Due to the myriad of ethical, moral, and logistical questions, the 2022 World Cup left a very important question unanswered: was the World Cup a proper celebration of Middle Eastern soccer? Seeing Morocco advance to the semi-finals and Saudi Arabia giving Argentina its only blemish suggested that, yes, the World Cup was a revelation for Middle Eastern and North African soccer. However, does the glitz and glamour, the culture displayed, really tell the story of football tradition in the “birthplace of civilization”?
In a way, yes, but it took the controversies and moral dilemmas to really tell the story. The oppression of certain people for the benefit of others is as much a part of the region’s soccer tradition as the sport it serves as a source of pride. Ironically, the fact that Saudi Arabia is the most successful team in the region is itself an interesting twist considering that geopolitical tension just five years ago threatened this very tournament to take place.
Soccer in the Middle East
Professor Abdullah Al-Arian of Georgetown University in Qatar tries to tell this story in his collection of articles titled Soccer in the Middle East: State, Society and the Beautiful Game. The book contains twelve articles on various elements of soccer in the Middle East and North Africa, written by different academics in different countries. From one hundred years ago to the present day, the collection aims to give the reader an insight into how football has influenced society in this region of the world, as well as address current controversies.
The book jumps into a number of topics, but tends to be heavy on some topics. The Palestinians and their exclusion from much of the organized soccer world has two articles, one on Lebanon and one on the BDS movement. Qatar, for obvious reasons, is another focus, with an article exclusively on the use of migrant labor and another on beIN SPORTS, its export to the world of soccer and for a time an important player in the region for sports.
The book, however, also has some articles on specific topics that reveal a lot about the societies of this region. Yagmar Nurat’s article on women’s football in Turkey is not surprising (discrimination is rampant around the world), but the depth of research on the game and its impact on society is interesting. Similarly, Maher Mezahi’s article on the use of chants in the Algerian Hirak sounds eerily similar to stories in Franklin Foer’s or David Goldblatt’s books about how sport is an avenue for social change and protest.
academic in presentation
What makes this book different from Foer’s, however, is how utterly dry it is. Each article is written by an academic, so instead of a compelling narrative, we jump from one academic article to another. Some, like Craig LaMay’s article on beIN SPORTS, were a compelling look at how a network we tend to forget in the West has massive influence in Asia and Africa. By contrast, articles like Thomas Ross Griffin’s on the national identity of the Qatar national team are boring and littered with questionable reference points to make his case.
Al-Arian might say that a book on the Middle East and soccer cannot be written by journalists because few journalists come from and live in the region, and those who do are often fired by the editors. He says this because of the lack of research on the game by the locals now. If this is true, and I suspect there is definite truth there, it doesn’t take away from the fact that this book is slow going and full of academic talk.
If he can get past it, he will learn a lot and realize that there is a rich football history in the region, one that needs to be better explored and publicized. Getting through it is a challenge though, and only those football fans who are looking for something a little different from the usual and can handle pages of academic writing will benefit from this book.
Photo: Imago
