On foolishness in football

Abstract

Football has only acquired its current status because people have reported on it. Without spectatorship, there would not be an art of reporting. Yet there is hardly a topic as difficult to write about as football - with the possible exception of music. This may also be due to the matter itself: as a famous German football quote goes, «the ball is round» (Sepp Herberger). Handling it - whether with feet or with words - is the tricky part. This essay will examine the most outrageous instances of foolishness, inanity, ignorance and brutishness that tend to evolve around the ball - starting with the notion that football constitutes a mirror reflection of society. That kind of kitchen-sink truism legitimates numerous myths and clichés; yet in actual fact, it is social perceptions that are being projected onto football: commercialisation and globalisation are the ruin of football; what was once a worker 's game is now a privilege for the rich; there are either too many foreigners here or too many of us abroad; then there are perceptions specific to nationality or even to race...