Author: KennethY

  • Political Football in the Middle East

    This is a link to the map that I created using Google Maps in order to provide an argument for why Middle Eastern football is innately more political than in other regions of the world (South America for example). A lot of the focus of this map project is on Iran but I have also decided to include pins and stories for Turkey, Armenia, Israel, and Palestine as well in order to not have the focus solely be on Iran. This was a fun and interesting topic to research as it has helped me to better understand the connections that lie intertwined between sports and politics. One of my aunts and her family comes from Iran and much of her family still lives in the region so when narrowing down the focus for this particular research project between certain regions of the world I drew upon my familial connection to the Middle East. I firmly believe that Google Maps was one of the most appropriate tools to use to make my research come to life because of the story telling element that travels between different countries in the Middle East as well as the multimedia tools that are included with maps such as embedding photos and images to map pins that the user creates. In the future I would like to explore using StoryMaps just to see the differences between the two map creating tools and compare them.

    https://www.google.com/maps/d/u/1/edit?mid=1Tkx8YOnJmhZvMoPV17X97QutYv1T_Hg&usp=sharing

  • Sexism in Early Women’s Soccer

    For the two readings assigned for this week, one of the threads between the two readings that stuck out to me the most was the practice of sidelining the roles that women had filled in for when the men had gone to war which would later apply to women’s sports as well. One of the reasons that this occurred is mentioned in both of the readings as being the preservation of women’s “fragile bodies” and womanly qualities. Playing soccer as a professional for women was looked down upon by both England and the United States. As more and more women had the chance to pursue further education in the 20th century, their opportunities to participate in sports increased as well. Educators in the United States pushed intramural sports over intercollegiate competition because they believed that intercollegiate competition would have a negative impact on women’s sports. The popularity of women’s soccer in England threatened the revenues of men’s soccer, which was looking to expand their Football League from the two existing divisions in 1921 to include a division three north and division three south. Clubs in England were asked to withdraw pitches from female teams and the Football Association deemed that soccer was unsuitable for “delicate female frames,” while also declaring that there was too much money in the expenses of players and clubs which provided danger in the sense of avoiding professionalism in a time period where England favored the amateur. These efforts led to the belief that women’s soccer was unappealing and could not bring in spectators although that would inevitably turn out to be untrue. During the first World War, while the men had gone off to fight, women stepped in to fill the roles that the men had left behind. In the United States, the Ogden (UT) Standard had published photographs that contrasted the roles of women in the US versus the roles that women were filling in Europe, with headlines that stated things like “Women War Workers are Taking Lead in All Masculine Sports” and “French girls, doing men’s work now, play men’s games.” These details from the two articles highlight the sexist nature in which women’s soccer was perceived and although these perceptions had negative impacts, they did not fully stop the growth of women’s soccer.

  • Political Soccer in Spain.

    What stood out to me in the article by Dr. Winkel was the meaning of soccer in Spain, particularly in the national tournament titled the Copa del Rey, or the King’s Cup. The tournament, founded in 1903 has been held under multiple political systems and highlights a deep connection between sports and politics. This is supported by evidence provided by Dr. Winkel in that the most successful teams to participate in the Copa del Rey often hail from regions in Spain that are large, urban areas that contain the clashing of centralist and regionalist ideals. This is particularly interesting because Spain has multiple autonomous regions and the winners of the Copa del Rey are to be crowned as the “Champions of Spain”, where the title has a connotation that indicates and implies superiority over the other regions of Spain with the tournament being regarded by the King as a unifying phenomenon which is simply just a contradictory statement for the King to make. I highlight this detail of holding a competitive tournament to crown the “Champions of Spain” while calling it unifying as it is symbolic of the tensions between centralist and regionalist ideals. Another interesting detail to note between the clashing of centralist and regionalist ideals is that the competitors of the tournament are selected based on their performance in their region and ultimately compete in Madrid most of the time for the championships which is a city that is close to the center of Spain, although a majority of the time does not necessarily mean that every single championship is held in Madrid. Soccer in Spain is not necessarily just a spectacle for the game being played in the stadium, but also a political spectacle. A report in Winkel’s article emphasized the chanting of the dictator’s name at the final of the tournament in 1943 with fifty thousand spectators chanting “Franco!”. The report deemed it as a unanimous demonstration of patriotism and respect. It was clear that the focus was not on the match of soccer being played, but the reception of the dictator to the audiences of Spaniards in the stadium. It is a clear conclusion that sport and politics in Spain are innately connected.

  • Football as the International Spectacle

    Pelé celebrates his third World Cup at the Azteca Stadium in Mexico City

    What stood out to me in the readings for this week was the intensity of fandom and how much soccer/football means to many people as a spectacle. The intensity of fandom results in star players that have become famous along with star villains that are infamous. For instance, one of the articles depicted 25 of the World Cups biggest villains, Dobromir Zhechev of Bulgaria who performed “the most legal form of assault on one of football’s most esteemed icons,” which refers to a physical move on Pele who was forced to miss the second group fixture through injury. This earned him a spot at number eighteen on the list. The “Working-Class Ballet” article describes an intense love of Liverpool from an English man, Simon Critchley, a philosopher who felt Liverpool best represented him with a desire to make Liverpool a bastion of invincibility in the world of football. The intensity of his love for Liverpool even went as far to quote Prometheus in the article itself, weaving in philosophical elements to his introspection depicted in the article. The undying loyalty of fans and the creation of both heroes and villains alike in the grand spectacle of football reverberates the passion that ultimately fuels the sport in both the player and the spectator. The spectacle of football is not lost on the player either, with Maradona reflecting on the “hand of god” incident in 1986 playing for Argentina against England. Maradona had said that it was as if they had beaten the country of England, rather than just beating their national soccer team, avenging the Argentines that had been killed as result of the Malvinas war. These sorts of anecdotes give life to the spectacle of the international game of football, creating an atmosphere that is more than just the sport itself, involving aspects of personal life, political events and meaning that imbues the game with a repertoire of moments that remain memorable long after the heat of said moments passes. The video that was linked with the Ballet article showcases the elegance of play from Zinedine Zidane which highlights another aspect of the spectacle of football which is the footwork that goes into some of the greatest moments in football history, creating opportunities for stunning plays that make the stadium echo with the roar of passionate fans. 

  • The Intensity of Football Fandom

    The readings for this week had a distinct focus on the intensity of fandom in football, and with that intensity comes worldwide renown for certain players based on their play or their style of play. Many of the legends of football were birthed by the fans and their intense love for the sport. There are many legendary names in football, such as Diego Maradona, Ronaldinho, Messi, Ronaldo, and many others who are renowned around the world for their stardom in the space of international football. The course literature makes distinct mentions of players like Maradona, who came from a working class slum who grew to have the title of El Pibe de Oro, which translates to The Golden Kid. Legends such as Maradona are one of the elements that make football a spectacle to watch, as mentioned by Bowman in the textbook, noting that star players are “written about as heroes, antiheroes, and supporting cast.” To think of star players as heroes, antiheroes, and supporting casts puts football in a light that shines on the field as a performance, and thus, when tens of thousands of fans show up to watch the games unfold in person, the outcome of the match may create dissent in fans. This can lead to the birthing of “hooligans”, which the textbook describes as fans looking for physical or violent encounters with fans of the opposing side. In 2016, there was an incident between Russian and English outside the stadia at the European Championship in France in which it is also noted that club teams in other nations like Serbia, Argentina, Brazil, and Italy have also had to deal with these “hooligans”. The intensity of fandom in football creates legends out of star players as well as violence outside of the stands. One might say that hooliganism is a part of the spectacle of football as well, but that comes at a cost. In the 1985 European Cup Final between Juventus of Italy and Liverpool of England, thirty-nine people were killed, mostly Italians and six hundred more were injured after opposing supporters rushed and were crushed to death when a wall collapsed at Heysel Stadium in Brussels, Belgium. It highlights how much passion there is for the game but also how that passion can go too far and create dangerous and even deadly situations.

  • Politics and a Global Entrepreneurship

    The articles for this week including one assigned to the Clutch group highlights the further connection between soccer, politics, and economics, particularly the relationship between political issues and the World Cup as an avenue of entrepreneurship. From the ESPN article that gave graphic depictions of torture and violence and the effect of that on the Argentinian people under the dictatorship of the junta to expansion of regions included in the participants for the World Cup as a result of the effects of decolonization, the growth of soccer as an international sport and the World Cup as the major source of income for FIFA has linked not just the countries participating in the international competition, but the political and societal issues that present themselves among these nations. In the ESPN article, prisoners under the regime of the junta in Argentina had shared their opinions in whispers to each other since communication among inmates was punished. Some desired for the victory of the Argentinian national team in the World Cup while others hated that the dictatorship was utilizing the national soccer team to further legitimize their rule after their successful coup. While televisions were advertising products licensed for the World Cup, Argentinians were being brought to concentration camps and being sodomized in torture chambers. The issues in Argentina brought about by the junta military dictatorship were overshadowed by the World Cup which served to aid the regime as the focus shifted from the camps to the performance of the national team. They mocked the international community fighting against the torture and kidnapping, turning human rights into a slogan of “We are human, and we are right.” Accusations of the rigging of a match against Peru in favor of the Argentinian team in 1978 caused the FIFA entrepreneurship to launch an investigation into the potential foul play in the Argentinian victory against Peru. The Peruvian goalkeeper was born in Argentina and Henry Kissinger and General Videla visited the locker rooms before the match, yet the goalkeeper denied any accusations of corruption and rigging of the match. Soccer was being used as a means of political power while growing FIFA into an economic powerhouse of its own.

  • Race, Politics, Power.

    Garrincha

    The readings for this week as well as the video for the Brazilian player Garrincha highlighted a particular common thread amongst themselves. Race and ethnicity plays a massive part in the evolution of soccer as a sport and the diversity of national teams has created superstars that are both revered and despised simultaneously. In countries in Europe as well as South America, there was debate over the inclusion of players of different races on the national teams that would be sent to compete in the World Cup. The inclusion of important players to national teams such as Pele and Garrincha for Brazil, Gradin and Delgado for Uruguay, and Sakhou and Lakuku for France sparked debates in their home countries that they were representing in the national competition. In particular, Brazilian soccer in the 1920s and 1930s suffered from issues regarding race in clubs and at the national level. Players such as Friedenreich and Domingos tried to “cover up” their blackness and pass as mixed or white players. Leonidas could not pass as anything other than black, and suffered racial abuse as a result of a characteristic that he is unable to control. There are also important ties to politics as well as corruption within the sport as well. Far-right French politicians attacked the French national team in their qualifying run for the World Cup in 2014 to be held in Brazil. After a loss to Ukraine, Marine Le Pen, the daughter of a French politician in the 1990s known as Jean-Marie Le Pen attacked the French national team by accusing them of being too “foreign” and claiming the bad results of the national team were an effect of “ultraliberalism” in France. She even suggested that the French national team stop being paid to participate in matches for the country, highlighting a connection between soccer and politics. In 2001, the Brazilian Football Confederation was the subject of a congressional investigation into corruption where Nike had bought the right to schedule the teams matches and Ronaldo was called in to testify to why the Selecao was unable to mark Zinedine Zidane in the 1998 World Cup.

  • The Levels of Politics In Early World Cups

    For the two readings that were assigned this week, I noticed a distinct theme between the two of them. There is a connection to politics within football with some interesting nuances to it. In one scenario, Uruguay in the early 20th century was eager to prove itself in international competition among other South American nations as well as the nations that span the rest of the world. This came after victories in the Olympics as well as becoming a global leader in staging football competitions and celebrating one hundred years of political independence. There is more than just national identity included in the politics of football. The exclusion of Juan Delgado from a Southern American competition as well as other racial injustices provided an avenue for players to protest against the racial hatred that was plaguing Uruguay’s football. There were derogatory comments made about Isabelino Gradin, which prompted pushback from the player against his call-up to play for Uruguay in the Campeonato Sudamericano. From page 296 in the Martin De Cruz article, “For him and other racialised Uruguayans it was an everyday reality so he wouldn’t stay silent. He wouldn’t shut up and dribble. He wouldn’t be afraid to put racism under the spotlight on the eve of Uruguay’s most important footballing moment.” A football player was utilizing his status in the sport to highlight a major societal and political issue within the country he was asked to play for, racism. The relationship between politics and football has layers to it. There is national identity, societal issues within the competing nations, and the actual diplomatic component to it involving international politics between important regions. The inaugural World Cup in Uruguay established a sort of political “tug-of-war” between South America and Europe. European nations stayed away from Uruguay for the World Cup in 1930, citing travel costs and the worry of being so far away from their fans and their typical European bases. Uruguay offered to pay for the costs on-site for the competing teams, yet only four European nations sent teams to compete in the World Cup for that year, being France, Romania, Belgium, and Yugoslavia. Yugoslavia was the most eager to compete out of the European teams, with the other nations such as Belgium being connected to the German-Belgium vice president of FIFA, Romania entering on the intervention of their king, Carol II, and France being convinced by one of the driving forces of FIFA at the time, Jules Rimet. So in short, the main point I have picked up in the course of these readings was that politics and football are intertwined at a few different levels, being local, in-country politics, national politics among other nations in the region, and international politics across the globe between South America and Europe.

  • WK03: World Cup Politics and Culture

    While it may not seem like it, the World Cup has historical relations to politics as well as culture. There is also a distinct connection to economic profits for the famous event as well. An interesting note about the 1986 World Cup in Colombia is that they had to back out of hosting the event and cited financial reasons for doing so which dealt a blow to the pride of many Colombians. Their football scene had already dealt with corruption and forms of match fixing. This establishes a connection between the economics and culture for the host nation of the World Cup. Football in America was struggling, and the denial of their bid in 1986 and the relocation of the World Cup to Mexico dealt a blow to the pride of those trying to bring professional soccer to American audiences. Steve Ross, head of NASL (National American Soccer League) said ““I will not put in another dime, I’m out, it’s the end of football for me.” Since soccer is an international sport, it would be nearly impossible to be completely avoidant of geopolitical issues, such as Ulster loyalists noted in the article discussing the 1994 USA World Cup, where they raised images such as the Ulster flag and the cross of Saint George. The World Cup in 1978 in Argentina was used to mask murder and torture going on within the country, and the junta military forces tried to get closer and closer in association with the national football team in order to mask the societal issues the nation was suffering from and legitimize their rule. The issues in Argentina were put on full global display after overplaying their hand and challenging the British led by Margaret Thatcher at the time. The conflict between England and Argentina made for interesting tensions when Argentina played against England in 1986. Some of the newspapers and commentators covering the match used military language as well as images in the build up to the event. This highlights how international affairs can have an effect and an impact on the matches of an international, globalized sport.

  • Kenneth Yunker

    Hello! My name is Kenneth Yunker and I was born and raised in Winston-Salem, NC. I am currently studying at Appalachian State university as a general History major with a minor in Psychology.

    I grew up playing soccer recreationally originally for a small league known as Optimist Soccer, on a team where my father coached my brothers prior to coaching me. Eventually I moved into NC Fusion towards the pandemic and played with them until I aged out and began attending Appalachian State.

    While I have played soccer for the majority of my life thus far, I actually do not know a lot of the sport at the professional level, which is part of the reason I took this course. I wanted to better verse myself in the sport I played for such a long time as well as seeing how it plays into history.

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