• It has been great not just to watch the footballing skills of the players, but also to watch the politics of the spectators and the players.
• I have been delighted to see the cause for a free Palestine taken up in the stadia through the medium of the Palestinian flag.
This cartoon by GADO appeared in The Continent on 19 November 2022. I saw it on GADO’s Twitter handle. I scrutinised it carefully. I particularly paid attention to what is hidden/swept under the green carpet.
The line up was by corporate titans (Emirates, Visa, Hyundai, MacDonalds, Nike, TotalEnergies, Adidas, Coca Cola and Budweiser, and others not as conspicuous).
The sports corporate titans are well known for exploiting cheap labour in the Global South.
Also conspicuous were the leaders of Qatar, and the Italian President of FIFA is seen collecting contributions from the corporates. Under the green carpet are human skeletons. Are they of the migrant workers reportedly killed during the construction of the stadia? My reply on my Twitter handle was The game of the people puts profits before the people! That is the story of corporates and FIFA that people can unearth by using the research engines of yet another corporate, Goggle.
The FIFA World Cup in Qatar this year has been, like many other World Cups before it, very political. It has been great not just to watch the footballing skills of the players, but also to watch the politics of the spectators and the players. I have been delighted to see the cause for a free Palestine taken up in the stadia through the medium of the Palestinian flag. I have supported that cause for decades. As a Kenyan who grew up during British colonialism I feel the pain of the Palestinians as they fight for their land and freedoms from the Zionist frontier state and its ideologies of occupation, colonialism, and apartheid.
I have also seen the rainbow flags symbolising the support for LGBTIQ+ rights in a theocratic and homophobic country. I believe Megan Rapinoe who won two FIFA Women’s World Cups in 2015 and 2019 with the US team would salute this form of activism. The English team has been taking a knew in their struggles against racism. Their clarion call No Room for Racism is a great political statement in a world dominated by racial capitalism and neoliberalism. The courage of the players reminds us of the Black Power/Human Rights salutes by Tommie Smith and John Carlos on the podium in the 1968 Olympics as the US national anthem was played or sang. Colin Kaepernick and his colleagues, took a knee before their football matches as the US national anthem was played or sang. They did so to defend, respect, and uphold the right to protest.
Yet we cannot forget Eric Cantona, a great footballer, who urged us to enjoy the World Cup but to remember Assange was in a UK jail for exposing war criminals. Cantona has directed radical documentaries on the history of the people’s game and the origin of soccer clubs in England and South America. Diego Maradona, another great player openly made it public that he admired Che Guevara, Fidel Castro, and the Cuban Revolution. Paul Breitner, the German footballer known for his steel nerves when taking penalties, was a Maoist. The great Pele, the Mozambican Eusebio, and other black players were involved in serious struggles against racism.
Before Cunningham and Anderson were selected to play for the English teams, they remained white. The joke in England then was if there was no racism in England the only thing white about the English team would be the colour of their jerseys. Visiting England in the late 1970s that joke was part of the struggles against racism, inequality, and unfairness. Because soccer is a game of billions of people, soccer stars, athletes, and all sportspeople have a great following. The courage by them to speak out against the evils of our society is one of duty and responsibility to humanity.
Let also not forget that sportspeople, soccer players included, have to fight against their exploitation by sports clubs and organisations. Contracts have had to be negotiated. There are agents to be paid. The language of “transfer” which was always a euphemism for the commodification of sportspeople has dropped that hypocrisy and we now hear that soccer players are bought and sold. They can also be loaned out to other clubs. The expertise and competition between soccer clubs have given great players a great bargaining power. The bargaining power of the clubs and their capital is still overwhelming.
Should we Envision a World Cup that is Different?
I have been asked by young people which teams I support. My answer has been that I cheer on the African teams because I am a PanAfricanist. The moment they get knocked out I move on to the teams of the Global South. There are great teams in the Global South, particularly Latin and South America. If the Europeans end up playing the last stages of the competition I focus on players. If the likes of Rapinoe, Cantona and Maradona are playing I would surely cheer them on because of their politics. I am also conscious of the Global African players we see in many of the teams. PanAfricanism is inclusive of them. Global Africa is talking about reparations for slavery, racism, and colonization. These are important issues to bring to the venues of the World Cup.
The World Cup is a site for people to people global solidarities as well. It a venue where global citizens gather to watch a people’s game. That momentary unity, inclusiveness, and happiness of global citizens in itself raises the questions about challenges that hinder a world that is just, equitable, non-militarist, non-sexist, ecologically safe, egalitarian and prosperous? In what way would such a World Cup be different? Let us not forget the gains that are being made. Through the various political messages and struggles global citizens are definitely becoming conscious of what is happening in the world around them. Racism, wars, occupations, bigotry, homophobia and exploitation are all implicated. Resistance that arises from such consciousness cannot be overlooked. Well, apart from these issues I hope in the next World Cup there will be more messages about the planet we wish to see.
*Willy Mutunga, Chief Justice & President of the Supreme Court, 2011-2016.