Philosofooty

Interview by Eric Beard, writing from Barcelona. Illustration by Jon Horner.

I often assume the role of a romantic or even an idealist when writing about football. When Grant Wahl announced his intention to oppose Sepp Blatter, it was genuinely invigorating. What would FIFA be like under, more or less, a man of the people? For football fans everywhere it is an intoxicating image. Millions like myself already get enough enjoyment out of taking reign of teams in FIFA 11 or Football Manager, but actually being El Presidente at the governing body of the beautiful game? For many passionate supporters that’s an equivalent to being the god of football. EA Sports, make it happen.

Despite my initial indulgence in the notion that someone with values like myself rather than like those of Gordon Gecko could be in power, reality came and brought me down to my feet. Idealism aside, with the current set up of FIFA elections, displacing Sepp Blatter or even Qatar’s Mohamed Bin Hammam will be so difficult even Arsene Wenger has the word ‘impossible’ on the tip of his tongue. With that in mind, a few logistical and even moral issues arose. Although I became quite a skeptic of Grant’s motivations behind his movement, thankfully he took time out of his busy schedule to answer everything I had on my mind, from the basic to the blunt…

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By Gordon Fleetwood, writing from New York City

  A much heated topic is at the forefront once again in light of Barcelona’s current era of dominance. Are Barcelona the best club side in history? Those words trigger an endless debate. Fans choose sides and support their claims vehemently. What can be stated indubitably is that these choices are subjective. Like the discussion surrounding the best player of all time, age, nationality, and preference often colors one’s perception. Then there are the mental processes to take into consideration. The fact that past experiences tend to be viewed generally - as a trophy haul for example - rather than scrutinized, is a factor that is hard to account for. Keeping all this in mind, an impartial judge would give a better representation of where a team stands in the annals of history. Thus, we turn to the one of the most impartial judges, math.

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By Eric Beard, writing from Boston

Though Brazil will develop into the decade’s epicenter of South American sport thanks to the 2014 World Cup and the 2016 Rio de Janeiro summer olympics, this summer the spotlight will be on Argentina at Copa América 2011, the continent’s prestigious quadrennial international tournament. Los Albicelestes did not live up to their expectations in South Africa 2010, however, this time around Argentina are on home turf and do not want to disappoint. Lionel Messi said, “2010 was a good year for me personally, but the World Cup didn’t go the way I wanted… Now I have the aim for Argentina to win the Copa America next year, as we’ll contest it at home.”

But beyond the battles on the pitch there is another fight going on in Argentina. CONMEBOL and the Argentine planners of Copa América have to accommodate for the tournament amidst the nation’s double-digit rate of inflation. 10 percent inflation would be disastrous in the economy of your average developed nation, yet the Argentine economy currently has an estimated inflation rate of 26 percent and it is predicted to rise to 30 percent over this next year.

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By Eric Beard, writing from Boston

The month-long celebration of the beautiful game clearly has a massive impact on football as a whole, but could the game still thrive without the world’s biggest competition in sport every four years? Though not ideal, the hypocritical nature of FIFA’s governing body that is in charge of such events forces this question. FIFA President Sepp Blatter said on Wednesday, “I really sense in some reactions a bit of the arrogance of the western world of Christian background. Some simply can’t bear it if others get a chance for a change.”

Well, to start, Blatter is in no position to undermine the Western world nor to make sweeping stereotypes associating a religion like Christianity with an arrogant mindset because he is, himself, a Christian born and raised in Switzerland. I would compare Sepp Blatter to U2’s Bono, who said last year in Tokyo, “my prayer is that we become better in looking after our planet.” Despite holding a righteous environmental stance, Bono’s lifestyle entirely contradicts his ideas as the U2 360º tour’s carbon footprint emitted about 65,000 tons of CO2, which is equivalent to leaving a 100 watt lightbulb turned on for about 160,000 years. The true disillusionment going on here is that, like Bono, Blatter feels entitled to judge and deem others as arrogant when his own arrogance and even ignorance is overwhelming.

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