Futbol

Leonel Prieto
Professor Koenig Emilie
English 1303
30 April 2012
How soccer has affected the world

Through time soccer has created a huge influence in several countries, the strong connection between people and clubs has made nations go through hard times and with its development it is also an example of how economic markets should function.
Since its beginnings it has been culturallycharged and every game has a history to tell. Because people feel connected to certain teams in a really strong manner, sometimes stadiums become battlefields. In fact the impact of football in today’s society is so large that figures such as players are able to influence popular culture and even politics, and this also happens vice versa. In many countries players and club owners have becomepoliticians and politicians have become owners and directors of clubs.
Soccer originated in Britain several years ago. It has evolved for six hundred years therefore its heritage it’s deeper and emotional in comparison to North America in which soccer was introduced with commercial purposes. (Roadburg 268-69)
The connection between fans and soccer teams can become so strong that at some pointthe fans can turn violent. Every game talks about something and is important, so the people live them as a final and always hope for their team to do the best. When factors such as poor infrastructure, bad refereeing, alcohol, and others, people start to behave violently seeking to defend or honor the team. When these factors are removed we get a healthier sporting environment like the one in theUnited States.
While being too connected has its downsides, it also brings people a lot of joy. In South Africa there was a moment in which people were divided in social classes. It was easy to see the differences in behavior and culture. As stated by Anderson, “from early in the 19th century, White residents of South Africa identified themselves as either "English" or "Afrikaner", based onlanguage, religion, location, racial ideology and preferred sport” (48). Then Nelson Mandela came and embraced the opportunity of hosting the world rugby championship and used it to get together everybody with one sport. After that people kept together and opened their path to democracy.
Sports are an important part of countries cultures and for people; sports are a way to have fun but also part oftheir dreams. Shirts explains that, in Brazil “[soccer] is an important element as carnival, Afro-Brazilian religions, popular music, and Catholicism” (120).
In fact in Brazil there was a very influential soccer player called Socrates. He played for the Brazilian club Corinthians and for the national team. Inside the club there were problems while choosing the new director. The “order andtruth”, composed by the directive board, opted for choosing a new director just by themselves, this made possible for them to elect the one with more money instead of the one that could actually help the club. In response Socrates said that he would leave the club if democracy wasn’t installed inside. This was seen as an act of valor and was an example to younger people. And in fact, inside the Braziliangovernment something similar was going on and Socrates serve as inspiration to democratic movements to fight and finally accomplish democracy.
As well as players are looked as role models for youth, teams are followed and admired by whole countries and how they perform can change the behavior and the way people feel. After the world war two and the cold war Europe was left in a crisis andpeople were in a great depression. Bulgaria was in transition from socialism to capitalism so this made the effects even worse. Prices were so high that bread wasn’t affordable anymore and all the luxuries that people were able to have were nonexistent. But something that gave this people some hope and happiness during these harsh times was the great performance of their soccer team. Bulgaria...