There are two things you need to know about the soccer stories that are making headlines: 1) FIFA is a corrupt organization. Simple. 2) Jibril Rajoub, the head of the Palestinian Football Association, is an Israel hater.
The two stories are this: At the behest of the Americans (yay!) multiple arrests have taken place in Zurich, Switzerland, where FIFA, the body governing international soccer, is headquartered. These arrests focus on corruption, specifically around Qatar being named the host country for the 2022 World Cup. Anyone with half a brain knew that the Qatar assignation stunk. The country has zero history of soccer hence has no facilities to host these games, the temperatures are 100+ in the summer, booze is illegal and slave labor would likely be used to construct the necessary stadiums.
But Qatar is rich. Palms greased, job done. Good on the US Department of Justice for not allowing FIFA corruption to continue unchecked. And have no doubt, the corruption isn’t just about this Qatar case. There’s a reason why FIFA head Sepp Blatter is called a dictator.
The other story is about the Palestinians trying to use sports as another method to marginalize Israel in the international arena. Claiming racism and other unsupported nonsense, Rajoub has been trying for years to get FIFA to oust Israel.
Americans may not know that international soccer is rife with racism. There’s an element of fan to soccer that simply does not exist here. Call them ultras, call them hooligans, for these people, soccer has replaced religion, and they are as zealous as the Crusaders. The most known example is the reaction of these hooligan fans to black players — bananas on the field, monkey chants, to the point where in some cases the players have simply left the field in the middle of play. So yes, Israel has this element too, in the form of anti-Arab Beitar fans. Does that make Israeli soccer particularly racist? No. Racism is an ongoing ill permeating the sport. Fans are aware of it, FIFA is aware of it. It has nothing to do with Israel.
And get this, this same Rajoub who is trying to paint Israel as racist, calls coexistence on the soccer field a “crime against humanity!” So who’s the racist, Mr. Rajoub?
UPDATE: As predicted, Rajoub is dropping his bid to suspend Israel from FIFA.
great post. I am a big footy supporter from india