Rather enjoyed “Thought for the Day” on BBC Radio 4 this morning.
I thought I would add it to the blog.
Thought for the Day, 29 May 2009
Rhidian Brook
Barcelona, the winners of this year’s Champions’ League final, made a beautiful statement on the pitch this week, outclassing Manchester United in a display full of guile and panache. But the Catalan club made an equally eloquent statement that night by wearing shirts emblazoned with the letters and logo of UNICEF. Instead of seeking extra millions through corporate shirt sponsorship, the club are paying the United Nations Children’s Fund 12 million pounds for the privilege of displaying their name as part of a deal that will help combat hunger, poverty and AIDS – especially in Africa.
Some will say that this is the least a mega-wealthy football club should do, but in a world of tightening profit margins and cut backs this gesture stands out as pretty radical. Not only does it run counter to the prevalent trend of businesses looking after themselves at the expense of others, it may help remind football clubs of their own charitable and communal roots.
But there’s another, elliptical kind of justice about this partnership. Many of the estimated 200 million people watching that final will have been children living in the very countries – mostly African – where Unicef and other charities do their work. Countries whose kids follow the big, European football clubs with a commitment and knowledge that would shame many hardcore fans here.
The fervour’s hard to appreciate until you see it. Last month I sat in an indoor stadium in Rwanda watching Arsenal v Manchester United on a giant screen. 3000 people had paid about 50p to watch and they created an atmosphere that made you feel you were actually at the game. The kid next to me seemed to know more about Arsene Wenger’s tactics than Wenger himself.
The soccer saturation is jading to some; it can be seen as just another kind of colonial dominance or as a false religion offering false hopes in false gods. And yet the evidence on the ground suggests otherwise. Football was often introduced by missionaries as a way of instilling values of selflessness and co-operation and most of those values have stuck – and then been given a special African twist of ingenuity and flair. The shirts may not be official, the pitches shared with goats and the ball made from a blown up condom wrapped in a plastic bag but Africa’s kids will always find a way to play.
And if nation states, corporate giants and even religious institutions sometimes fail to meet their needs, who are we to question football clubs having a go at helping? The Bible tells us that part of true religion means feeding, clothing and looking after children; so if the kids love football then let football – with all its muscle, energy and global reach – love the kids. For when clubs like Barcelona show the way, the so-called beautiful game really can do a beautiful thing.
copyright 2009 BBC
