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19-June-2002
THEORIZING THE FOOTBALL RELIGION
by
Ibrahim Ado-Kurawa B. Sc (HONS) M. Sc Zoology (Applied Entomology)
Director Research, Institute for Contemporary Research (ICR) Kano and General Editor Weekly Pyramid The Magazine
Kano, Nigeria
(majekarofi@yahoo.com
)
http://www.kanoonline.com/ibrahimado/
Karl Marx the founder of Marxist ideology and the most prominent atheist in human history labeled religion as the opium of the people. His aim was to separate the people from God and articulate them with another god-the fulfillment of material desires. Marxism and other forms of atheism were rooted in the enlightenment tradition, which put reason above revealed truth. According to Kant this was done in order to liberate man from his infancy of not using his gift of reason[1]. The Renaissance and Protestant Reformation facilitated the enlightenment. But it must emphasized that the Protestant Fathers never envisaged that Christianity will be abolished[2] by the immoral greed[3] of the capitalists who were inspired by the Protestant ethics. Robert Samuelson the Newsweek columnist has even declared in the Foreign Affairs magazine that: The triumphant religion of the twentieth century was not Christianity or Islam but economic growth[4]. The adherents of the monotheistic religions Judaism, Christianity and Islam believe in One God while in other religions multiple gods are possible therefore football is one of the gods of those who worship it.
According to the social scientists one of the main functions of religions is the maintenance of the social order. The football ritual serves this function in a number of ways. It intensifies solidarity by creating an atmosphere in which people experience their common identity in emotionally moving ways[5]. Anyone who observes a football match (religious ritual) in a stadium (temple) will recognize the expression of emotion by the spectators (worshipers). Football teams have become the sources of common identity even to fractured nations like Nigeria despite Bola Iges pen of hatred who by implication attributed Nigerias victory to the absence of Hausa-Fulani in the team[6] but Nigerias latest most disgraceful outing after Iges death was coached by his kinsman.
Another function of religion that helps in maintaining the social order is that it provides escape from the appalling conditions of life; in the religious belief of afterlife or the coming of a Messiah, powerless people who live in harsh and deprived circumstances can create an illusion of power through the manipulation of religious symbols. Religion in these circumstances is an outlet of frustration, resentment, and anger and is a way of draining off energy that might otherwise be turned against the social system[7].
Many Brazilians have stated that they worship football whose matches help them escape from the awful social conditions of their country. There was a time in Brazil when prices of consumer items change in hours because of inflation and the country is one of the most indebted in the world with 244.7 billion dollars owed by the government to foreign creditors[8]. The people of Brazil cool themselves off by watching football matches and samba just as religious worshipers cool off with hymns and other rituals. In Argentina football is very popular the country stood still when their team faced England. Many Argentines worship football as relief from their miserable lives destroyed by the rapacious financial institutions. The country is one of the few in the history of financial bankruptcy where depositors were disallowed from withdrawing their savings.
Football craze is not restricted to Latin America. To many English people football has replaced God. Church attendance in England is just about 13% as at 1992[9] and it is declining. According to Christian Research Association by 2002 church going Anglicans will be 756,000[10] when this is compared to football enthusiasm one will appreciate the popularity of the football ritual (match), whenever the nation plays everything stands still. The church had to allow the showing of an England match in the current world cup in the church premises so as not to loose attendance.
Saudi Arabia one of the most restrictive societies in the world is also caught by the football religion. The Saud family in alliance with the puritanical Wahabi Ulama rules the country. Members of the Saud family control the wealth of the oil rich country and they allocate much resource to themselves and lead hedonistic lifestyles immersed in vices prohibited by the Shariah while the masses remain under tight control. The Wahabi Ulama succeeded in preventing other forms of leisure but they have not succeeded in stopping the penetration of football religion. The Saud family will not allow the Ulama to encroach football because it is one of the ways they divert the attention of their people from the corruption of the ruling family. Saudi Arabia spends a lot of money on football. The government has built many temples (stadiums) and has hosted many international rituals (tournaments) despite the shameful performances of its teams. The Shiite Ulama of Iran have also not succeeded in stopping the advancement of football. The worshipers (fans) in Iran have been very restless in recent years.
His Excellency Chief Olusegun Obasanjo is the most religiously pretentious president Nigeria ever had. He attends mass everyday in the Chapel of the Presidential Villa[11] and he consistently speaks against corruption from one side of the mouth. He has so far spent more on football than on any other project. The Abuja Temple (stadium) was budgeted to cost $300m but it may reach $1billion to complete. This is outrageous in a country as poor as Nigeria where the majority are living below poverty line. But like in the ancient times when many people loose their lives while temples and places of worship were built, the Nigerian government is so indifferent to the suffering of the people by allocating more to the football religion than to health, education, security and food. The most imposing edifices of all ancient and medieval rulers were their temples or cathedrals some of which took decades or centuries[12] to complete. The Pharaohs built the pyramids, which have remained a testimony to their power. Justinian built the Church of the Holy Wisdom, called St. Sophia, which has also remained a wonder of the world and for centuries the greatest church of Christendom[13]. Obasanjos legacy will be the Abuja Stadium (football temple). Just like his African brother Alpha Konnare of Mali president Obasanjo is spending so much on this inhuman project. Mali one of the poorest nations on earth with 72.8% of its citizens living on less than $1 a day[14] spent most of its resources to build a stadium (temple) for hosting the African Cup of Nations tournament (ritual). The poor malnourished Malians were made to feel proud of hosting this ritual, most of them with empty stomachs.
Just like in other religions there is bigotry and sectarianism in football. The English fans are the most notorious in Europe. In Nigeria, the legacy of General Sani Abacha in his hometown of Kano is the Sani Abacha Stadium (a football temple), as the head of state the people of Kano argued that he could have done more for their poverty- stricken society than the temple (stadium). The football faithfuls of southern Nigeria did not want Kano to be one of the host towns of the African Cup of Nations tournament (ritual) because of bigotry and sectionalism but they lost. This was because Kano had the largest turn out in a previous tournament (ritual) organized by FIFA. It had more attendance than Lagos despite Kanos frequent Islamic outbursts and the flamboyant Sufi groups. Kano prides itself as the center of the most popular Sufi orders in Africa yet it has more attendance to football rituals than any other city in Nigeria. Even though it is a highly impoverished city with so many poor people in slumps the football religion is very popular and they pay so much from their meager savings to watch the matches (rituals).
All the communist countries used games including football to divert attention of their people from the corruption of the ruling party and the inhuman communist system. In the USA one of the most self-indulgent societies in human history, games play an important part of the national life. Entertainers are the most respected people in the USA. Football called soccer in the USA is not as popular as American football, baseball or basketball because of commercial reasons. There is less opportunity of advertising in a soccer tournament than in any of these games. The games in former communists and the capitalist USA served the same purpose with football (soccer) as observed thus: It must not be forgotten that along with these games goes a complete anthropological system. It is part of the solution to the problem of what to do with excess physical energy and aggression among workers in isolated arenas where they watch the violent conflict ritualized in a safe game. At the worst that may happen is inter-team fighting. This de-politicizes crowd violence and protects central government[15]. All the games are opium of the people just like football.
The purpose of this essay is to theorize the football religion. It is not intended to decide whether the adherents of the monotheistic religions who are engaged in the rituals and propagation of the football could remain monotheists despite their syncretism. That is a theological question to be answered by the Rabbis, the Clergy and the Ulama.
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[1] Inwood, M. J. 1995 Enlightenment in Hondrich, T. (ed) The Oxford Companion to Philosophy Oxford p. 236
[2] See Fukuyama, F. 1992 The End of History and the Last Man p. 216 where he wrote Christianity in a certain sense had to abolish itself through a secularization of its goals before liberalism could emerge.
[3] Beg, T. 2000. Globalizations Vulnerabilities and the Response of Islamic Economics American Journal of Islamic Social Sciences 17: 3: 73
[4] Samuelson, R. J. 2001 The Spirit of Capitalism Foreign Affairs January/February 2001
[5] Nanda, S. 1984 Cultural Anthropology Belmont p. 297
[6] While commenting on Nigerias victory over Brazil at the Atlanta Olympics in the Sunday Tribune of August 4 1996 Bola Ige sarcastically wrote that: if the team had been made up from Federal character and quota we probably would not have had Kanu together with Oliseh and Amunike and Amokachi. There would probably would not be a goalkeeper called Dosu. Some Nigerian Tutsis would probably have packed the team with their kinsmen quoted in Mohammed, A. S. 1999 Chief Bola Ige and the Destabilisation of Nigeria Zaria p. 9 this book exposed Bola Iges genocidal intentions.
[7] Nanda op. cit p. 297
[8] Newsweek July 9, 2001 this was contained in the cover story titled: The Worst Countries, p. 52.
[9] Thompson, K. 1992 Religion, Values and Ideology in Bocock, R and Thompson, K. (eds) Social and Cultural Forms of Modernity London p. 352
[10] Braibanti, Ralph 1999 Islam and the West: Common Cause or Clash? American Journal of Islamic Social Sciences 16: 1: 4
[11] See Ogunbiyi, Y. 2002 Seven Days in the Life of the President Daily Trust June 6, 2002 pp. 16-17.
[12] The Cathedral of Como in Lombardia region of Italy took four centuries to complete. It was begun in 1396 on the site of the Romanesque Basilica of Santa Maria and it was completed in 1744 when its great dome was finished.
[13] Roberts, J. M. 1980 An Illustrated History of the World Volume 4: Different Worlds London p. 35
[14] Newsweek op. cit p. 49
[15] As-Sufi ad-Darqawi, A. 1981 Letter to An African Muslim Norwich p. 35
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