A Bad Football Fan Confesses
or does a bad football fan really have anything to confess to ... it's all in the name
Firstly, a note on things that I’ve engaged with and found a lot of value in on the topic of the men’s World Cup: Olivia at Halftime Oranges, Naomi Accardi, and Grace Robertson have all written excellent texts on the tournament, eloquently bringing together some of the many factors to consider on this multifaceted issue. Tifo made a great series on Youtube which is very accessible. Goal Click has an amazing photo series in collaboration with The Sports Creative and Qatar foundation, sharing voices from the ground in Qatar.
🕯️thoughts are with the family and friends of the two journalists who died while covering the tournament in Qatar, Grant Wahl and Khalid al-Misslam 🕯️
I talked to my little brother on the phone yesterday. He spends a lot of time and money to watch football and is an avid fan, mainly of Italian football but he will watch pretty much anything - he follows Swedish men’s football, which should tell you most of what you need to know. After discussing christmas presents we got into talking about football which is where we usually end up. He said that he’d not watched a single game so far this tournament, other than a minute here or there when at the gym.
“How come?” I asked tentatively, trying to be casual but dying to learn more about what he was thinking, as we had not talked much about the tournament beforehand.
There was a simple shrug in his voice.
“I don’t know, it’s just not felt like something I want to follow this time. If it’s to do with everything around it I don’t know, but I’ve actually not really cared at all about it.”
“Mmh, I see” I said lightheartedly. I’ve mainly had conversations about this with people who know how to hold their own in these matters and often come into it with strong opinions, whereas I didn’t really know how much or how little my brother had engaged with everything going on. I was happy to hear that he hadn’t bought into the whole spectacle, and I wanted to talk more about it but without slipping into the role of the ‘lecturing older sister’.
“I managed to stay away up until the last quarter finals,” I confessed. “It’s just been so good, it’s not without a pang of guilt, of course! But that set piece from the Netherlands …”
We soon trailed off, talking about his placement at the hospital, his new phone and Jorja Smith, until he had to hang up to make some dinner.
After our phone call yesterday, Argentina breezed past Croatia to grab the final (and made Mauricio Pochettino so happy 🥹), and it’s now between France and Morocco who is going to line up against them in the last game, which means that we’re almost at the end of the spectacle that is the men’s World Cup in Qatar. There has been so much talk around this one, mainly beforehand but also as the tournament has been unfolding, on whether people will follow it or not. There’s been an edge in some people’s voice when they talk about it, others nod understandingly, some simply look perplexed. Trying to avoid it has almost been akin to mission impossible: every screen in every restaurant and pub have it displayed, people are watching it on their phones propped up, the librarians are watching it behind the checkout counter. It is, after all, the biggest tournament of the global game at this time.
Whether or not people follow it is ultimately up to each individual. We’re in the middle of a cost of living crisis with temperatures plummeting and people are struggling to piece their everyday life together in this patriarchal, racist and homophobic society we all live in - and therapy is expensive. If watching football is the thing that’s going to make them feel better, have at it. Like I said on the phone I managed to stay away until the Argentina - Netherlands game, which means that I’ve had a lot of non-football watching time to scrutinise my own reasons for not following it (and then caving in and watching it) and it goes something like this:
What is a football fan that doesn’t watch football? (dystopian-like thoughts as first sign of withdrawal) Who even am I? (cue identity crisis) Then, lunging into more utilitarian analysis - why am I doing this and who am I doing it for? It’s not like me watching it or not watching it is going to make any difference at all (bargaining phase, but I’m not going to accept that because obviously if everyone aligned their own individual choice to not watch it would be a collective action that would actually make a difference.) Looking at the when and where, what is the timing of this - is it easier to dismiss this tournament than one based in closer proximity to Europe (i.e. more Western?) Examining my own motives, is it to make myself feel better, taking the moral high ground and make me feel like I’m doing something, even if it by doing nothing? (and since when has ‘doing nothing’ ever been the way to go) Catching a glimpse of myself in the mirror, is it on selfish grounds because I don’t want to derive any enjoyment out of an event that has come out of so much pain? (perhaps, and ugh, so selfish.)
That’s just a stream of consciousness of my internal state. But the question that lingers with me, the one that actually keeps me up at night and has me trying on different alternatives like a rubiks cube is this: what happens when the WC wraps up at the end of the week? Do we just continue the club season like nothing happened? This event just becomes stats and figures, twisted by different media outlets depending on their agenda and the outrage subsides and we keep going on about our lives with the league football back in action. How can we have talked about all of this and not bring it into the league football that we’re all following week in and week out? With whole countries funding clubs through ownership and sponsorships (Newcastle, Manchester City, Bayern München, Paris Saint-Germain, to name a few…), Gianni Infantino (with his meltdowns) still heading FIFA, David Beckham (who’s been very criticised for his Qatar ambassador role) still owning a team in the MLS.
There is also something to be said for all of the JOY that we’ve getting to see this tournament. Because yes, alongside all of the grim headlines and disappointing results, we can also bask in the unbridled joy of the ones who have gotten a taste of success, and here I think most of us get an image of the Moroccan players celebrating with their families. Morocco has caused a major upset by beating some well-established European powers and colonisers in Belgium, Spain, and Portugal. This is important!! This is a story that people would not be as engaged with (if at all) if they didn’t follow the Moroccan national team’s journey through this tournament, swept up in the underdog spirit and seeing them win against all odds. It has also further underlined the imbalance highlighted by the fact that they’re the first Arabic and African nation to make it to the semifinals. Goalkeeper Yassine Bounou, also known as Bono, exclaimed that “Morocco is ready to face anyone in the world. We have changed the mentality of the generation coming after us. They’ll know Moroccan players can create miracles.”
We’ve also seen the Moroccan team put their necks out and unapologetically display the Palestine flag, at a tournament where teams have been threatened with sanctions for taking political stands. This World Cup, for all of the despicable stuff going around, has created a stage to spotlight issues like what is going on in Iran, and in Palestine, on a whole other level, with fans in the stands and pitch invaders keen on making their marks too.
I did not end up sitting out all of the men’s World Cup, in true bad football fan fashion - nor do I have much to offer in terms of a concrete answer as to what can be done instead. The men’s game is in some ways really starting to sway under its own weight, and there are still opportunities there to do things differently, if the stars align. Women’s football is not the answer, but AN answer would be to look at what we can learn from the crumbling structures of men’s football, and do our best to shape the women’s scene differently (already containing one very important difference in the game’s inherent queerness.) There’s Champions League (for free, on DAZN youtube!!) Thursday and Friday, and whether or not you will be watching the last few games of this tournament, I hope you will get what you need from it.
Amazing piece Emma! The reflection really resonates. Thank you for the shout out too 🥺