World Cup Soccer—Just a Sport?
“A 63-year-old Uruguayan temporarily stopped selling food in the streets of Carmelo to hitchhike 6,200 miles [10,000 km] for almost a year to be near his country’s football team.”—El Universal, Mexican daily.
This soccer fan was one of the hundreds of thousands who attended the 1986 World Soccer Cup Finals in Mexico.
IN VIEW of today’s worldwide soccer fever, the above account is not unusual. According to one report, the average working Mexican would have to spend four months of his wages to attend just the opening game. Yet, thousands did just that. Little wonder that one soccer fan, upon arriving at Mexico City’s Aztec Stadium, suffered a heart attack—he had lost his game tickets! But let the statistics tell the story of soccer’s popularity.
The 52 games were played in 12 stadiums located in nine different Mexican cities. The 1986 World Cup constituted the most watched event in history. Some two billion soccer fans around the world followed the live television broadcast of the inaugural contest on May 31. Nearly three billion viewed the final contest between Germany and Argentina on June 29. The combined audience for the 52 games was calculated at about ten billion television viewers—about twice the present world population!
Since people in many lands prefer watching soccer above almost everything else, some politicians carefully avoided scheduling rallies or appearances during game times. And when Iraq beat Syria to qualify for the World Cup, soldiers at the front in Iraq’s five-year-old war with Iran fired their weapons in celebration, lighting the sky with tracer bullets. Yes, soccer is taken seriously by billions today. Says Rogerio Achilles, sportscaster for a São Paulo radio station: “Soccer is more than a sport, it’s the people’s religion.” But why is it so popular?
An Escape From Reality
Like drugs and alcohol, sports have been used as ‘an escape from reality.’ Mexican psychoanalyst Armando Barriguete referred to Mexico’s current difficult economic situation and said that, to the Mexican people, the World Cup games served as ‘an escape from the problems at hand.’ Mexico City’s daily El Universal claims that ‘commercial and government television have tried to convince the people that the victory of eleven energetic youths—Mexico’s soccer team—is national vengeance against so much calamity that has befallen us.’ Thus the World Cup championship is said to have ‘elevated the morale of a people stricken in its pride and its hopes.’ Yes, for many people, soccer is much more than a sport—it is their weekly dose of dreams and illusions.
Although it may provide temporary excitement, soccer—just like drugs and alcohol—cannot provide lasting peace of mind. But does it, as some claim, engender international unity?
United by a Ball?
Sports events are sometimes used as a tool to promote political ends and ideals. How was this done during the 1986 World Cup Finals?
Mexico’s president, Miguel de la Madrid, joined with the United Nations to “launch a message of peace to all the world.” The official emblem for the 1986 World Cup Finals was two hemispheres with a soccer ball between them. Accordingly, Rafael del Castillo, president of the Mexican Football Federation, stated: “Our nation, through its Mexico-86 motto, dreams and wishes for a world united by a ball.” But Mexico was not alone in its wishful thinking. Note what others stated:
Argentina’s president, Raúl Alfonsín, considered the World Soccer Championship to be “the symbol of a search that should make us feel the need of working toward fellowship, peace, [and] universal justice.”
João Havelange, president of FIFA (Fédération Internationale de Football Association), soccer’s organizing committee, in his inaugural speech emphasized the “spirit of fellowship and understanding, all to serve the ideal of peace.”
In a message to the participants in the XIII World Cup Finals, the secretary-general of the United Nations, Javier Pérez de Cuéllar, said: “In a world in which a wild armaments race and conditions of injustice, hunger and need coexist, you . . . are called upon to remind your leaders constantly of the imperative need for cooperation in order to achieve peace.”
Even Pope John Paul II said that he hoped that the World Cup games would favor ‘peaceful relationships and cooperation among the nations and promote social values, such as understanding, loyalty, team spirit, universal fraternity, and—most of all—world peace.’
True, many nations were united by satellite television for a short time as they watched the World Cup Finals. But although united in cheering and excitement, they were divided by their nationalism and the intense competition. So were the peoples of the world really being ‘united by a ball’?
A Dream Come True?
Referring to the social importance of soccer, French philosopher Albert Camus once stated: “I owe to football [soccer] the truest concepts I know about morals and men’s obligations.” Although positive expressions such as “football’s universal family,” “fair play,” and the “sports spirit” were used during the World Cup Finals, did the soccer matches live up to those expectations? Can soccer, or any other sport for that matter, really bring peace, unity, and good morals?
Sports editor Pedro Escartín, commenting on the game between Mexico and Paraguay, said: “When the football field is converted into a madhouse of violence, of antifootball, of carrying out the objectionable guideline that ‘the ball passes but not the man,’ then to think that one man alone, without the collaboration of players and managers, could convert the atmosphere of violence into a show of sportsmanship and good manners, is asking too much.” He added: “In a game where 77 fouls are committed, I ask myself if football can be positive.” Fortunately, not all the games were as violent as that one.
Sometimes during training sessions, doors were shut, even to journalists. Why so? Teams feared that spies from other teams would try to infiltrate with the press and the public in an attempt to discover some of their game tactics. According to Mexico City’s daily Excelsior, “the participating teams in the World Cup Finals, it seems, have become paranoid about the possible presence of their rivals’ spies. . . . The number of accusations of espionage from the different delegations could fill a spy novel by John Le Carré.” This hardly exemplified a uniting atmosphere of peace.
In another commentary, the same daily cited the pope’s words: “Sport is not enough . . . It frequently turns into excessive competitiveness, rivalry, aggressiveness, brutality, disloyalty, industrialization, and commercialization.” This spirit is communicated to the crowd in whose faces “can be read the aggressiveness, the anguish, the anger, the fury, the sadness, and often a delirious and hysterical joy.” These factors, together with blind nationalism, have often led to violence and bloodbaths. And soccer violence is no rare occurrence.
To avoid such problems during the 1986 World Cup Finals, strict security measures were taken. Some 50,000 men—police and soldiers—were mobilized to keep order. Special bomb squads were on hand in case of terrorist attack. There were four highly trained brigades of antiterrorist commandos on duty at strategic points. Fifteen Special Branch policemen from England’s Scotland Yard were on hand to protect the English team. Umbrellas and other “dangerous” objects that could have been used in an outbreak of violence were confiscated as the public entered the stadiums. Drinks were even served without ice cubes. Why so? The cubes could have been used as projectiles!
If professional sports cannot establish peace and harmony on or off the field, how can they be a lasting influence toward world peace?
Another question is, How should sincere Christians view professional sports? Do these present any threats to Christian integrity?
How Do Sports Affect You?
Because of the exercise involved, playing games, such as soccer, can be of value. But as with any other recreational activity, balance is needed. How much time and energy do you devote to playing or even to watching sports, whether live or on TV? Does that recreation interfere with more important Christian activities, such as meetings, personal study, and the ministry? (Philippians 1:10) The Bible counsels: “Physical exercises are useful enough, but the usefulness of spirituality is unlimited, since it holds out the reward of life here and now and of the future life as well.”—1 Timothy 4:8, The Jerusalem Bible.
The apostle Paul also counsels us: “Let us not become egotistical, stirring up competition with one another, envying one another.” (Galatians 5:26) While there is nothing necessarily wrong with Christians’ engaging in sports activities in moderation, we should guard against the competitive win-at-all-costs spirit so evident in professional sports. Fierce competition can lead to violence.—Philippians 4:5.
Quoting the writer Rudyard Kipling, the president of the Mexican Football Federation, Rafael del Castillo, urged the World Cup players to “fill the precious minutes with sixty seconds of fierce fight.” Quite a contrast to the counsel given by the apostle Peter to “seek peace and pursue it.”—1 Peter 3:11.
Another danger associated with professional sports is nationalism and patriotic pride. If Christ Jesus were on earth today, for which nation or city do you think he would root? Israel? Italy? Jerusalem? Rome? Or none at all? Should Christians stand divided on activities as transitory as sports and recreation? (1 Corinthians 1:10-13) Rather, true Christians should be “full of . . . good fruits,” “peaceable,” “not making partial distinctions,” for “the fruit of righteousness has its seed sown under peaceful conditions for those who are making peace.”—James 3:17, 18.
Therefore, a conscientious Christian will not allow himself to be sucked into a fanatical attitude toward soccer or any other sport. After all, it is just a sport, a game. A mild or passing interest may be harmless. As a recreation in moderation it may be beneficial. But the more important spiritual interests in life are of permanent value.—Matthew 6:33; 1 Corinthians 15:33.
[Blurb on page 15]
The 52 games had a total audience of some ten billion television viewers—twice the human population!
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“Soccer is more than a sport, it’s the people’s religion”
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“Fill the precious minutes with sixty seconds of fierce fight”
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Argentina displays the World Cup after victory
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Reuters/Bettmann Newsphotos
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Avoiding a tackle in the World Cup Finals
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Reuters/Bettmann Newsphotos