“The world is a global village in which everything tends to be known. Or at least, can be known. Universal references exist, people who can be identified at once from Tokyo to Berlin, via Los Angeles, Dakar, Buenos Aires or Melbourne. But football is the most globalized phenomenon. Georges W. Bush, Bin Laden, Pope or the Dalai Lama, Madonna or Youssou N'Dour are universally known (and variously appreciated). Yet Zidane's, Beckham's and Ronaldinho's fame and popularity largely outstrip them. Football is well and truly the archetypal of globalization”
Boniface, Football et Mondialisation, Armand Colin, Paris, 2006, p.14
This quotation sums the strong interaction which binds globalization and football. As globalization is considered as a process which makes universal something particular, modern football is globalized. It empowers players and coaches to an incredible level of popularity throughout the world, with emblematic figures such as José Mourinho or Cristiano Ronaldo. Football is gathering together a community of more than 270 million players, and lots more fans, all bound by the same passion. That is why the term global makes sense. The stake of the subject will be to see how football will be affected by globalization.
Three English players, a Czech, a Portuguese, a Nigerian, a Ghanaian, a German, a Ukrainian, a French and an Ivorian were composing the Chelsea squad in 2007. Whereas football was known as a strong catalyst for identities matter (we can quote the racist and xenophobe Chelsea fans group, the Head-hunters), this composition illustrates a great undermining of football nature. Indeed, Premier League clubs were all known for their strong local and regional identity, so that globalization appears as a total upheaval of perspectives.
[...] Though globalization also impacts football through the globalization of capitals in football that leads to the implementation of a rule of money and business on football. The matter is to understand what leads football to adhere to this economic market, and how football is imprisoned by this logic. Globalization of funds and rule of money 1 Toward the “Rule of money” a. From Newton Heart to the Red Devils Many football clubs were founded as part of project of social entertainment, purchasing corporatist or associative aims, as amateur clubs still are. [...]
[...] Whereas Graeme Souness (Glasgow Rangers coach) thought that football leads to the choice between “success and sectarianism”, globalization seems to reinforce sectarianism and part of tribalism, as shows the permanent Old Firm in Glasgow. The rivalry between catholic and protestant is still a boiling question whereas Rangers line up many catholic players; sectarianism knows a revival only because tensions are growing around football results. Other cases are flourishing, for instance in 2005, when the Olympique de Marseille met the SS Lazio. [...]
[...] Business comes first The main issue of this globalization of the funds and of the merchandizing of football is that sport is no more the principal matter, and football is getting industrialized. It first concerns the clubs: many of them are publicly traded, so that they can't afford to see results plummet. The point is that the money spent on a player and the permanent concurrence generates a high expectation of its performance. In addition to the media weight, the critics pour quickly and ruthless on players knowing slumps. [...]
[...] I'll start by depicting the creation of a football market before to portray its consequences on the football world and to close this reflection through the direct affects and the limits to the globalization phenomenon on football game (III). Globalization and creation of a football market 1 Globalization of the players 1 Legislation and internationalization of the teams a. Nationalism and sectarianism In the origins, nationalist and sectarian logics have been ruling football clubs so that talking about globalized player market or even free circulation of player was about to be a non sense. [...]
[...] If globalization affects the game itself, it also know limits, notably through national teams and the reinforcement of identities, as well as the critic that football is getting internationalized more than globalized. Globalization, standardization and identities 1 From a globalized sport to a globalized game? 1 The Rule of tactic “Once they follow the tactic I asked them, I'll be satisfied”. This statement is typically the one of a modern coach. In fact, as football drains huge amounts of money, generating high pressure on the coach, always under the threat of being fired, and on the players, it needs certitudes. [...]
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