that German consisted of racially supreme people – the so called Aryan nationalism.
Politically, Hitler was using the sporting event to give more credence to his ideologies.
In particular, the usage of football as a governance tool influences the social and cultural agenda thereby leading to political relevance.
Football and politics seem miles apart but the reality is that the two are closely intertwined.
Political rhetoric is manifested through football – the sport is used for political propaganda.
The 1998 World Cup offered a rare chance for the United States and Iran to interact.
Prior to the match, tensions and wild expectations had been ringing in people’s minds given the political stance of the United States towards Iran, as well as their stand after the Iranian Revolution.
The Iranian won the match and despite the two sides exchanging flowers before the game as a sign of peace, the outcome of the game was interpreted by Tehran as a huge “political statement” to the United States.
During the 1986 World Cup, Argentina defeated England through the infamous “Hand of God” by the mercurial Diego Maradona.
However, the win was double joy for Argentina as they saw it as a way of hitting back at the United Kingdom as the two nations had been embroiled in a fight over Falklands Island.
The infamous Football War match between Honduras and El Salvador was founded on politically instigated socio-economic issues such as immigration and land reforms.
The outcome was so bad that both nations severed diplomatic links with bouts of army invasions later.
The traditional hatred between China and Japan dates back to World War II.
The historical tensions between the two Asian giants were stroked during the 2004 AFC Asian Cup.
The Chinese fans chanted some anti-Japanese sentiments when the Japanese national anthem was being sung.
The Chinese also continually booed the Japanese players and the visiting delegation for huge periods of the match.
Mayhem ensued when Japan won the match – Chinese fans staged riots outside the stadium.
They couldn’t believe that they had lost to their traditional rival at their own ground.
After Argentina’s triumph in the 1978 World Cup, the country’s dictators tried to use the win as a result that was nurtured through the “harmony” of the country.
This was despite the social and economic ills that Argentina was experiencing under the dictators.
To date, UEFA has to put a special mechanism that makes sure that Spain and Gibraltar are not drawn in the same qualifying group.
This is due to the political disputed status of Gibraltar. Similarly, the same mechanism is used for both Azerbaijan and Armenia owing to the poor relations between them.
Club football is no different to national team football in terms of political rhetoric.
In Germany, any match between FC St. Pauli and F.C. Hansa Rostock is referred to as the "Political Derby" for the reason that fans of both teams represent the opposite sides of Germany's politics.
In Israel, Jewish nationalism is symbolized by FC Beitar Jerusalem, as the club favours ideals that relate to patriotism of the Jews.
The team is seen as a pivot for supporting the need for Jews to own Israel against the sizable population of Arabs.
That puts sharp focus on Maccabi Haifa FC, given that the team has fans from different communities, especially the Arabs.
Politically, Maccabi Haifa is not seen by the Jewish establishment as an entity that champions for the Israeli nationalism.
France’s SC Bastia has its fans proudly display political symbols of Corsican nationalism during matches.
In Scotland, Celtic FC and Rangers FC form a rivalry that is based on politics, culture and religion – Celtic fans are mainly Roman Catholics while Rangers fans are Protestants.
Years ago, Celtic fans would vote for the Labour Party while Rangers fans were staunch Conservative Party enthusiasts.
Former Romanian strongman, Nicolae Ceaușescu, under the Communism banner allowed politics to have a say in football – Nicolae’s regime saw football as a governance tool.
The top two footballer clubs in Romania were and still are based in Bucharest – Steaua Bucuresti and Dynamo Bucuresti.
While Steaua drew their support from the Romanian Army, Dynamo on the other hand had the unflinching support from the Romanian police.
In USSR (read Russia), the Communist government advanced its political agenda through football; Dynamo Moscow had the support of the KGB (Soviet secret police) while CSKA Moscow were founded and supported by the Soviet Army.
European right-wing dictators such as Hitler, Stalin and Mussolini saw football as the favorite sport of the working class; and to win their votes, they had to support these teams.
Italy’s Benito Mussolini wanted to increase his fascist ideals – he ordered football clubs in Rome to fold up and form one super club that would challenge the dominance of Northern Italy teams such as Juventus, Inter Milan and AC Milan.
All football teams in Rome except SS Lazio folded up to form AS Roma. SS Lazio drew the wrath of Mussolini and to date the rivalry between AS Roma and SS Lazio is beyond measure.
Spain’s dictator, Francisco Franco who was once a staunch supporter of Athletico Madrid switched his loyalty to Real Madrid at a time when he needed foreign support to shore up his dwindling political fortunes.
The gesture gave birth to the bitter rivalry between the two Madrid-based clubs.
Besides, Franco used football to suppress regions that called for secession such as the Basque and Catalan regions – football clubs from these regions (Barcelona in Catalunya and Athletic Bilbao in Basque) were dealt huge blows.
Adolf Hitler used football to assert his national dominance.
After he took power in Germany, he systematically purged Jewish players that played in German football clubs.
He also made sure that Jewish club owners as well as sponsors had no room in Germany.
By doing so, the German Football Federation became another arm of Hitler’s political mechanization.
Hitler’s usage of football for political mileage can be seen when he organized a Death Match in Kiev, Ukraine – then under Nazi occupation.
It pitted German soldiers against some professional players from Dynamo Kiev and Lokomotiv Kiev.
After the Germans were heavily defeated, the Ukrainian professional players were sent to concentration camps
Comentarii