Football and Revolution Alon K
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This article was downloaded by: [94.139.179.115] On: 26 June 2014, At: 06:12 Publisher: Routledge Informa Ltd Registered in England and Wales Registered Number: 1072954 Registered office: Mortimer House, 37-41 Mortimer Street, London W1T 3JH, UK The International Journal of the History of Sport Publication details, including instructions for authors and subscription information: http://www.tandfonline.com/loi/fhsp20 The Universe is Shaped like a Football: Football and Revolution Alon K. Raaba a Department of Religious Studies, University of California, Davis, USA Published online: 01 May 2014. To cite this article: Alon K. Raab (2014) The Universe is Shaped like a Football: Football and Revolution, The International Journal of the History of Sport, 31:7, 795-814, DOI: 10.1080/09523367.2014.909964 To link to this article: http://dx.doi.org/10.1080/09523367.2014.909964 PLEASE SCROLL DOWN FOR ARTICLE Taylor & Francis makes every effort to ensure the accuracy of all the information (the “Content”) contained in the publications on our platform. However, Taylor & Francis, our agents, and our licensors make no representations or warranties whatsoever as to the accuracy, completeness, or suitability for any purpose of the Content. Any opinions and views expressed in this publication are the opinions and views of the authors, and are not the views of or endorsed by Taylor & Francis. The accuracy of the Content should not be relied upon and should be independently verified with primary sources of information. Taylor and Francis shall not be liable for any losses, actions, claims, proceedings, demands, costs, expenses, damages, and other liabilities whatsoever or howsoever caused arising directly or indirectly in connection with, in relation to or arising out of the use of the Content. This article may be used for research, teaching, and private study purposes. Any substantial or systematic reproduction, redistribution, reselling, loan, sub-licensing, systematic supply, or distribution in any form to anyone is expressly forbidden. Terms & Conditions of access and use can be found at http://www.tandfonline.com/page/terms- and-conditions The International Journal of the History of Sport, 2014 Vol. 31, No. 7, 795–814, http://dx.doi.org/10.1080/09523367.2014.909964 The Universe is Shaped like a Football: Football and Revolution Alon K. Raab* Department of Religious Studies, University of California, Davis, USA Football has had a long and rich history as a liberating force. It has been an important agent of social integration and a major arena in which ethnic and religious identities – local, national and regional – and conceptions and practices of gender and class are played out. It has created a culture where fraternity and cooperation are common and has served as a vehicle for independence and dignity. This essay pays homage to some of the football players, teams, fans, projects and dreams that have been in the front lines of struggles for social justice, community and a better world. It focuses on men and women who have understood the game’s connection to larger social and political transformations and, in word and deed, helped further its equalitarian and inclusive nature, thus also helping to transform society. Keywords: Arab Spring; women’s football; fans; Robben Island Introduction With the final whistle, as Iran ensured its place in the 1998 Mundial, millions streamed into the streets,honking car horns,waving flags and singing. Among the multitude were many women. Barred after the Islamic revolution from stadiums and public life, on this night they removed their veils and celebrated. Some climbed atop cars of the hated morality police, dancing and laughing. Others joined male compatriots hailing the national team’s achievement and using the occasion to denounce the regime, shouting ‘Death to the Mullahs’.1 On December 24, 1914, in the killing fields of Ypres, Belgium, British and German troops decided to lay down their arms. After recovering dozens of bodies and burying them, the troops met in no-man’s land. Food and souvenirs were exchanged and they played football. A day later, they were back at slaughtering each other but the memory of 2 Downloaded by [94.139.179.115] at 06:12 26 June 2014 the match and its promise remains. When not scoring fantastic goals, employing the ‘Hand of God’ or being in drug rehabilitation centres, Diego Maradona, one of the game’s greatest players, expressed sympathy for the poor and downtrodden. He admired the Cuban Revolution and opposed most things about America, foremost President George W. Bush. When the Hero of Baghdad arrived in Argentina, Maradona was out in the streets, denouncing the latest US invasion. He also devoted considerable energy to organising a players’ union and battling the leaders of FIFA, many of them men with shady pasts and links to military rulers. In Brazil, until the 1920s, black professional players were a rarity, due to racial prejudice and the football federations’ exclusionary policies. Unlike most big clubs, Rio de Janeiro’s Vasco da Gama refused to adhere to the racist laws and integrated teams and its coaching staff. In 1924, it was threatened with expulsion by The Sao Paulo league if it did not drop its black, mulatto and poor players. The team refused and gradually other *Email: [email protected] q 2014 Taylor & Francis 796 A.K. Raab teams joined it, leading to full integration. It took however another decade for the first non- white player, Leoˆnidas da Silva (known as ‘The Black Diamond’), to join the national team, and several more years before racist abuse by white players and fans subsided.3 Women adapting football as a liberating force, soldiers recognising their brotherhood by playing together, and players and teams in the forefront of battles against war and racism – these are but some of the lives and events exemplifying football’s capacity for freedom, joy and social change. Ancient ball games and their modern variation of football have intersected with important cultural and historical processes such as religion, colonialism, nationalism, women’s liberation, urbanism, industrialisation, state building, globalisation and political revolt. Football has been influenced by these developments and has shaped them as well. When writing about football (and especially at its professional level), many authors focus on the negative aspects of the game, including violence, racism, nationalism and commercialisation. Some note how leaders and regimes have cynically used the game to further their aims, and how matches have sometimes been a locale where conflicts were manifested and violence has erupted. Without ignoring these unsavoury connections, it is important however to pay heed to football’s long and rich history as a liberating force. Football has been an important agent of social integration and a major arena in which ethnic and religious identities – local, national and regional – and conceptions and practices of gender and class are played out. It has created a culture where fraternity and cooperation are common and has served as a vehicle for independence and dignity. This essay pays homage to some of the football players, teams, fans, projects and dreams that have been in the front lines of struggles for social justice, community and a better world. It focuses on men and women who have understood the game’s connection to larger social and political transformations and, in word and deed, helped further its equalitarian and inclusive nature, thus also helping to transform society. There are many ways to define a ‘Revolution’. Seizing political power, often through violent means, is usually invoked, and while these are important, lasting and revolutionary changes appear in many forms. Some revolutions (such as the Russian Revolution) are accompanied by bloodshed, while others (such as ‘the Velvet Revolution’ that swept Czechoslovakia in 1989) are peaceful. Toppling an oppressive regime is easy to identify but a ‘revolution’ must also include a radical break with the past and a deep transformation in the order of things. The 1949 Chinese revolution that ushered decades of state communism and the 1979 revolution that transformed Iran into an Downloaded by [94.139.179.115] at 06:12 26 June 2014 Islamic republic are two examples. The impact of radical change is often difficult to assess and Chinese leader Zhou Enlai’s response when asked what he thought about the impact of the 1789 French Revolution – ‘it is too soon to tell’ – could apply to other revolutions as well. Along with earth-shattering political uprisings are the social transformations that are formed of many individual and collective actions and add to the radical break with the past. The changing status and lives of African-Americans and of women worldwide in the latter half of the twentieth century are recent examples. These transformations in politics and culture, social structures and individual and collective consciousness are ongoing and their impact are unfolding and deepening. In this essay, ‘Revolution’ will be used in its broadest political and cultural sense. Origins Organised ball games first emerged in the ancient world in Japan, China, Egypt, Mesopotamia and Meso-America, reserved for priests and the nobility, and were connected to religious celebrations, often simulating the movements of the sun, moon and The International Journal of the History of Sport 797 stars. We have no recorded accounts of attempts to change the rules but perhaps the first football rebel was an Aztec participant in the game of Tchatali who one day decided that the laws proscribing the sacrifice of the defeated left something to be desired and refused to go on. If such a rebel existed, hopefully he was not offered to the gods, a fate much more severe than being sent off the pitch by a referee brandishing a red card.4 Gradually, commoners were allowed to participate, a response to their insistence on inclusion and rulers’ realisation that they could aid in achieving victory.