I want to start a campaign to revoke the Italian Whirld Cup win:
This so-called global version of football that we just watched for a month may be mostly beyond me, since I prefer Australian Rules, where you are allowed to use that stunning innovation of evolution, the opposable thumb and actually grab the ball – ipso facto soccer is devolution, clearly – a game for lower primates, yet more refined than rugger… and global is pretty much code for only the developed world, with a few elite exceptions and the occasional feel-good pseudo-documentary about kicking coconuts in the pacific or old tin cans in Tibet.
Yet, I do get the idea that Football is really about politics and sponsorship deals, not the Corinthians spirit – so despite this, I am moved to admiration for Zidane if his was a retaliation against the words ‘you are the son of a terrorist whore’ or some such (so also says the Mirror just now – ooh, it must be true!). The spurious impact of sending him off for what seems to me to be a legitimate use of the head (he refrained from punching that fool Materazzi, since using the hands is banned – right?) makes me think we should scrub out all results from an earlier stage and play it all over – starting I think from the dubious dive of Grosso in the game against Australia… so replay the whole second part of the cup from that point on… was supposed to be the anti-racist world cup wasn’t it – I recall Beckham mumbling something at the start of the Portugal game to that effect…
As I keep saying, unfortunately I do not really understand the appeal of soccer [unless its a displacement of sociological interest in something to do with the money, capital, corporate power … I guess]. So I will have to wait for FIFA to realise the wisdom of my suggested strategy – ie playing a great big ‘let court’ and doing it all over again…
Meanwhile, a massive increase in racist attacks in Europe, and especially Britain, goes barely noticed. Something Marco and Zinedine have at least opened up with their playground spat – which we might turn for a moment into a diagonal pass that at least mentions the issues, more than mumbles from the pitch. Who do you need to head butt to start a campaign that achieves something better than more sponsorship deals and pretty faces (David) reading prepared scripts of innocuous feel-good blah blah. The attacks on Muslims in Britain are given an alibi by avowals that this kind of verbal slating on the pitch is the sort of racism that has to be ‘kicked out of football’ – NO – there are worse kinds of racism hidden behind these publicised slurs, and much much more is needed to re-organise our hierarchical, mad, fundamentally war-mongering multi-racist society. The campaign to defend Muslims from racist attacks that mean death and injury requires more than soccer star mumbles – you have to put your hands up. Zinadine should have gone much much further than he did.
Nevertheless, viva ZZ (and is this pic of him butting someone much more deserving?).
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Trinketization 
I like that headbutts are de rigeur for Knights of the Legion of Honour – makes the distinction rather more distinct (though should be a requirement for the Golden Ball as well – go Figo!).
And FIFA are investigating, following your suggestion (of course); though they may have their plates full. Seems you are right, the simple ‘no to racism’ (whether the mic works for Beckham or not) is not enough to change the world. Go figure, and I thought that was the purpose of hyper-nationalist displays like the World Cup?
Of course, you have got to love the disingenuity of that hat-wearing-fuckwit claiming he doesn’t know what a terrorist is. (Though it is perhaps an improvement on certain other hat-wearing-fuckwits, who know all too well.)
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Looks like there is serious campaign after all – but not to revoke the Whirled Cup from the Italians, but instead to strip Zidane of his Golden Ball. We may know what was said tonight, but even Materazzi’s agent has conceded whatever was said was serious (see here).
Hard not to get caught up in the triviality of it all, eh? Even when other things are much more important…
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Amen. I’m just waiting for Pele to return from the mountain with two stone tablets commanding the elimination of the yellow/red card system (in favour of a penalty structure) and the random placement of landmines on the pitch. If these fuckers want to pretend that this ridiculous tournament is all about an epic struggle between nations for supremacy, let’s lay the pitch out like Juno Beach on D-Day.
Maybe it’d be easier to view these spoiled assholes as heroes if there were a few more amputees on the roster …
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