Soccer fans don’t demand players shut up and dribble
Shut up and dribble. That’s what a Fox News commentator said about LeBron James in February. He didn’t.
No one is shutting up when it comes to dribbling a basketball. And certainly not when it comes to dribbling a soccer ball.
Any fan of the World Cup knows that politics are inextricably linked to the world’s greatest sporting event. Any soccer fan would have to be amused by recent complaints from some American sports fans that politics and sports should be mutually exclusive entities.
International soccer is always a story of political factions, national rivalries, historic grudges, and of sport being a vehicle and platform for something bigger than just a game. This World Cup is no different than the
previous 20 versions of the tournament.
We’re not even through the first round and there are already plenty of political controversies taking place in Russia. Two Swiss players have been fined by FIFA for making a hand symbol after their victory over Serbia that was interpreted by many as an homage to the Albanian flag. Both Granit Xahka and Xherdan Shaqiri are of Albanian heritage; they were playing the country that cracked down on Albanian rebels in Kosovo and that continues to insist that Kosovo is part of Serbia.
Serbia itself is being investigated because its fans displayed political messages that FIFA says promoted a Serbian paramilitary nationalist movement during a match with Costa Rica. Serbia’s foreign minister said the victory over Costa Rica was “sweet revenge” because Costa Rica was one of the first countries to recognize an independent Kosovo.
There were reports that Egypt’s Mohamed Salah, one of the most famous Muslim athletes in the world, was considering quitting the Egypt national team because he was angry about being used as a political symbol. His federation denied the story on Monday.
Salah’s team, eliminated in group play, was staying in Chechnya, and Chechen leader Ramzan Kadyrov posed for a photo with Salah and made him an honorary citizen. That led to harsh criticism that Salah was being used by Kadyrov — who is accused of repression and persecution — for political gain in the mostly Muslim region in southern Russia.
German players Mesut Ozil and Ilkay Gundogan, who are of Turkish descent, caused a controversy by posing for a photo with Turkey’s highly controversial president, Tayyip Erdogan.
My friends in San Sebastian, Spain, said no one there in the Basque region, which — along with Catalonia and other Spanish regions — is seeking independence, seems to be rooting for Spain. Many are actively rooting against La Roja. The team that won the World Cup in 2010 provided some unity with Xabi Alonso, of Basque heritage, and several players from Catalonia, including midfielder Xavi, who made a point of saying “Viva España.” But he and Alonso and other key players have retired and now half of the country called Spain isn’t cheering for the national team.
For some, the act of rooting for a team can be an overtly political act. Many teams are a direct contradiction of the anti-immigration sentiment sweeping parts of Europe. Can you espouse anti-immigration views and then cheer for a team made up of the children of immigrants?
Such stories can be some of the most unifying and powerful in sports. When France won the World Cup in 1998, led by Zinedine Zidane, the son of Algerian immigrants, the team was lauded for being a vision of the new France and bringing disparate parts of the country’s population together.
When Germany made a run while hosting the World Cup in 2006, the event was said to heal old divides and injuries for the first time since the country was reunified.
When the United States played Iran in the 1998 World Cup, Americans thought it would be a taut matchup because of political tension. It was, but the main protest was from an opposition group, which smuggled in T-shirts and banners and used the game to protest the Iranian government.
East Germany played West Germany in the 1974 tournament, hosted by West Germany. In 1986, four years after the Falklands War, Argentina played England.
Rivalries and international tension regularly play out on the soccer field.
This summer, Russia and President Vladimir Putin have been charged with using the World Cup for propaganda purposes. That’s not new either. In 1934, Benito Mussolini’s Italy hosted the World Cup, and used it as a vehicle to promote fascism.
Here in the United States we don’t have a team in the World Cup. But many fans have adopted Mexico, in part because of proximity, but certainly in part because of politics and the situation going on at our shared border.
Shut up and dribble? Not now. Not ever.