Questions and Answers for Tec de Monterrey
interview, Dr. Tamir Bar-On, Department of International Relations and
Humanities, Tec de Monterrey, Campus Querétaro
Why did you
write this book, The World through
Soccer: The Cultural Impact of a Global Sport?
The
World through Soccer is an outgrowth of both my joy and mild dissatisfaction
with the literature on soccer. Renowned thinkers from Eduardo Galeano to Jean
Baudrillard have written about soccer, while esteemed literary giants from Albert
Camus to Vladimir Nabokov were both soccer practitioners (goalkeepers) and commentators.
Mexican, Argentinean, Uruguayan, and Brazilian writers have been particularly
moved to write about soccer and they combined to pen a special issue of Foreign Affairs En Español (Foreign
Affairs in Spanish) in the context of the 2006 World Cup in Germany. Increasingly there is a vast body of literature on the
sociology of sport, as well as soccer
and politics. While the sociology of sport and soccer literature is impressive, it is often too narrowly focused
on the politics or culture of sport; what
soccer means to a particular country or region; memoirs and autobiographies of
players, managers, and even hooligans; the relationships between soccer,
capitalism, neo-liberalism, and globalization; sport as a civilizing safety valve of controlled excitement and
ritualized aggression; or soccer as a
tool of support for or resistance against
empire, authoritarianism, or the nation-state. The World through Soccer expands and deepens the focus of writers,
sociologists, anthropologists, cultural and
political theorists, journalists, players, managers, and fans who have written about soccer. It argues that
soccer is not merely about politics, culture, entertainment, or business, but is also a great educational tool
for all of humanity and millions of
soccer fans worldwide.
What is
your goal with this book?
The goal is
to use soccer as an educational tool in the classroom for students and
professors. Soccer is popular worldwide and fun, thus allowing us to use soccer
to learn lessons about politics, religion, ethics, business and marketing,
leadership, childhood dreams,
immortality, and the arts. The book is divided into two parts. Chapters 1
through 7 are topics often discussed in the classroom and broadly related to
politics, society, and religion, including the relationships between soccer and
politics, religion, ethics, and business and marketing. Part 2 includes
chapters 8 through 11, which are related to the identity and character of the
game. These chapters examine the relationships between soccer and leadership,
childhood dreams, the meaning of life (philosophy), and fine arts. As I am a
political scientist, the first five chapters of the book are heavily biased
toward the relationship between soccer and politics and the hope that soccer
could be a vehicle for social transformation:
1. Soccer and competing discourses of
national identity.
2. Soccer as an instrument of authoritarian and
totalitarian governments.
3. Soccer as an arena for ideological
hegemony and “class warfare.”
4. Soccer as a vehicle for social
change.
5. Soccer as a secular or pagan religion.
The plan of
The World through Soccer is rather
straightforward. Each chapter is devoted to a lesson we can learn when we
examine the world through soccer. The eleven chapters (lessons) are related to
a brilliant player or several great players, who wore the number of the lesson
and embody the essence of the lesson in question. Traditionally, English soccer
assigns numbers based on a player’s position on the field, with the starting
eleven players wearing numbers 1 through 11, and substitutes wearing numbers
higher than 11. The goalkeeper will generally wear number 1, while the
defenders, midfield players, and forwards follow in ascending order.
The players
I use for the 11 chapters or lessons are the following:
Lesson 1.
Soccer and nationalism (José Luis Chilavert—Paraguay and Gianluigi Buffon—Italy).
Lesson 2.
Soccer and authoritarian and totalitarian regimes (Elias Figueroa—Chile).
Lesson 3.
Soccer, ideological hegemony, and “class warfare” (Paolo Maldini—Italy and
Salvador Mariona—El Salvador).
Lesson 4.
Soccer and social transformation (José Leandro Andrade— Uruguay, Cesc
Fàbregas—Spain, Tom Huddlestone—England, and Patrick Vieira—France).
Lesson 5.
Soccer as a secular (pagan) religion (Franz Beckenbauer— West Germany and
Zinedine Zidane—France).
Lesson 6.
Soccer and ethics (Igor Netto—USSR and John Terry—England).
Lesson 7.
Soccer, business, and marketing (Cristiano Ronaldo—Portugal and David
Beckham—England)
Lesson 8.
Soccer as a leadership opportunity (Xavi—Spain, Steven Gerrard—England, and
Clint Dempsey—USA)
Lesson 9.
Soccer as a childhood dream (Roger Milla—Cameroon, Hugo Sánchez—Mexico, and Cha
Bum-Kun—South Korea)
Lesson 10.
Soccer and immortality (Pelé—Brazil and Diego Maradona— Argentina)
Lesson 11.
Soccer and fine arts (Brek Shea—USA and Neymar—Brazil)
I have
chosen a retired number eleven from the former Yugoslavia, Dragan Džajić, in
order to help summarize the eleven chapters.
I want to
show that soccer is a sport, but not merely a sport. I see linkages between
soccer and many other disciplines from politics and marketing to religion and
the arts. I want to also show that we cannot see soccer from one perspective
(for example, the opiate of the masses), but from a plurality of perspectives
and meanings. The Mexican philosopher Mauricio Beuchot (UNAM) coined the term “analogic
hermeneutics”. This is a type of hermeneutics based upon interpretation, taking
into account the plurality of aspects of meaning. The World through Soccer uses analogic hermeneutics to see soccer
through different disciplines, interpretations, and meanings.
Why do you
think the soccer reveals the sport’s profound cultural impact?
Soccer is
the world’s most popular sport. There is no passion worldwide for a sport like
you have for soccer. The soccer stadiums are like “temples” and soccer stars are
akin to modern “gods”. Soccer provides us with a platform to study tensions
between nationalism and globalization; the way “soft power” can be used through
national teams; or to show how soccer is ubiquitous in politics, music,
literature, childhood dreams, and marketing. It is almost ritualistic to see
heads of state at important national team matches. There are thousands of
Brazilians playing in professional leagues around the world. These Brazilian
soccer players promote Brazil’s economy, but also its soft power influence
around the globe.
Was it
difficult to examine soccer in relation to religion, philosophy, and politics
in the same book?
No it was
not. I am a political scientist, but I do not believe that soccer can only be
viewed through a political lens. Soccer can be viewed as a sport or game with
important functions for humans such as the need for belonging. Yet, soccer can
also be used to examine politics, immortality, the arts, marketing, religion,
and ethics. So, for example, we might question FIFA’s choice of authoritarian
regimes such as Russia and Qatar to host World Cups. Or, we might use soccer to
see how commercial imperatives might undermine fair play on and off the field.
Do you have
plans to write other books about soccer?
I do. I
want to look at soccer players that have made a difference in the world. That
is, soccer players that played a role in promoting social change.
How do you use Zidane, Maradona, Hugo Sanchez,
and other soccer legends in your book?
I use Zidane
in Chapter 5 to see soccer as a secular (pagan) religion. I also use Franz
Beckenbauer (West Germany) in this chapter. I consider these two players soccer
“gods”. They played in soccer “temples” and their fans engaged in ritual
communion. We are less religious today than in the past and soccer is akin to a
pagan religion.
In Chapter
10, which is about soccer and immortality, I use Pelé (Brazil) and Diego
Maradona (Argentina) in order to demonstrate how soccer players are sometimes
immortalized in our culture through songs, films, paintings, stadiums, or
sculptures. Players die, but some like Maradona are immortalized and remembered
by future generations. The flip side of soccer immortals is soccer goats like
Moacyr Barbosa, the goalie who let in the game-winning goal scored by Alcides Ghiggia
(Uruguay) in Brazil in the 1950 World Cup finals. Barbosa died crucified;
without a peso to his name; refused commentator roles on Brazilian television
or even denied entrance into national team training grounds.
Do you have plans to translate this book into
Spanish in the future?
I do. I am looking for a Spanish-language translator
and publisher. If you have any clues, please let me know!
Who is your
soccer idol?
My soccer
idol as a boy was undoubtedly the Brazilian legend Pelé, a three-time World Cup
winner and perhaps the greatest footballer of all-time. He reigned supreme as a
world-class player from 1956 to 1977. Yet, my other soccer idols were the
Mexican striker and Real Madrid star Hugo Sánchez, the Cameroon international
Roger Milla, the French midfield general Michel Platini, and the Brazilian
midfield stars Paulo Roberto Falcão and Sócrates. These were all stars in the
1980s and early 1990s.
Your
favorite soccer team?
My
favourite national teams: Mexico, Israel, Canada, and Morocco.
My
favourite club teams: Liverpool FC was my team since I was a child and remains
my favourite club. I love their song and motto: “You’ll Never Walk Alone”. My
other favourite clubs: Querétaro FC, Toronto FC, Hapoel Tel-Aviv (Israel), Hapoel
Beersheba (Israel), FK Sarajevo (Bosnia-Herzegovina), and Red Star Belgrade
(Serbia and the former Yugoslavia).
Did you
play soccer when you were a child?
Yes. Soccer
is the national sport in Israel and I played there when I was a boy. When I
moved to Toronto at age 7, I also played for several clubs, including
Armourdale and Maccabi Toronto. This is what I wrote in the Preface of my book The World through Soccer: The Cultural
Impact of a Global Sport:
“There is
nothing like soccer. Nothing beats playing a soccer game on a hot summer
afternoon. It feels really liberating. There is no rush like going to the
soccer stadium. The forest of flags, the exalted songs, and the crowd feel like
a combination of freedom and ritual communion. When the World Cup comes around,
real fans don’t want to miss even one game. The cafés, bars, and restaurants
showing the games feel electric. The human bonding is intoxicating— minus the
alcohol and drugs. After the World Cup, you follow your favorite clubs, as well
as various regional and international tournaments. It seems that you can never
get enough of the game: the billions of fans worldwide who form one
transnational soccer tribe. You get the
soccer virus early in life and it never leaves you. I got injected by the
soccer virus. Dad injected me and mom let me play with reckless abandon.”
