Cultural values: Sweden v England

With the upcoming match for third place at the Women's Football World Cup between Sweden and England, I thought I would look at some of the ‘core values’ of those respective countries and wonder how that may play out on the football field. According to the (Australian-based) Cultural Atlas:

Contemporary Sweden prides itself on championing human rights and equality, as manifested in its social welfare system. Additionally, concepts such as ‘lagom’ (‘the middle way’) and modesty are cornerstones of Swedish culture. ....

According to Hofstede Insights (2017), Sweden is a ‘feminine society’ in which balance, inclusivity and consideration for others are core components of the social structure. The notion of ‘folkhemmet’ (‘the people's home') is a metaphor for the nation of Sweden as a family household. This idea symbolises social democratic ideals of equality and mutual care, which form the foundation for a society mediated and supported by social welfare. 

So, will we see teamwork, sharing the ball and consideration for others on the football pitch tomorrow morning?

On British culture (no separate entry for England), the Cultural Atlas says of the British (including England, Wales, Scotland and Northern Ireland):

They strongly value fair play, believing everyone should have equal opportunity to better their circumstances regardless of their background. Fair play also translates into a respect for order. …. People pride themselves on a capacity to ‘grin and bear it’ whilst being diligent and respectable. The British have earned a reputation for remaining stoic through tough times, rarely letting their emotions show, though they might complain in private. 

The cultural atlas also says, “The British are generally quite reserved.” – perhaps not on the playing field, whether its men or women playing.

I leave you with a distinctly unfeminine rallying call for English footballers, intended for the English men’s team - a legacy of the late Rik Mayall, and football fan:

Fairness, justice and women’s football

With the Women's Football World Cup underway in France, and about to conclude this weekend, thought it was time to pull together some interesting facts and links about women's struggling path to glory in 'the beautiful game'.

Gender inequality in football is more entrenched than in politics, business, medicine and space exploration, according to a worldwide salary survey of male and female footballers. (But then, is it fair to pay people to play sport? That’s another question)

Latin American sides don’t fare so well as their male counterparts, in part due to greater sexism, neglect, and corruption in the football organisations of those countries. Read about the Argentinian women’s side road to Paris; and a fascinating Time article by Shireen Ahmed on how corruption and abuse stops women all around the world from participating fully in the sport. Ahmed is a writer, public speaker and activist focusing on Muslim women in sports, and the intersections of racism and misogyny in sport.

Rose Reilly played for Italy in the 1970s because her home country Scotland would not recognise female players – and thereby paved the way for other women footballers from that bonnie (and now fairer) land.

Meanwhile, closer to home – according to a Stuff rundown on equality – or lack thereof – in NZ sport Football NZ struck a landmark deal with their footballers when they granted the Football Ferns (women) and All Whites (men) equality in pay parity, prizemoney, equal rights for image use and travel. However, the lack of payment for both sides has seen this agreement labelled symbolic!

The previous NZ Football Ferns coach (he who shall not be named) resigned last year because of bullying behaviour and downplaying his players as almost destined to lose. Things have got a lot better in the NZ camp since then – I mean, they nearly beat the Dutch didn’t they!

More to come before the great US v Netherlands showdown on Monday morning (NZT).

Boycotting ... playing the long game

UK Prime Minister Theresa May has apparently confirmed that the boycott barring UK politicians and royal family members from attending World Cup football games in Russia will remain in place, even if England reaches the final. A good decision in my view, given that Dawn Sturgess has died from Novichok poisoning, possibly from touching a container associated with the March 2018 attack on Sergei and Yulia Skripal - the poisoning incident that sparked the British political boycott in the first place.

I have to admit, I'm not so sure I'll stay firm in my resolve to boycott watching games with France vs Belgium coming up. For all the sparkling antics of the South Americans, there's something about good, solid (northern) European football - and the unpredictability of the French (in rugby as well as football).

But I'll almost certainly sit out the Qatar competition in four years time - unless that country makes dramatic improvements for the safety and working conditions of its migrant construction workers.

What I'm really hanging out for is 2026 - in a 'tri-nation' tournament hosted by the United States, Canada and Mexico. Even though Donald Trump's "veiled threats" towards countries who might vote against North American bid led to Fifa reviewing guidelines on political interference; and doubts have still been expressed about the transparency of bidding processes by #NewFIFANow co-founder, Bonita Mersiades (“...when it comes to an issue of process versus culture, culture wins every time" she says); a lot can happen between now and 2026.

After all, the President of the Royal Moroccan Football Federation (who failed in their alternative bid), still congratulated the new FIFA President "for the conduct of this process and ... for what he has done in order to move things towards more transparency and more inclusion.”

And Donald Trump won't be leading America in 2026 either. So here's looking forward in hope to a better, fairer world' well on its way to bringing down carbon emissions, and sharing the goods so 2.66 million children aren't dying of hunger each year. Who knows, perhaps they'll be open borders and they'll be bussing some of those illegal immigrants (who only want a better life) to the games.

I have a dream ...

Footing it - let's be a bit more transparent

I started these blogs in response to injustice over Brazil's hosting of the 2014 World Cup and FIFA corruption in giving the 2018 and 2022 competitions to Russia and Qatar respectively. The campaign against Qatar continues, with an estimated 7000 workers expected to die in the construction frenzy Qatar is going through to host the Cup. However, public pressure has had an impact - the country did agree to a package of reforms in November 2017 to deal with some of the abuse.

This time around for Russia, I've just managed to make it into the football fray for the last week of play, but will be doing a blog a day on social and political dimensions around football. It won't change the world, but it will extend my education, raise awareness for any readers (are there any out there) and maybe entertain with a bit of word play.

Earlier in this tournament, when Japan got through to the final 16 on the back of fewer yellow cards, I was tempted to say 'fair play'' pays off. Perhaps it was reflective of the country, which topped societal 'fair play' rankings that Catholic social justice agency Caritas ran for the 2011 Rugby World Cup. But when I read how Japan played out their final quarter against Poland - to avoid goals as well as yellow cards, I decided it was just bad sportsmanship. And they got their just desserts in the next round, bowing out to giant killers Belgium.

So - if the present countries remaining were ranked on more important matters than football skills, or fair play on the field, where would they stand, or sit?

Well, seeing as we're talking about corruption, the easiest place to start is Transparency International's Corruption Index, which placed Sweden and the UK (as a proxy for England) on top among those remaining in the World Cup. Shame then that either Sweden or England will be eliminated in the next quarter final overnight. And it's also worth noting a team that should be there, but isn't: New Zealand (undefeated in World Cup finals since 1986) were actually no 1 overall on Transparency's Index.

Ranking in TI Corruption Perceptions Index:
Sweden - 6
United Kingdom - 8
Belgium - 16
France - 23
(then there's a long way to go to ....)
Croatia - 57
(and even further ...........  to)
Russia - 135  
....out of 180 states.

Mmm - there's room for improvement there, Mr Putin.

For the good of the game - CONIFA

Well, the kick-off of the Euro 2016 football championships tomorrow at 7am, prompts thoughts again of justice and football. I may be watching parts of the Euro - FIFA does seem to be on its way to reform. But thought I would resurrect these blogs during the Euro for some erratic and unpredictable play - ie, I don't know when I may post a blog.

But thought I'd do a promo for that great FIFA alternative - the "Confederation of Independent Football Associations" (ConIFA), for national teams not under the auspices of FIFA – representing nations, minorities, isolated dependencies or cultural regions. "Our main goal is to give football outsiders overseen by FIFA or left behind by their mother country Football Association the chance to win their place on a global stage and advance footballwise and personally," says Sascha Düerkop, General Secretary.

ConIFA just completed their World Cup - and the final match report is glowing:

Abkhazia is tonight celebrating after a remarkable come from behind victory over Panjab saw them secure the 2016 World Football Cup. The hosts twice looked out of the game – firstly when they were trailing 1-0 in the 86th minute, and again when they were two penalties down in the shoot-out. But a stranger-than-fiction turn of events saw Abkhazia equalise to send the game to spot-kicks, and then complete a penalty great escape to triumph in Sukhum (capital of Abkhazia).

Watch highlights here.  Ok, so the crowds are muted - but at least they can stream onto the pitch at the final whistle!

Notes:  

Abkhazia is a partially recognised state on the edge of the Black Sea that emerged from the break-up of the Soviet Union.

The Panjab Football Association, though formed in Britain, aims to represents the Punjabi diaspora, who originate from the Punjab region of eastern Pakistan and northern India.

The final fling: Rain on the parade

Or – how to reduce your carbon footprint in a few easy steps.

Flooding in Whanganui.

Jacob Mancer via RNZ.

I know it’s mean to rain on the parade, but that’s what Mother Nature is doing as heavy rain threatens to turn a sell-out crowd at the U-20 FIFA finals in Auckland into a sodden one. 

Maybe (just like the Pope’s encyclical – Praised Be for that) this could be a watershed moment to consider the costs – environmental – of major sports events.

David Connor in the UK notes, just from the British football season, about 30 million journeys to and from stadia, many by car. Then there are the “thousands of tonnes of beer bottles, pie trays, soft drink cans, waste food, used tickets and merchandise wrapping mostly sent to landfill.”

Brendan Koerner, writing in the US Slate magazine on The hidden costs of heading to the stadium begins by wondering how much energy is burnt by stadium lights and the power required to "feed the fans", etc, but concludes that most of the environmental cost is that of fans travelling to and from the game – especially by car.

But it seems the scintillating Brazilians – off the pitch – have taken the lead on “sustainable football”, thanks to some UK technology (and some Anglo-Dutch petrochemical funding). The Gaurdian, in a look at Sustainability in football, says:

The London-based tech firm Pavegen has installed 200 of its “kinetic-harvesting” tiles into a local football pitch in the Rio’s Morro da Mineira neighbourhood. The 56mm tiles sit under the pitch’s Astroturf surface and flex fractionally every time a player takes a step. Each footstep generates around five watts per second. The system is supplemented by solar panels, which together help light the pitch and surrounding area for up to ten hours a night. 

The pitch, funded by oil company Shell, marks the largest application of the innovative tiles to date. Pavegen’s portfolio of projects also includes kinetic powered lighting for a pedestrian bridge at West Ham Tube Station, one of the access points to the Queen Elizabeth Olympic Park in London.

The same article highlights Real Madrid’s Dutch-made pitch that never needs watering, mowing or pesticide applications, and Gloucestershire’s Forest Green Rovers who have an organic football pitch, which needs no nitrogen-based fertilisers or chemicals.

But none of these superficial changes deals with the impact of fans travelling to the game, energy use and the superfluity of food and drink around the spectacle.

Meanwhile, as football fans settle down to watch Brazil play Serbia under lights in the U-20 final, about 4000 properties are without power in the southwest of the North Island, and 1000 are still without power in the South – due to the southerly storm that has moved up the country in the last two days.

Are super-sports just bread and circuses to distract us from the real issues?

The fall of Blatter’s House of Cards

The FIFA fallout is having reverberations all around the world – most notably in Brazil, where The Guardian reports that “the fall of the Blatter empire has unleashed a glorious turmoil that has set football legends against the kleptocrats who have long run the game.”

There are demands for the resignation of the current Brazil Football Confederation president, and some professional players are demanding major reform.

Perhaps the ghost of 1982 captain Sócrates (left), who promoted democracy on and off the field, is stalking the corridors of power. Says The Guardian:

Brazilian football has always had two very different sides, both of which have shaped the game at an international level. On the pitch, the seleçao – comprised mostly of players from poor communities – has won more World Cups than any other. Off the pitch, its executives – most of whom are from the country’s white elite – created a system of patronage and kickbacks that became the global model during the long reign of Blatter’s Brazilian predecessor, João Havelange, as Fifa president. 

Former national striker Romário, now a senator, launched a congressional inquiry into corruption in the sport in Brazil. “The resignation of Joseph Blatter as president of Fifa is the beginning of a new era for world football. All corrupt managers of the confederations, around the world, will feel his fall like a tsunami,” he said. 

Commentator Marília Ruiz said the impact of Blatter’s resignation was gigantic. “It’s like a house of cards, you take one and the others fall,” she said. “This debate isn’t going to die away. The police investigation has been open for years but this is a new chance. There have already been so many windows of opportunity lost, but this is the biggest. The gates have now been thrown open.” 

...Common Sense FC – a group of more than a thousand players who are calling for more transparency and accountability – say the crisis is an opportunity to tackle a host of problems facing football in Brazil, including poor attendances, huge levels of debt at most clubs and an irrational calendar of matches that leaves thousands of professional players unemployed for most of the year while the CBF and regional federations milk TV and sponsorship rights for millions.

“There are urgent measures of democratisation and transparency,” said Paulo André, the founder of Common Sense.

Others are more sceptical. “Endemic corruption in football won’t be resolved overnight, just with the mere resignation of Sepp Blatter. The entire structure that supports it is still in place,” said Alexandre Addor.

And regardless of what happens in the backroom and upper echelons, to many perhaps the only thing that counts is what happens on the field. Says Ruiz: “nothing could be worse than the 7-1” – referring to Brazil’s humiliating defeat to Germany in last year’s WC semi-final.

He has brought down rulers from their thrones but has lifted up the humble. - Luke 1:52