That World Cup did not leave me feeling good. It said a bit too much about the world we live in just now that was a bit too on the nose about the state of moral decline we appear to be in. It is a strange feeling – on the one hand, there are aspects of this last six weeks which show the best of humanity in the fans. Then there is the rest…
It is perhaps important to say that my take on this event may not be coloured in the same way yours is. We were in Egypt for two weeks of it and became fervent Egypt supporters in the process. Also my partner is Mexican with join Spanish nationality and a lot of what I saw came from her social media feed, which in turn wasn’t coming from Europe.
I suspect that has heavily coloured my feelings about the whole event. And let me start by being really clear; as the usual western centrists retreat to their usual western centrism of agreeing profusely with any powerful institution and calling its critics ‘conspiracy theorists’, my answer is ‘oh, we’re not debating conspiracies, we’re counting them’.
Because no-one denies that the pseudo-fascist president of America phoned that little ball of condensed corruption that runs Fifa and that a red card was rescinded as a result, and no-one at all is justifying this as procedurally correct. So there we are, one conspiracy confirmed. You have no high horse to get on.
So let’s start with some more stuff we can all agree with – "hydration breaks" (if they are necessary) do not need (conveniently) to last the length of a US broadcaster’s advert breaks. Do not tell me that isn’t selling football out. Likewise, that excruciating final.
I have an intrinsic dislike for American bombast. When I grew up, everyone in Scotland did. The final opened with that national competition they seem to have where some singer I’ve not heard of sings the American national anthem and wins based on precisely how many unnecessary notes they use.
Then some mentalist who apparently usually shouts in a deranged manner at people watching men fight in a cage was instead screaming in a deranged manner at all of us. On and on this all went, until half time. I went to check on the washing when Madonna came on but when I got back they were making children sing schmaltzy crap and then that arse from Coldplay appeared and I went to reorganise my sock drawer.
Let that be the last half time show in football
This isn’t just a matter of taste (though it is very much a matter of taste – or lack thereof). I need to suck up warbling talent show finalists and screaming fight barkers if that’s what the host nation insists on, but you do not stop a proper sporting match for half an hour just to advertise more shit through the power of singing and dancing.
There is a limit surely to how much American capitalism should be allowed to destroy everything, no? Let that be the last half time show in football. Football has its problems, but surely it can salvage some self respect. It isn’t only about money, is it?
You’d believe it was if you left the Euro-American information ecosystem. My experience of the degree of cynicism coming from Mexico and that I experienced in Egypt made me wonder if I was seeing things wrong.
I watched the Egypt-Argentina match in a bar surrounded by Egyptians. Egypt deserved to go through. I hope you’ve seen one of the multiple compilations of egregious decisions that handed Argentina the victory.
Now I was committed one way on this one and it looked like more than just errors to me but that happens when you’re supporting one side. It’s just that it wasn’t just me. By this point the Mexican half of comments that are being relayed to me all operate on the basis that Fifa had decided who the sponsors wanted to win games.
Certainly for the rest of our holiday we just had to say ‘fucking Fifa is corrupt’ and we made friends. People we spoke to were split between whether it was the financial clout of Messi and sponsors or whether the fact the Egyptian coach had been a vocal supporter of Palestine which caused the bias. I know some will think it was just a bad referee.
And yes, I know that the European centrist community will be calling accusations of racism conspiracy theories – and then you need to remind them that a referee was prevented from attending the tournament because he was Somali. So yet again, we’re not debating whether there was racism, we’re counting it.
What has bothered me is the silence. I mean, there is no version of the way Iran was treated that should not have been an utter scandal – yet who spoke in solidarity? So that’s at least three screaming irregularities that aren’t ‘conspiracy theories’.
And then there are the sponsors which themselves suggest something is sick in the game. Repressive petrostates, crypto-bros, the junk food merchants – the ‘partners’ represent nothing but greed. It is hard to feel love for all of this.
Which leaves Fifa. I have asked a couple of people in the realms of sport (this isn’t my expert area) whether Fifa is the most corrupt organisation operating freely in Western Europe. There was a general agreement to this suggestion, and it’s not just about ‘Fifa Peace Prizes’. Both the World Cup and the Olympics are now self-contained economies that no-one really regulates.
The endless efforts of the European centrists to persuade you that their neoliberal empire isn’t fundamentally dirty is just an us thing
So having started with the joyful, madcap non-hope of Scotland (let’s be honest, we were absolute rubbish) being saved by the wonder of our fans and ending with the most consistent team in the tournament winning and their fans making it about Palestine, this tournament retains much magic. But for how long?
Because the disgraceful behaviour of Argentina during and after the final is perhaps more redolent of this affair altogether. This was surely the dirtiest World Cup since Mussolini was himself calling senior officials to ‘advise’ them on decision-making in 1934. And before the centrists tell me that is an irresponsible comparison, you’d have said that to me in 1934 so give it a rest.
What this has left me feeling is enormous solidarity with everyone outside the stinking corporate Fifa bubble. I sat across the Nile from Luxor hearing the many fan zones roar so loud at each goal we didn’t need to be told the score. We saw that country come alive (and then unite in disgust) and it reminds me what football can be.
But yet again it left me feeling that the still-dominant European-American axis that pervades our media ecosystem is increasingly oblivious to the rest of the world. You know that outside Eurmerica no-one supports Isreal and ‘is it a genocide?’ isn’t a question? You know it’s just us equivocating about the greatest Western-backed atrocity this century?
Likewise, you know half the world just assumes that the White Man will rig everything in their favour? The endless efforts of the European centrists to persuade you that their neoliberal empire isn’t fundamentally dirty is just an us thing. The world believes we have instituted a rule of legalised corruption for ourselves. It’s hard to suggest they’re wrong.
I sort of remember Argentina 1978. I mean, I don’t, but I clearly remember asking my mum why everyone in the whole country was sad (I was five years old). Italy 1990 became the moment the World Cup became ‘mine’, a weeks-long Odyssey that I got to make my own, along with people all over the world.
The day after Scotland was knocked out of the 1998 world cup by Morocco a man fell asleep in his car, drove into me and fucked up my ankle to the extent that I have walked with a walking stick since. It is a landmark of my life, and the football hurt more.
In 2010 we had a Spanish intern staying with us and we watched the whole tournament up to Spain’s historic victory. These are all all various forms of joyful or painful-in-the-right-way memories that have been gifted to me by this football tournament.
But Qatar started to push at the boundaries of how much blind eye I could turn to all the shit, and this one has pushed me further. I simply cannot feel good about the Trump Games.
Money ruins everything. I wish we could just play football for fun again. Even if just once every four years it was pure, it would be such a different experience. As it stands, football is getting lost in among the commerce and politics. It isn’t a beautiful game right now, just a lucrative one. What a shame that is.