Has Football Become a Global Sport - Term Paper Example

Football as a global sport This article analyses the impact of football as a sport on the global socio-economic outlook and evolution of thesport from just a school game to such a level where it is influencing the economics and politics of many countries. This paper will demonstrate the transnational and cosmopolitan nature of the sport and explore three main domains of football world i.e. supporter subculture, journalism and politics, and economy. Introduction There have been a number of traditional, ancient, and prehistoric ball games around the world similar to present day football. Present day football has its origin in Britain where the first league appeared in 1883. The ball itself has developed from just a ball of pig’s bladder to hi-tech balls with impregnated microchips used to check if the ball has crosses the goal line. Increasing popularity of the game and number of international fixtures forced English football association and football associations from France, Belgium, Denmark, Netherlands, Spain, Sweden, and Switzerland to form an international association Fédération Internationale de Football Association (FIFA) on May 21, 1904.Today football is a national sport in many countries and is officially the most popular sport in the world. Literature review Sport in modern days has become a global phenomenon. There is a number of literature works is available which tries to relate a sport with various social, political, economical and environmental factors on a global scale. Today, in globalized, world where communication technology has grown leap and bound, all major sporting events are organized and watch on a global scale. The impact of sport is also global, as it affects political relations, national prestige, and policies on education and health. Contrasts between sports across different societies have diminished, yet a growing diversity of sports cultures are available to people of different nations (Maguire). Giulianotti examines systematically footballs key social aspects: the supporter cultures, the development of stadia, the business and television revolution, professional football players and the diversity of playing styles. Sport, in particular football, constitutes one of the most dynamic, sociologically illuminating domains of globalization (Giulianotti and Robertson). Analysis The speed of spread of football or soccer has been truly astonishing. It has successfully overcome various hurdles of ruthless commercialization, skyrocketing player fees, and salaries to emerge as a most popular game. It has survived faithlessness of players, red-tapes in governance bodies and unfair handling of business tycoons involved with game in all. The game is booming around the world in spite of various allegations of match fixings and other scandals. The reason of why football stokes such passion around the globe can be many; first it is the peoples game with something for everybody. Everybody with any kind of physic, fat, lean or short and mental acumen can be involved easily with the game. Second, it can be played anywhere and anytime. Third, it offers an unusual and unique excitement of close combat and exploratory forays. Football is closer to real life than other sports such as basketball or handball. Football as a Global Game Football once just a passion of Europes industrial working class has spread around the world and had became the closest thing to an expression of a true global community today. It is played around the world from UK to African countries. In Europe, South America, African and Asia pacific countries football is not only a game but often it represents the social, economic, political, and racial composition of the communities. Picking out any part of the map where football is not played is a difficult task. Though only thirty to thirty five teams may qualify for world cup it is watched all over the world. The fact of football as a global game can be ascertained from the fact that even national teams of many countries have players hired from other countries. For example European leagues are touring African countries for their talent pool. In African countries, in particular Ghana and Nigeria, exodus of talented teenagers to European countries such as France and Belgium to play football have been a major concern. An increased free circulation of players around the world in last decade has highlighted the true global nature of football. Rich and poorest of the poor countries are equally fascinated by the football. Today news of Nigerian, Ghanaian or Egyptian players living in the Ukraine or Spain, Iranian women struggling against strict Muslim codes to attend matches, and the parallel worlds of Brazilian soccer and politics is common, which truly represents the global nature of football. FIFA’s efforts to popularize the game have also helped in the development of football as a global game. According to recent data available with FIFA about 265 million male and female players and five million referees, coaches and other officials are actively involved with the game around the world, which means about four per cent of the worlds population, is involved in football. The above figure supports the arguments made by objective of this paper. According to FIFA President Joseph S. Blatter "If you count the relatives and close friends of active participants in football, who share in their passion for the game as fans and support them in other ways, the total number is even more impressive: well over a billion people worldwide are involved in football - at all levels of society and across all borders." The following table presenting a recent study FIFA tells it all. Fig: Statistical Summary Report by Gender/Category/Region. In 1,000; sum of rounded values does not always correspond with rounded total values proved statically. (Source: FIFA) (AFC: Asian Football Confederation, CAF: Confederation of African Football, CONCACAF: Confederation of North, Central American and Caribbean Association Football, CONMEBOL: Confederación Sudamericana de Fútbol, South American Football Confederation, OFC: Oceania Football Confederation, UEFA: Union of European Football Associations) Impact of Football on Global Economy Football offers bigger monitory benefits to all those associated with it. For example, TV and new-media rights for the 2006 Cup alone were sold for $1.5 billion, roughly the same amount fetched for the 2004 Summer Olympic Games in Athens. According to the Deloitte Annual Review of Football Finance, football leagues generate billions of revenue, for example, five top West European leagues in England, Germany, France, Italy and Spain have an estimated $8.2 billion in revenues in 2005-06. The football World Cup tournaments are most popular TV event that can be used to represent a globally known brand. These tournaments usher major economical reforms in the countries where they are hosted. According to a study by the German Chamber of Commerce, the World Cup will be creating new jobs in excess of about 60,000 and give a real boost to Germanys economic growth where the next world is scheduled. Conclusion This paper examined the globalization of football with the particular references of various FIFA surveys and literature works. It highlighted the emergence of football as a global game and supports the same by various statistical data available. The analysis firmly concludes the objective of this paper that football has become a global game in true senses. This paper assesses the impact of football as a sport on the global social, political, and economical structure. References: 1. Fédération Internationale de Football Association (FIFA), http://www.fifa.com 2. Bell, J (1987). Doing your Research Project. Open University Press, Buckingham 3. Bryman, A (2004). Social Research Methods. Oxford University Press, Oxford, England. 4. Giddens, A. (1991). Modernity and Self-Identity, Self and Society in the Late Modern Age. Cambridge: Polity 5. Giulianotti, R (1999). Football; A Sociology of the global game Polity Press, Cambridge 6. Giulianotti, R & Robertson, R (2004). The globalization of football: a study in the glocalization of the ‘serious life’ in The British Journal of Sociology (2004) Vol 55 Issue 4 7. Hare, G (1999). “Get your kit on for the lads”: Adidas versus Nike, the other World Cup. Found at www.sosol.com (accessed on 20/01/2006). 8. Hoogvelt, A (2001). Globalization and the Postcolonial World; The New Political Economy of Development. Palgrave Macmillan, Hampshire. 9. Lemert, C (2002). Social Things. An Introduction to the Sociological Life. Rowman and Littlefield Publishers, Maryland USA. 10. Magee, J & Sugden, J (2002). The World at their feet – Professional Football and International Labor Migration in Journal of Sport and Social Issues (2002) Vol 26 Issue 6 11. Maguire, J (1999). Global Sport: Identities, Societies and Civilizations. Polity Press, Cambridge. 12. May, T (2001). Social Research; issues, methods and process. Open University Press, Buckingham. 13. Robertson, R (1992). Globalization: Social theory and Global Culture. SAGE Publications, London 14. Simmons, R (1997). Implications of the Bosman ruling for football transfer markets. Found in Institute of Economic Affairs Journal, Blackwell Publishers, Oxford. 15. www.bbc.com/sport Read More