chapter 4: the 2006 World Cup: The Politics of Play Personified

In 2006 the World Cup stormed the world in more than one way. Many controversies were brought up when the cup came to the world. The ideas of racism and threats of terrorism were emphasized. France, Britain and Germany were doing their part in keeping middle east countries way from the games. With one in particular, Iran from traveling through the European Union to attend the games. Another country that took and active role in trying to prevent Iran from the games was Italy. They formally asked FIFA to exclude Iran and any other rouge states from the games. With this action, it induced the European Union to present a letter to FIFA to exclude Iran. Many were upset over this due to the fact that United States was not looked at. United States also had there nuclear program in the works as well and two controversies with other countries. With all of these controversies it seemed that people were forgetting that there is a sport behind all of it. Soccer in the United States is just a sport among many and at the bottom of the list. Everywhere around the world countries use soccer as a political foreground. They use this stage to present ideas and show conflict among other countries. The coach for the Iranian team made this point clear when he said “I would rather people built a clear wall between sport and politics.” This is a great thing that all countries should emphasize. When we have all these controversies in our sports and fighting comes out it’s a poor message to send to the younger generations. We see the world cup as just another sporting event while the rest of the world sees it as a political stage.