The Global Journey of Football: From the origins of the beautiful game to its recent use as a social catalyst

Cárdenas, Alexander

The Global Journey of Football: From the origins of the beautiful game to its recent use as a social catalyst

by Alexander Cárdenas (Author)

Sociology - Individual, Groups, Society

53115

Summary

Football’s consolidation as the world’s most popular sport is the result of both the inherent attributes of the game, that is, its simplicity and universality, as well as the historical processes that have contributed to the expansion of this sport throughout time. Although the game has undergone very little structural transformation in the last decades, one of most notable developments in the world of football has taken place in the new application of the sport as a tool for social change. This has generated a true global social movement encompassing a multitude of actors such as national governments, the private sector, international organizations and NGOs, around the issue of development and peace through sport. With this background, the purpose of this book is two-fold: 1) Provide an overview of the history, evolution and global expansion of football, 2) bring to light the recent transformation experienced by the game as a social movement and as an agent of community change. This part includes the grassroots project “Goals for Peace” in Colombia and the Philippines, which aims at assessing the ways and extent to which this sport can be a transformative tool.

Excerpt

List of Tables

Table 1: Research Structure ... 16

Table 2: Significant Developments in the Rules of the Game ... 32

Table 3: Evolution of Humanitarian Activities at FIFA ... 86

Table 4: The Goals for Peace Project ... 94

Table 5: Age, Gender and Strata Distribution of Participants Goals for

Peace Project Ciudad Bolivar ... 99

Table 6: Activities and Objectives Goals for Peace Day 1 ... 102

Table 7: Activities and Objectives Goals for Peace Day 2 ... 103

Table 8: Goals for Peace in Bais City, Philippines. ... 107

Table 9: Olympic Truce Statement ... 111

List of Pictures

Picture 1: Safety First ... 76

Picture 2: Colombianitos in Action ...89

Picture 3: Girls and Boys Playing Football in Ciudad Bolivar ... ..100

Picture 4: Goals for Peace Bais City, Philippines ... 107

Acknowledgement

There are many people I would like to thank for their help during the research stage and

writing of this book. Foremost among these are Colonel Carlos Menéndez from the

Colombian National Police, Mr. Jerome Champagne, FIFA director for International

Relations, Mrs. Bettina Schulte, program officer for the United Nations Office on Sport

for Development and Peace and Mrs. Maria Elvira Garavito, director of the

Colombianitos foundation, for their valuable input during the interviews I conducted at

their respective organizations. For allowing me access to the FIFA library, thanks are also

due to Mrs. Marta Mulero. There are a number of other individuals to whom I owe my

gratitude: Mr. Alvaro Gomez from the Matiambolumba Foundation and Mrs. Carmenza

Trujillo, coordinator for Proseder for their help during the activities of the project Goals

for Peace in Ciudad Bolivar, Bogota, Colombia and to Ms. Karen Villanueva and her

staff as well the Elmaco family for their support in the second Goals for Peace project in

the Philippines. I would also like to express my gratitude to the members of the academic

body and staff of the EMGS program at the Universities of Leipzig and Vienna. To Dr.

Siegfried Mattl and to my classmates at both institutions for having contributed to my

personal and academic growth as well as to all those who made possible my participation

in the Global Studies program, and to Professor Tom Woodhouse at Bradford University

for his guidance, interest and support to further football-related research. To the

organization Peace and Sport, thanks are also due for their valuable support to Goals for

Peace in our new phase. On a personal note, I would like to thank my family for their

unconditional love and support and for instilling in me, the important values in life and to

Mrs. Jenn Elmaco, for her priceless support in this journey. My final gratitude goes to my

guides and to all the people in the football constellation I have come across over the

years.

Acronyms

AFC - Asian Football Confederation

BCE - Before Common Era

CAF - Corporación Andina de Fomento

CAF - Confédération Africaine de Football

CE - Common Era

CONCACAF - North and Central America Football Federation

CONMEBOL - Confederación Suramericana de Fútbol

EURO - European Football Championship

FA - Football Association

FARE - Football Against Racism in Europe

FC - Football Club

FIFA - Fédération Internationale de Football Association

INGO- International Non-Government Organization

MDG - Millennium Development Goals

NGO - Non-Government Organization

UN - United Nations

UNICEF - United Nations Children's Fund

UNOSDP - United Nations Office on Sport for Development and Peace

UEFA - Union of European Football Association

UK - United Kingdom

Abstract

Keywords: Colombia, FIFA, Football History, Football and Globalization, Goals for

Peace, Hooliganism, Philippines, Sport for Development and Peace,

Football's consolidation as the world's most popular sport is a result of both the inherent

attributes of the game, that is, its simplicity and universality, as well as the historical

processes that have contributed to the unprecedented expansion of the geography of the

this sport throughout time. Today, football represents a professional activity, an

instrument to mobilize the masses, a profitable business, is also a focus of violence and

unrest, and most recently, is has emerged as a tool for social development and peace.

Although the sport has undergone very little structural transformation in the last decades,

one of most notable developments in the world of football has taken place in the new

application of the sport as a tool for social change. This has generated a true global social

movement encompassing a multitude of actors such as national governments, the private

sector, international organizations and NGOs around the issue of development and peace

through the capacity of sport. With this background, the purpose of this book is two-fold:

1) provide an overview of the history and evolution of football, and an analysis of the

processes that contributed to its emergence and consolidation as a global phenomenon

and, 2) bring to light the recent transformation experienced by football as a social

movement and as an agent of community change. This part includes the grassroots

project "Goals for Peace" in Colombia and the Philippines, which aims at assessing the

ways and extent to which this sport can be a transformative tool.

Dass der Fußballsport sich als beliebteste Sportart der Welt etabliert hat, liegt zum einen

in seiner Natur: Fußball ist einfach und universell. Zum anderen ist die Beliebtheit des

Fußballsports den historischen Prozessen geschuldet, welche zu seiner einzigartigen,

flächendeckenden geografischen Ausbreitung beigetragen haben. In der heutigen Zeit

nimmt der Fußballsport vielfältige Rollen und Funktionen ein: Fußball ist ein Berufsfeld,

lukratives Geschäft, und mobilisiert Massen, und ist zugleich dabei auch Brennpunkt von

Auseinandersetzungen und Gewalt. Die jüngste Entwicklung im Fußballsport ist sein

Einsatz als Instrument für gesellschaftliche Entwicklung und Frieden. Der Fußballsport

hat in den vergangenen Jahrzehnten im Grunde keine nennenswerten strukturellen

Veränderungen erlebt. Das einzige signifikante Novum in jüngerer Zeit ist die

Anwendung des Fußballsports als Instrument zur Unterstützung gesellschaftlicher

Transformation und Entwicklung. Diese Wendung hat weltweit eine regelrechte

gesellschaftliche Bewegung und damit eine Vielzahl von verschiedenen Akteuren auf den

Plan gebracht Regierungen, privatwirtschaftliche Akteure, internationale

Organisationen und Nichtregierungsorganisationen befassen sich seither mit dem

Themenkreis "Entwicklung und Frieden durch Sport". Diesen Hintergründen Rechnung

tragend hat das vorliegende Buch zwei Ziele: Zum einen, dem Leser einen Überblick

über die Geschichte und Entwicklung des Fußballsports zu verschaffen, und dabei eine

Analyse der Prozesse zu liefern, welche zur Entstehung und Konsolidierung des Fußballs

als globales Phänomen geführt haben. Zum anderen, die neuere Verwendung des

Fußballsports als ein Instrument sozialer Veränderung und gesellschaftlicher

Entwicklung zu beleuchten. Der zweite Teil setzt sich dabei mit dem grassroot Projekt

"Goals for Peace" in Kolumbien und den Philippinen auseinander, und versucht anhand

dieses Fallbeispiels Einsatzmöglichkeiten und -grenzen des Fußballsports als

Transformationsinstrument zu bewerten.

La consolidación del fútbol como el deporte más popular del planeta es el resultado de los

atributos inherentes al juego, es decir su simplicidad y universalidad, así como de los

procesos históricos que han contribuido a la expansión geográfica de este deporte a lo

largo de la historia. Hoy, el fútbol representa una actividad profesional y una plataforma

para movilizar a las masas, es un negocio muy rentable y puede ser también un foco de

violencia y de disturbios y más recientemente, ha llegado a posicionarse como una

herramienta para el desarrollo social y la paz. Aunque el fútbol ha experimentado muy

poca transformación estructural en las últimas décadas, uno de más notables desarrollos

en el mundo del fútbol ha tenido lugar en la nueva aplicación de este deporte como una

herramienta para el cambio social. Esto ha generado un verdadero movimiento social

global que convoca una multitud de actores tales como gobiernos nacionales, el sector

privado, organizaciones internacionales y organizaciones no gubernamentales, en torno a

temas relacionados al desarrollo y la paz a través del deporte. Con estos antecedentes,

este libro tiene un doble propósito: 1) proporcionar una visión general de la historia y la

evolución del fútbol y resaltar los procesos que contribuyeron a su aparición y

consolidación como un fenómeno global, y 2) poner de manifiesto la reciente

transformación experimentada por este deporte como movimiento social y como agente

de cambio comunitario. Esta parte incluye el proyecto "Goles por la paz" en Colombia y

Filipinas, el cual tiene por objeto evaluar las diversas formas en las que el deporte puede

llegar a ser una fuente transformadora.

Preface

The Christmas Truce of 1914

A hundred years ago, a remarkable event took place in the worlds of international

conflict, football and peace. Amid the horrors of war, a symbolic and practical act in the

form of a series of improvised football matches between the rival English and German

troops took place during World War I. The Christmas Truce of 1914, as this came to be

known, exemplifies the potential of sport to serve as an agent of transformation and

change, even during the most adverse of circumstances. Today, we want to honour those

who took part in the Truce, and who remind us of the enormous capacity of practices

such as sport to contribute to the creation of more peaceful communities.

The author

1. Introduction

In the summer of 2014, football's greatest event and perhaps, the most important

sporting gathering in the planet, the World Cup, will be celebrated for the second time in

Brazil. While critical voices argue that the billions of Reais spent on the World Cup

should have been channeled to solve pressing issues affecting the country today, -such as

poverty, lack of infrastructure, crime or education- preparations continue under way to

make Brazil 2014, the most memorable sporting celebration ever to have taken place on

this side of the globe. Regardless of the economic and social consequences this mega-

event will have on the host nation, the vote of confidence granted to Brazil by the

international community is before anything else, an acknowledgement of the recent

developments and achievements of this nation both within and outside the sporting arena.

The consolidation of football whether in Brazil, Africa or elsewhere in the planet,

nevertheless, is a result of both the appealing nature of the game itself, as well as it is a

consequence of the historical forces that have come into play to contribute to the

remarkable expansion of the geography of this sport throughout time. Simplicity and

universality are perhaps the most noteworthy elements that characterize the game. These

aspects of the sport have allowed football to cross languages and nations to make this

sport a pastime, a professional activity, a profitable business, a platform to summon and

mobilize the masses, as well as a source of violence and unrest. Through time, football

has transformed itself into a mechanism to join nations and most recently, it has served as

a tool to fight against social injustice and as an instrument for development and positive

change. It is the many issues associated with this sport, its universality and simplicity, its

appealing nature, the business it has become, the violence and the uncontrollable passions

it generates, as well as the rich historical processes it embodies, what validates a study of

the beginnings, spread and consolidation of football as the planet's most favorite sport. In

this connection, the purpose of this book is to provide an overview of the history and

evolution of football and to analyze the processes that contributed to its emergence and

consolidation as a global phenomenon. Furthermore, this paper attempts to bring to light

the recent transformation experienced by football as a social movement and as an agent

for transformation and change.

1.1 Book Structure

Chronologically ordered, this book is divided into three sections each dealing with

particular issues related to the development and consolidation of football in the global

arena (see table 1). Section one introduces the origins of football in different world

civilizations, that is, the prehistory and history of the sport to the advent of modern

football in England. This section also deals with the first bans imposed on football

through history and which almost led to its disappearance, as well as the earliest attempts

to codify the rules of the game. Additionally this section covers the emergence of football

as a professional activity. Section two examines the means by which football spread

across the globe as well as the main issues affecting the sport in recent times. The chapter

"Global Explosion of Football" illustrates how through imperial, educational and trade

routes, football became one of England's most notable export. Emphasis is placed on the

arrival of football in Colombia, and the establishment of the first football clubs in the

nation. This section also introduces the work of the International Federation of Football

Association (FIFA) as football's only governing body and its efforts to consolidate the

sport in the international scene. The business side of the sport is also elaborated upon

here as one of the most significant issues characterizing football today. Furthermore, this

chapter also deals with football-related violence. In order to address this pressing issue

affecting the sport today, interviews were conducted with delegates of the Colombian

National Police as well as with members of football clubs in the country and football

aficionados on issues related to security at football venues and the phenomenon of

hooliganism. The final section introduces the newly conceived concept of football as a

tool for social transformation. Section three examines the ways in which football may

contribute to the betterment of societies, especially of those experiencing conflict and

violence and introduces some of the most notable actors and strategic partnerships in the

era of football for change. The last part of this chapter is devoted to Goals for Peace, a

sport for peace project conducted in Colombia and the Philippines. Goals for Peace

serves as case study to analyze the potentiality of sport as a tool for social transformation.

This book ends with a set of conclusions and recommendations on the issue of football

for social change.

Table 1: Research Structure

Source: Own Table

Section

III

Topic

Prehistory and

History of Football

Global Explosion of

Football

Football for

Development and

Peace

Issues

· Ancient practice of

the game

· Banns on football

· Codification of the

rules in England

· Professional

football league in

Britain

· Trade, education and

football, global

expansion (South

America, Africa,

Asia, Europe)

· Int. Institutions

(FIFA)

· Globalization of

football

· Business, TV

· Hooliganism

· Emergence of

INGOs using

football as a

means for conflict

transformation,

development and

community

building

Metho-

dology

· Secondary

Sources

· Secondary Sources

· Primary Sources:

Documents

Interviews

FIFA, Colombian

National Police,

football aficionados

· Secondary

Sources

· Primary

Sources:

Documents:

UNOSDP

Interviews:

UNOSDP, FIFA,

Colombianitos,

Participatory

Observation:

Goals for Peace

Project

Timeline

2500

BCE

1600

BCE

1888

1900s

1970s

1990

Late 1990s to Present

Place

and

Develop

ments

China

Meso-

Ameri

Engla

Trade

and

Educat

ion

routes

World

Cup

1974,

Brand

sponso

rship

Premier

League

England

Partnerships between

National

Governments, UN,

Private sector and

INGOs on a world-

wide basis

1.2 Research Methods

Several research methods were applied in this investigation. Multiple sources of

data were used in order to create a triangulation of evidence: books, documentation,

archival records and relevant publications by key actors, particularly in the development

field, open ended interviews, participant-observation conducted during fieldwork and a

case study.

1.2.1 Data Triangulation

Data triangulation has been used as a fundamental application in this research.

Triangulation of data, as pointed out by Flick (2009) is a combination of a variety of

methods, local and temporal settings, study groups and theoretical perspectives in dealing

with a particular phenomenon. This method can also be used to describe the relation

between quantitative and qualitative research as well as a strategy to advance the quality

of qualitative research. Triangulation was initially conceptualized as a strategy to

validating results achieved with individual research methods. The focus of this research

strategy, however, has increasingly shifted towards enriching and complementing

knowledge and towards expanding and furthering the potential of individual methods.

Moreover, triangulation may be utilized as an approach to further expand and

complement the possibilities of knowledge produced or obtained with qualitative

methods increasing scope, depth and consistency of methodological undertakings.

Triangulation means that researchers take diverse perspectives on a chosen issue. These

perspectives can be validated using several methods or several theoretical approaches.

Furthermore, this approach refers to the practice of combining different kinds of data on

the background of the theoretical approach. Equally, the combination of different

methods should allow for a surplus of knowledge. That is, triangulation should generate

results at several levels which means, this knowledge obtained should extent far beyond

the knowledge achieved by the application of one approach alone. However, as Flick

points out, triangulation requires more resources and effort thus, the benefit if using this

technique must be evident (pp. 444-452). The following sources have been deployed for

this investigation:

Secondary sources such as books, academic papers and magazine articles and

official documents and websites. In this regard, a visit was made to the

International Federation of Football Association (FIFA) library in Zurich,

Switzerland, which holds one of the most extensive collections on football

literature in the world. Additionally, special publications by the United Nations

Office on Sport for Development and Peace were accessed during the field trip to

Geneva, Switzerland in April 2009.

Primary sources such as open ended interviews, participant observation and

photographs as a way to collect and analyze data.

1.2.2 Interviews

One of the principal methods used was open-ended interview with distinguished

people involved in the football constellation. Yin (1984) explains that open-ended

interviews expand the depth of data gathering as well as it increases the number of

sources of information. Interviews were conducted with the director for international

relations at FIFA (see annex 1) and a representative from the United Nations Office on

Sport for Development and Peace (UNOSDP) (see annex 2) located in Zurich and

Geneva respectively in April of 2009. In Colombia, interviews were carried out with

Coronel Carlos Alberto Melendez in order to address the efforts made by the Colombian

National Police to face football-related violence (see annex 3) and with the director and

staff of Colombianitos, an organization that promotes social inclusion in the country

through sport as a component (see annex 4). Additionally, football aficionados and fan

clubs members were interviewed between February and March of the same year.

1.2.3 Photographs

Photographs are used in this research as a way to present recording of facts and to

represent in a holistic manner, the lifestyles and circumstances of people and situations

involved in the football constellation. Collier and Collier (1986) indicate that photographs

are accurate proof of material reality that can be fitted into diagrams as well as extracted

into statistical designs proving in this way, their validity as a research tool (p. 10).

1.2.4 Participant Observation

Participant observation is a research method appropriate for studies in which

human meaning and interaction are imperative. As explained by Jorgensen (1989),

through participant observation it is possible to depict what is gong on, where and when

things take place, why and how they occur and what and who is involved in a particular

situation. Participant observation constitutes a form of stressing interpretation and

understanding of human existence (p. 12). The methodology of participant observation,

for the purpose of this investigation took the form of a case study for which a project was

developed.

1.2.5 Case Study

Case studies accentuate the holistic inspection of a phenomenon as they seek to

avoid the separation of particular components from the larger context to which they are

related. As pointed out by Jorgensen (1989), case studies conducted through participant

observation attempt to describe a phenomenon that requires intense and exhaustive

investigation (p. 19). In this connection, a project was designed to serve as a case study

aiming at assessing the viability of football as a tool for social transformation and change.

The research project Goals for Peace was developed in Ciudad Bolivar, Colombia on

February 28

and March 7

, 2009 and Bais City, Philippines on August 22

and 23

the same year. The results of the project, mainly of qualitative nature, are thus presented

at the later part of this book. Two main research methods were deployed within case

study: open-ended interviews, and participatory observation. In addition, photographs are

used as a valuable research tool in interpreting and recording the people and situations

involved during the course of the project. With regards to interviews, Yin (1984) explains

that open-ended interviews expand the depth of data gathering as well as it increases the

number of sources of information. The interviews were conducted with participants of

Goals for Peace, both children and adults, during and after the course of activities (see

annex 5). Participant observation provides several advantages as this method combines,

according to Denzin (1989b), document analysis, interviewing of respondents and

informants, direct participation and observation and introspection (pp. 157-158).

Interviews yielded significant qualitative results and therefore, not all results were

amended to statistical analysis. This allowed for analytical conclusion to be drawn

regarding the assumption that football is indeed a tool for social transformation.

However, a few quantitative figures that provided information about the project

participants were generated in the form of tables and charts.

Prehistory and History of Football

2. Origins of Football

2.1

The Initial Kick: Prehistory and History of Football

"Whoever invented football should be worshipped as a God".

Hugo Sánchez

Mexican football player and coach

"The roots of our football tribe lie deep in our primeval past".

Desmond Morris

British writer and artist

The origins of football can be traced back to almost every major civilization

throughout the world. Although the earliest forms of the sport and the rules that applied

may be radically different from the modern practice of our days, the act of kicking a ball -

or whatever object that may resemble one- for recreational or ritualistic purposes is, as

archaeological evidence suggests, virtually as old as civilization itself. Among complex

societies the earliest records of the game come from the Chinese civilization. David

Golblatt (2006) in his book "The Ball is Round", provides a comprehensive history of the

game from its beginnings, which he opines most likely to originate in ancient China, to

the advent of modern football in England. Caju, which translates kick ball, a game very

similar to modern football was widely practiced during the Han dynasty (206 BCE 221

CE). Caju was played using a leather ball filled with feathers or fur and is believed to

have emerged as early as the third millennium BCE. There was a marked pitch and two

teams attempted to score through the goals located at opposite ends of the field. Kicking

was the main means to move the ball around the pitch and, as some accounts suggest, the

goal would take the form of two bamboo posts holding a silk net with a small hole in the

middle. To score a goal the ball had to pass through the hole. Although the game was

widely played by the imperial family, it was particularly popular among army personnel

as it became not only a recreational activity, but most importantly a military training

element (p. 5). The act of scoring alone suggests the complexity of the game and the

mastery the players should have reached to achieve, given the relatively reduce size of the

hole, the difficult task of scoring.

Technical and tactical changes in the way the game was played were experienced

during the subsequent Tang (618-907 CE) and Song (960-1279 CE) dynasties. The

players adapted to the lighter and more easily controllable hollow ball which allowed for

a more stylized way of playing. The ball would be passed among the members of a team

until it reached a designated player who was the only one allowed shooting at the target.

The possession of the ball, which meant another chance at shooting, was achieved only if

the shooting team was able to keep the ball in the air regardless of whether they had

scored or not in their previous attempt. If the ball touched the ground, however, the

shooting turn would be passed on to the other team (Goldblatt 2006, p. 6).

In Japan, a game called Kemari, which resembled the Chinese Caju, was played in

medieval times. Although Japanese historians claimed the indigenous roots of the game

to go as far back as the sixth century BCE, earliest written records of Kemari date from

the twelfth century (Goldblatt 2006, p. 7). The game of Kemari was played in a dirt pitch

marked by four trees placed on every corner of the field. Eight players would stand in

pairs next to the trees. The ball was hollow, made of deerskin and the game's objective

was trying to keep the ball in the air for as long as possible and using the trees themselves

to bounce the ball. Kemari became a more stylized game than its Chinese predecessor. In

fact, the officials in charge of the game would allocate additional points for impressive

and innovative kicks. Etiquette and decorum were equally as important in Kemari as the

skills and the aptitude shown by the players on the pitch. Kemari became an important

hobby of the ruling elite in medieval Japan. Soon after its appearance, the rules of the

game were written down and the first true masters of the game emerged. Houses of

Kemari, schools that would teach particular techniques and stiles of playing, developed

throughout the empire. The game remained popular and widely played for approximately

six centuries. By the time the wave of industrialization hit Japan, Kemari started a rapid

decrease both in the popularity of its practice, as well as in importance within the social

life of the Japanese ruling elite. In spite of the imperial efforts to keep the game alive

Kemari had virtually disappeared by the end of the Second World War (Goldblatt 2006,

p. 8).

Indigenous peoples around the world also played their own version of the game.

When the colonizers of the new world arrived in present day North America they found

the Iroquois and Seneca Indians playing with a ball made of deerskin. Teams of six to

team members were chosen to test their skill on the field. The game was played by

periods and it consisted of throwing and kicking the ball between stools which served as

goal posts. There were apparently few set rules to follow which must have allowed for a

great deal of improvisation (Dewey 1930, pp. 736-739). Football, among the peoples of

the Connecticut and Rhode Island tribes was called Pasuckuakohowanog. According to

Foulds and Harris (1979) this may be translated as "they gather to play football" (p. 8).

Painting the players' faces before the game was common which could have meant an

association of the game to a war-like activity (Dewey 1930, pp.736-739).

In Mesoamerican cultures the game was taken into a superior ritualistic stage: Not

only was the ball game the center of the political and social life, but most importantly, it

was an earthly representation of the cosmological vision of the highly advanced

civilizations that once occupied present day Mexico

and Central America. By playing

the ball game harmony and cosmic order were maintained, life was regenerated and the

connection with the underworld established. Every time the ballgame was played life

itself was sustained and perpetuated, the gods were appeased and the certainty of the

future life guaranteed.

Spencer and Wren (2005) point out that although the game was played for many

reasons including competition and entertainment it also served as a way to reenact war as

practices of human sacrifice

were also associated with the ball game. But above all the

game was charged with cosmological meaning: The motion of the Sun, Moon and Venus

which rise in the sky and sink in the underworld were represented by the trajectory of the

ball. The ring through which the ball had to pass exemplified the ways in which the

underworld could be accessed. The cosmological relevance of the ball game was recorded

in the Popol Vuh, the sacred book of the Mayas. Participants of the ball game were able

to recreate the heroic crusade of the hero Twins who had defeated the lords of Xibalba on

the underworld ball court. The game itself was an earthly representation of life, death and

rebirth. The ball court, the place where theatrical representation of the battle for life took

The opening ceremony of the 1986 Football World Cup celebrated in the Estadio Azteca of

Mexico D.F. presented a multicolor reenactment of the ancient ball game. Today, football is by

far in Mexico, as in most of Latin America, the most popular sport.

There are contrasting opinions among researchers of the human sacrifice aspect of the ball game

in Mesoamerica. Some authors argue that it was the losers and captives or war who were

sacrificed as a ritualistic offering to the gods so that life itself could continue. Other explanations

of this practice present the winners of the game as the victims of sacrifice. In this regard, paying

the ultimate price was the highest honor a ball player could be bestowed upon.

place, was seen as an entry point to the underworld. The most famous and spectacular of

these fields known in Mesoamerica is found in the archaeological complex of Chichen

Itza. The court is located in present day Southern Mexico and measures 156 meters long

and 36 meters wide, almost twice the size of a modern football field (pp. 195-196).

The Mesoamerican ball game was unique in its nature as it was a game of life and

death. Moreover, it possessed other characteristics that made this early football ancestor,

the only one in its kind in this part of the world. The ball, the most important element of

the game, bounced like no other thanks to the mastery of the Mayan artisans but most

importantly, due to the materials used in the elaboration of the ball. Galeano (2007)

highlights the fascination expressed by the Emperor Charles and his court when

conqueror Hernán Cortez bounced a Mexican ball high in the air (p. 20). The Spanish

were both delighted and struck by the way the Mesoamerican ball moved and bounced.

The answer for such an enigmatic behavior was not the reasoning the Spanish invaders

applied to explain the unexplainable that is, sorcery or witchcraft or perhaps, the devil

living inside the ball, but rather rubber, a material only to be found, or at least used, in

this part of the world. According to Goldblatt (2006), archaeological records suggest that

the manufacturing of the ball dates back as early as 1500 BCE thanks to the Olmecs. The

ball varied in size between softball and a basketball and like the Mayans, the ball game

was played in squares or in large areas of temple complexes. Later, the game spread east

to the present days islands of Puerto Rico and Hispaniola and north where the Indian

cultures of Arizona took up the Mesoamerican game (pp. 11-12).

The Romans

also played an early version of football and it is believed that with

the expansion of their empire, the game was introduced to the peoples they conquered.

They were particularly attracted to the indoor version of the game which was played in a

court called Sphaerista for Expulsum Ludere. This competitive game was characterized

by catching, throwing and dodging the ball. Variations of the game were also played

outdoors in fields or Palaestras. (Goldblatt 2006, p.13).

In the British Isles, Sugden and Bairner (1993) point out that folk football

emerged approximately a thousand years ago being the game particularly popular among

The comedies of prolific Greek writer Antiphanes contain records of the ball game being played

by the early Romans. They argue that Emperor Julio Caesar was fast with both his feet and that

Nero was not able to score at all. See Galliano 2007, P.22.

the Celtic tribes in Ireland. Evidence suggests that Celtic tribes may have played a large

scale and very violent form of the sport (p. 71). The game was played between two teams

formed by innumerable participants, usually members of nearby villages, and consisted of

trying to get the ball into a designated area across open fields under a few set rules.

(Goldblatt 2006, p.16).

Folk football was also played on continental Europe. Bromberger (1995b) points

out that the violent ball game of Soule

was being played by the French since medieval

times. (p. 276). In Florence, the ball game was called Calcio

as it is known today in

Italy. Both Machiavelli and Leonardo da Vinci were enthusiastic followers of the sport.

Matches were held in the largest plazas as well as on frozen rivers. Players were allowed

to use both hands and feet to manipulate the ball. Calcio was a popular sport not only

among ordinary people but it proved to be an attractive pastime among members of the

influential Catholic Church: Popes Clement VII, Leo IX and Urban VIII succumbing to

the earthly charm of the game played Calcio on the holy Vatican gardens (Galeano 2007,

p. 23).

2.2 Bans on the Game

The practice of football, although a game widely accepted and practiced

worldwide, has also encountered opposition and resistance especially in its early days.

With the exception of the great Mesoamerican cultures, the game generated disbelief and

unrest among the ruling elites, resulting in occasions of violent and aggressive practice.

Due to both the lack of set rules and organization, the game defied the established order

and generated animosity among players, spectators and authorities alike.

In his anthropological writings of 1929, W.B. Johnson associates the origins of football with an

early pagan rite. In his view, it was common for primitive cultures to relate the Sun with a

spherical object to represent the "giver of life, the provider for all living beings". His view is

supported by the fact that Soule, the early form of football played in Brittany and Normandy, is

the Latin world for Sun. In an earlier hypothesis proposed by E.K.Chambers, football represents

not the Sun but rather the head of a beast which the participants of the game have to capture and

bury to guarantee successful crops. This practice still survives in Lincolnshire, UK. See Erick

Dunning, 1994, P.1.

The ancient game of Calcio is played yearly in Florence during the June Festival where three

exhibition matches are held.

In 1314 a decree by king Edward II condemned the game as unruly and

uncontrollable: " Forasmuch as there is there is great noise in the city caused by hustling

over large balls, from which many evils may arise which God forbids" (Galeano 2007, p.

22).

In 1349 Edward III classified the game as senseless and stupid and laws to

prohibit it were signed by Kings Henry IV and Henry VI in the fist half of the15

century

(Galeano 2007, p. 22). Dunning (1994) asserts that between 1330 and 1660 the British

authorities issued at least 30 orders prohibiting football. Apart from the argument that the

practice of football posed a threat to public order it was argued that the game was causing

undesirable effects on military preparedness. It was suggested by the authorities that the

people should focus their energies into what they thought would be a more noble and

useful activity such as military training (p. 3). Marples (1954) presents a 1365 prohibition

act enacted by Edward III which read as follows:

To the Sheriff of London. Order to cause proclamation to be made that

every able bodied man of the said city on feats days when he has leisure

has in his sports use bows and arrows or pellets and bolts... forbidding

them under pain of imprisonment to meddle in the hurling of stones,

loggats and quoits, handball, football...or other games of no value; as the

people of the realm... used heretofore to practice the said art in their sport

when by God's help came forth honor to the kingdom and advantage to the

king in his action of war; and now the said art is almost wholly disused

and the people engaged in the games aforesaid and in other dishonest,

unthrifty or idle games, whereby the realm is likely to be without archers

(Cited in Ekblom 1994, p. 6).

Although the game was still practiced by minority groups, the banned imposed on

football was successful in suppressing its practice in urban areas. By the eighteen-century

football had been replaced by sporting activities such tennis and cricket. Moreover,

boxing and horse racing had by then became the sport of the masses as well as the

favorite gamblers pastime (Goldblatt 2006, p. 18).

The world was entering into a new era. The global empires were experiencing a

rapid transformation affecting every aspect of the lives of millions of people across the

globe. The gap between the civilized people and the barbarians became more evident and

the European powers of the time consolidated themselves as the model for the rest to

follow. In this light, football became the sport of the uncivilized, the barbarians, the

ignorant that, due to the lack of clear rules and the absence of a formal body that

supervised the development of the games, appealed to violence as the only arbiter of the

vicious encounters. The football pitch had become, in the eyes of the civilized, a

battlefield where countless numbers of warriors would defend the honor of their

territories. Some of them would not survive the battle to divulge their achievements or to

narrate the way in which they made their way to the goal marching across the field while

kicking and knocking down enemies they would encounter. For some others, marks and

scars left on the body would be the only testimony of the sanguinary battles. Little by

little, the game became less practiced and more condemned. But the fervor with which

the early players participated in the games would bring back to life the almost extinct

practice. It was in England, the place that more ferociously condemned the early sport,

where modern football as we know it today was to be born.

2.3 Modern Football: Britain's Contribution to the World

"Rugby is a beastly game played by gentlemen; football is a gentlemen's

game played by beasts; football (American) is a beastly game played by beasts".

Henry Blaha

Rugby Player

The transition of football's early rough and violent form into the almost

homogeneous, global sport of our days started in England in the 19

century, a period

characterized by numerous cultural and political upheavals particularly in Europe and the

U.S. England, the leading industrial and economic global power at that time, was a

society in the making. During this period, England was experiencing the multiple

economic and political outcomes derived from the advent of the industrial revolution

during the late 18

century. High levels of economic growth as well as an urbanization

process never experienced before characterized this era which was also marked by the

emergence of a massive working class. New principles aimed at guaranteeing the superior

education of Britain's youth elite were developed to include sports as a crucial

component of the country's educational system. And it was precisely in the teaching

institutions where some of football's greatest transformation took place.

At the time when cultural marginalization of football had reached its peak in

England, new forms of the game, more suitable to the emerging social conditions of the

newly industrialized nation, began to evolve in public schools. Central to this

transformation are the processes of the initial writing of the rules of football, the

delimitation of the size of the pitch, the reduction of the number of participants and the

imposition of restrictions regarding both the duration of the matches and the kind of

physical force to be used in the game. From this period of modernization of the game two

distinct ways of playing emerged: On the one hand the Rugby style of playing which

allowed carrying of the ball. And on the other, the Association Football way which did

not permit hand manipulation of the ball (Dunning 1994, p. 10).

Giulianotti (1999) identifies the splitting currents of the game as the students

forming the clubs known as the Old Rugbeians and Etonias which favored a hackling and

handling game, and the Harrovians which prohibited these actions. The first official

football club, Sheffield FC, a team formed by students as well as by the emerging

industrial and merchant class adopted the rules of the Harrovians in 1854 (p. 18). Murray

(1996), however, points out that the first attempt to establish a standardized set of rules

came from a Cambridge initiative in 1848. Representatives of various schools who held a

formal meeting in Trinity College were asked to write down their own school's rules. The

"Cambridge Rules" provided the basis for football rules later to be enacted by the

Football Association (pp. 4-5).

In November 1863 in a meeting held at the Freemason's Tavern in central London

representatives from eleven teams, among which were the Kennington School, Cristal

Palace and Blackheath School, intended to establish, once and for all, a set of definitive

rules to govern the game of football. Although the game has been subject to

modifications since the year 1863, this historic meeting marked the birth of modern

football as we know it today. The Football Association (FA) created during the meeting,

came to be the entity in charge of the regulation and development of the game. This

development away from Rugby proved to be an irrevocable one: by 1871 the clubs

advocating handling and hackling created the Rugby Football Association. The final split

between the once-same sports had taken place (Goldblatt 2006, pp. 31-32). The new rules

adopted by the FA in 1863, according to Green (1953), marked a decisive development in

the homogenization of the game. Among the most significant laws of the FA were these:

1. The delimitation of the size of the pitch. The maximum length of the field should be

200 yards long (168 m) by 100 yards wide (84). The pitch shall be properly marked by

flags. The goals shall be defined by two upright posts eight yards apart.

2. The winner of the toss will have the choice of goals. The game will begin by placing

the ball in the center of the field. Members of the opposite team shall not approach within

ten yards until the ball is finally kicked off.

3. After a goal is won, the losing team shall kick off and goals shall be changed.

4. A goal shall be won when the ball passes between the goal posts.

5. No player shall carry the ball.

6. Neither tripping nor hacking shall be allowed.

7. No player shall take the ball with his hand from the ground while it is still in play.

8. No player should be allowed to wear projecting nails or iron plates on the soil of his

boots.

9. The concept of off side was introduced

(pp. 36-38)

Although rules 5 and 6 clearly marked a considerable development away from the

"Rugby school", the norms continued to be modified and new ones are introduced to

provide the game with the necessary framework to guarantee that it stays true to its roots,

while giving football an identity of its own.

The number of players being fixed at eleven on each side was already a familiar

development by the 1870s. However, there were only two officials called empires who

were confined to the sidelines of the field. A third official was introduced in the late

1870s in case of a disagreement between the two empires. In 1881 the third official was

to be known as the referee but only until 1881 was he given total control of the game. The

compulsory marking of the football field was introduced in 1882 and well as the halfway

line to locate both the area in which each goalkeeper could control the ball as well as the

The early offside law penalized any attacking player ahead of the ball. This law made it very

difficult for both advancing and the passing of the ball. Later the rule was modified so that an

attacker was in offside only when positioned in front of the third-last defender. See FIFA website:

www.fifa.com/classicfootball/history/law/summary.html.

kick off point; it was only until 1912 the goalkeeper was restricted to handle the ball

within his own area. By 1887 the penalty line was presented and the penalty kick was

awarded for fouls committed within this area. The central circle was introduced at the

same time to demarcate the necessary distance the opposition team should keep before

the initial kick off and after a goal was scored. The size of the ball was stipulated in 1872

to be limited between 27 and 29 inches (68.5 73.6). Players' uniforms also experienced

a transformation in the 1870s. Up until this decade players had based their dressing code

on cricket kits which was replaced by shirts of different colors, designs and patters. Shirts

were not numbered and goalkeepers did not wear yet a distinct uniform from the other

members of his team. Shirt numbers were first used in 1928 and only became compulsory

until 1938. Cup designs became popular as they were by then the only way by which

players could be distinguished on the pitch by spectators and colleagues. Football boots

were made of tough leather often featuring metal toecaps. (Goldblatt 2006, pp. 33-35).

Having succeeded in developing a homogeneous set of rules for the game, the

Football Association consolidated itself as football's governing body to which every club

had to be affiliated. This great "leap forward" led not only to the spread of football all

over Britain but the enormous popularity enjoyed by the sport proved to be a vital factor

in establishing a new sporting culture that, all throughout identified itself less with the

students and the ruling elites and more with the emergent working class.

The first FA Cup, known as "The Challenge Cup", a natural way to introduce the

game in Britain, was first held in 1871. Golblatt (2006) points out that although fifty

teams were qualified as members of the FA to play in the cup, only fifteen due to diverse

reasons, entered into the competition. Some teams declined the invitation due to the high

costs involved in traveling across the nation to attend the challenge while some others did

not go beyond the registration process. The Wanderers, a team composed mostly by

upper-class players, was crowned in front of two thousand spectators as the brand-new

FA Cup champion. A year later, the Wanderers retained the title when they beat Oxford

Details

Pages
Type of Edition: Erstausgabe
Year: 2014
ISBN (eBook): 9783954897353
ISBN (Softcover): 9783954892358
File size: 7.1 MB
Language: English
Publication date: 2014 (March)
Keywords: Football and social development Globalization Sport for development and peace Colombia Football history

Author

Alexander Cárdenas (Author)

The Global Journey of Football: From the origins of the beautiful game to its recent use as a social catalyst

Summary

Excerpt

Table Of Contents

Details

Author

Alexander Cárdenas (Author)