The world is about to be taken over by World Cup fever once again. With the qualifiers all but over, the anticipation for the return of "el jogo bonito" to the world's center stage is palpable. However, we must be aware that soccer has changed over the years. Perhaps I have a romanticized view of what futbol used to be due to countless Sunday afternoon's spent on my grandfathers couch listening to the history lessons that accompanied every contest we saw together, but it seems to be more of a business now.
My cousin Christian has been calling for a boycott of the 2010 World Cup. When I asked him why, he had this to say:
"I'm disgusted with FIFA, they're a bunch of liars who claim to help children and the poor. Damn politicians are taking advantage of an event like the World Cup to displace and even kill poor families and FIFA would rather stay quiet and rake money into their pockets. $70 million US has been invested and the people there are hungry without a roof over their heads, when all you need is a ball to play such a beautiful game. What a world."
Apparently, thousands of South Africans are being displaced from their homes as finishing touches are put on the Durban stadium in preparation for the World Cup. On Saturday, October 26, a group of 40 armed men ran amok in an informal settlement in Durban's Kennedy Row, destroying at least 30 shacks and killing at least 2 people. Click here for Democracy Now's story on the matter.
Most of us will watch the World Cup and have no idea what price was paid by those who could least pay it for our entertainment. While I personally feel that a boycott would be ineffective, we need to be aware of what's going on. This story isn't being covered by the media here. Show FIFA that we know that they know. Perhaps we could influence them to stop these illegal and immoral displacements of South Africa's poor.
Watch the following video starting at minute 48:35 in order to see the World Cup story:
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