Football will always be political, no matter how much the higher-ups want to claim ‘neutrality’
What needs to change as we head into a new decade
We as a society have always been obsessed with the idea of finding an ‘escape’ — a hobby which allows us to ignore our problems temporarily. Football is considered one of those hobbies; a team sport with two teams, where players and fans alike can enjoy. No external worries that can hinder the experience of ‘the beautiful game’.
The one problem of this mindset, though, is football has been, and always will be political, you cannot keep politics out of the game. And the clubs, corporations, and associations attempting to do so are only holding us back.
One of the latest instances came when Arsenal star, Mesut Özil, took to his social media accounts to show his support of the Uyghur Muslims in China facing persecution and to critique the lack of coverage of the situation in Western media.
Unsurprisingly, Özil’s tweet gained quite a bit of traction and worldwide response. Chinese fans resorted to burning the player’s shirt in protest, and his social media was flooded with these same fans criticizing his statement. One fan accusing him of “attacking China”, another claiming that Özil should “focus on playing football”. Even China’s Foreign Ministry Spokesperson had a few words for Özil, telling the footballer that he has been “blindfolded by some fake news”.
However, the most damning comments came from Arsenal themselves. They chose to go against their player publicly. The football club released a statement that read “Regarding the comments made by Mesut Özil on social media, Arsenal must make a clear statement. The content published is Özil’s personal opinion. As a football club, Arsenal has always adhered to the principle of not involving itself in politics.”
Quite ironic that the club tries to remain neutral in politics when the statement itself confirms where the club lies politically. With China. Even more surprising is the fact that when another one of Arsenal’s players, Héctor Bellerín, tweeted a tweet during the 2019 United Kingdom General Election with the hashtag ‘#FuckBoris’, showing his distaste for Prime Minister Boris Johnson, Arsenal did not see the need to make a similar statement.
For Arsenal, Özil’s comments risked the club not having their matches aired in China indefinitely (broadcast rights for the Premier League in China are worth around $700 million), and the end of any future endeavours with Chinese investors.
The unfortunate thing is, this is not a one-time occurrence, and Arsenal are far from the only culprits. The higher-ups in football have always publicly spoken about being ‘neutral’ when it comes to politics, but have clearly stood with the side that benefits them the most financially.
For UEFA, they drew the line at solidarity with Palestine. In 2016, Celtic were drawn against Hapoel Be’er Sheva, the then champions of the Israeli league, in a Champions League play-off match. Celtic have always been a club that has supported the efforts of Palestinians in their search for freedom from the occupation of Israel, as many supporters see it as a similar situation to the Irish republicanism movement. Supporters of the Irish republicanism movement will “always tend to support independence movements that they believe to be based on historical justice, [t]he situation in Palestine is a classic example of land that is being taken from people who lived there for generations. It chimes in with the course of Irish history”. So it was no surprise that come match day, hundreds of Palestinian flags were raised at Celtic Park.
However, UEFA was not happy with the showing and promptly fined the club. UEFA saw the flags as “illicit banners”, and according to their rules, political and religious banners are prohibited at all of their matches.
UEFA, like Arsenal, try to remain neutral in this situation, not wanting to involve themselves politically. The problem stems from the hypocrisy the organization showed when a few years later they decide to host the 2019 Europa League Final in Baku, the capital of Azerbaijan, a country that does not allow citizens of Armenia, or those of Armenian descent into their country. This became a massive issue when Arsenal qualified for the final, as one of their players at the time, Henrikh Mkhitaryan, is Armenian.
Despite reassurances from the Azerbaijan FA that Mkhitaryan’s safety would be “guaranteed”, the player decided not to make the trip to Baku, and effectively miss playing in a European final.
And Mkhitaryan was right. Police in Baku were hyperaware of the situation, and fans were stopped if caught wearing Mkhitaryan’s shirt.
While it was never clear as to why fans were stopped, it does not matter. If the police were worried about the fan and his safety, then it does not show UEFA or Azerbaijan in a good light. If the police were stopping him because of the name on the shirt, then that too does not show them in a good light.
You would think UEFA would pick a country for the final (or any match) that any player could safely go to, especially since they claim to be politically neutral. Nevertheless, UEFA seemed to break their own rules for Azerbaijan, as the decision to host the final in Baku “was a publicity coup for the Azerbaijani regime” and a “chance for the country to showcase its ability to stage world-class events and to prove it is a major Eurasian logistical hub”. In other words, UEFA saw a chance to make revenue by helping Azerbaijan shift their worldwide perception into a great Eurasian hot spot for tourists.
FIFA’s hands are not clean either. In late 2019, Israel effectively decided to cancel the FIFA Palestinian national football club championship, after Khadamat Rafah, a club from Gaza, and FC Balata, a club the West Bank, were set to face off in the Palestine Cup final in the West Bank. Israel denied travel permits for most of the players and staff of Khadamat Rafah, with only four of 35 permits approved to travel. FIFA did not get involved despite it having rules that governments cannot interfere with football associations, and despite having the grounds to suspend the Israeli FA, FIFA did not, despite taking action in previous cases. They decided to remain neutral and not risk the repercussions they could face if they interfered.
The most disappointing thing? Change from these prominent associations does not seem to be on the horizon. The 2022 FIFA World Cup taking place in Qatar has been riddled with controversies, from the Qatari bid being corrupt, to the moving of the tournament to the winter months, thus risking the health of the players, and most importantly, the status of migrant workers rights in Qatar, with the country facing backlash for effectively condoning modern-day slavery in building the stadiums to prepare for the tournament. FIFA has done little to intervene and actively backed its decision to give Qatar the hosting rights.
UEFA also seemed to have brushed off criticism, allowing Baku to be one of the host cities for the UEFA Euro 2020. Baku will host matches in the group stages and the quarter-finals. Had Armenia qualified for the tournament, and been scheduled to play in Azerbaijan, safety issues to players, staff, and fans would have been a massive issue.
These big associations see the revenue they gain from making these controversial, and risky decisions as somewhat justified, yet when they are needed to intervene, they stand back and claim neutrality, impartiality, and peace.
The problem is that football and sports, in general, will always be political. Hell, some of the fiercest rivalries in world football have been formed because of political reasons.
Politics is literally the making of decisions that govern people’s lives. Politics influence anyone that lives in a society that is governed by rules — everything is political. These big corporations claiming neutrality have the luxury of not being affected, and their denial of how much politics affects us is delusional, to say the least. As 2020 begins, we need to not only to acknowledge how politics affects our daily lives but know that we will never be able to separate it from sport and attempt to hold those who pull the wool over our eyes accountable.
