The 2011 Women’s World Cup in Germany is fast approaching. Meanwhile, Tanzanian women are already on the road to Canada in 2015.
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Category: Video
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Let’s Fund The Anderson Monarchs Film
The Anderson Monarchs are talented students and gifted athletes who are creating a level playing field for girls everywhere. The team plays on a modest pitch and has virtually no money. But they have something special, a sisterhood that is supported by their community of parents and their coach.
Eugene Martin is seeking financial support for a feature length documentary film about this inspiring girls’ soccer team living and playing in a tough Philadelphia neighborhood. The project will only be funded if at least $25,000 is pledged by Thursday April 21. I became a backer and hope you will too. Click here for more information. Only eleven days left!
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Autocracy + Petrodollars = FIFADisneyCup
Insightful piece in TIME magazine on FIFA’s decision to stage the 2018 and 2022 World Cup tournaments in Russia and Qatar is well worth reading:
“What the World Cup Choices Tell Us About the World” by Ishaan Tharoor and Tony Karon.
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WikiLeaks Targets FIFA
In a few hours WikiLeaks will release thousands of secret FIFA documents detailing World Cup match fixing and widespread corruption within football’s governing body.
Never before have such confidential documents been released into the public domain. The documents will give people around the world an unprecedented insight into FIFA’s activities on the shores of Lake Zurich.
The documents, which date from 1998 to 2010, contain 15,652 confidential communications between FIFA executive committee members in Zurich and corporate sponsors, media networks, and other football officials throughout the world.
But seriously, on Thursday, December 2, FIFA’s ethically challenged executive committee will award the hosting rights for the 2018 and 2022 World Cup. The stench emanating from the bidding “process” has been overpowering to the point that we — the citizens of FootballWorld — would benefit greatly from the assistance of Julian Assange and the people behind WikiLeaks.
As the work of Andrew Jennings showed, revelations of overt facts can damage the image, if not the profits, of FIFA and its corporate allies. Such information would give a vital boost to good governance in the game and instill hope for a healthy football community.
David Goldblatt, author of the monumental The Ball is Round: A Global History of Football, brought in the largest crowd yet at the Football Scholars Forum. FSF convenor Alex Galarza reports the group had an excellent discussion on globalization, politics, class and capital in football’s history.
The FSF is an academic book club based in the History Department at Michigan State University. Its members have varied research interests related to the ‘beautiful game’. The group brings together authors, professors, graduate students, journalists and fans to discuss works on fútbol in a relaxed setting. Contact the Football Scholars Forum at galarza1@msu.edu
On Sunday, October 17, 2010, history was made in the Italian serie A: a match was stopped due to fans’ racist chants. It happened at the Sant’Elia stadium in Cagliari (on the island of Sardinia). Just two minutes in, referee Paolo Tagliavento had enough of the monkey chants from the Cagliari ultras directed at Inter striker Samuel Eto’o.
Tagliavento blew his whistle, explained his decision to the two captains, then ordered the fourth official to have this announcement made over the stadium’s public address system: ‘If racist chants persist, the match will be suspended.’ It was repeated twice.
After the announcement no monkey chants poisoned the atmosphere. In a delicious twist to this sad affair, Eto’o went on to score the only goal of the match and celebrated by ‘monkeying’ around!
We celebrate the Chilean miners’ rescue! Among these remarkable men was Franklin Lobos, former professional footballer and member of the 1984 Chilean Olympic team. After 69 days entombed 700 meters underground, Franklin emerged from the ‘Phoenix’ capsule to embrace his family and juggle a football.
Ivan Zamorano, the former Real Madrid and Inter striker who played with Lobos in the 1980s, recently said: “I think that down there, trapped, he has tapped into that energy you saw when he played; an emotional man who threw the whole team behind the game. I am sure he is very important to keeping them alive down there.”
Read a profile of Lobos in The Guardian here.