Writing for the New Statesman, Rageh Omaar, explains that the African Cup of Nations goes beyond football in its importance:
"The African Nations Cup is important on many levels. It is not just a place where tomorrow's Drogbas, Kanus, Yakubus and Essiens will be spotted by European club scouts and the 16,000 journalists accredited to cover the tournament. The cup symbolises differing outlooks in the west and Africa about the importance of football to nations and ordinary people. It's a reminder that although wealth and fortune are facts of life in football and an important motivator for players, there are dreams and aspirations at the heart of the beautiful game that transcend money...It's about the magic of having heroes. The reason why it is so important in Africa is that it shows the millions of young fans, who probably don't have enough to eat most days, who probably have no shoes on their feet and little education, that, like Samuel Eto'o, they too can make an impact on the world."
Source > 01.02.2008
Friday, February 1, 2008
Thursday, January 31, 2008
Soccer the Opiate
Writing for ModernGhana.com, Kwame Okoampa-Ahoofe, Jr., Ph.D. (Associate Professor of English and Journalism at Nassau Community College of the State University of New York, Garden City) says:
"Ultimately, though, the joy of sports can best be savored when African leaders have been able to help their people to eke a decent quality of life. As it stands now, cross-continental tournaments like CAN 2008 can only be savored as proverbial opiates (or opium), in Marxian parlance; as a temporary relief from the grinding pressures of avoidable poverty and destitution. And it may well be this sorry situation that in the past prompted many an unruly aficionado – or sports fan – to criminally resort to violence and mayhem, notwithstanding the fact of Africans not being peculiarly vulnerable and/or susceptible to sport-associated violence."
And here is my response:
"Well written. Well reasoned. I'm a soccer fan and run a soccer site ( http://www.beautifulgame.com/ ) but I can only agree with you about Africa: life should come first and then soccer. In this order, soccer would then be less an opiate and more like a desert or a pleasant past-time. As you well know the South African World Cup will occur in 2010 and we will all be hearing more about how soccer will help the continent but if what you say is true about the real benefits of soccer to society then perhaps Africa already needs to be thinking Beyond 2010."
And Beyond2010.com is a blog that will over the next number of years focus on what will become of Africa AFTER the World Cup has left the continent...
Source > 31.01.2008
"Ultimately, though, the joy of sports can best be savored when African leaders have been able to help their people to eke a decent quality of life. As it stands now, cross-continental tournaments like CAN 2008 can only be savored as proverbial opiates (or opium), in Marxian parlance; as a temporary relief from the grinding pressures of avoidable poverty and destitution. And it may well be this sorry situation that in the past prompted many an unruly aficionado – or sports fan – to criminally resort to violence and mayhem, notwithstanding the fact of Africans not being peculiarly vulnerable and/or susceptible to sport-associated violence."
And here is my response:
"Well written. Well reasoned. I'm a soccer fan and run a soccer site ( http://www.beautifulgame.com/ ) but I can only agree with you about Africa: life should come first and then soccer. In this order, soccer would then be less an opiate and more like a desert or a pleasant past-time. As you well know the South African World Cup will occur in 2010 and we will all be hearing more about how soccer will help the continent but if what you say is true about the real benefits of soccer to society then perhaps Africa already needs to be thinking Beyond 2010."
And Beyond2010.com is a blog that will over the next number of years focus on what will become of Africa AFTER the World Cup has left the continent...
Source > 31.01.2008
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