Ματωμένα Γκολ

by Luciano Wernicke, Γιώτης Παναγιωτάς (translator)

Το ποδόσφαιρο στο μέτωπο, ως όπλο ιδεολογικής προπαγάνδας αυταρχικών -και μη- καθεστώτων!

Μέσα στον 20ό αιώνα, το ποδόσφαιρο εκτίναξε τη δημοφιλία του. Πολύ γρήγορα, κοινωνικοί και πολιτικοί ηγέτες αντιλήφθηκαν την ισχύ που μπορούν να αντλήσουν, από το ακαταμάχητο αυτό παιχνίδι. Αδίστακτοι δικτάτορες, επιφανείς πολιτικοί δημοκρατικών καθεστώτων, βαρόνοι ναρκωτικών, ζάμπλουτοι επιχειρηματίες, μετέτρεψαν τον "βασιλιά των σπορ" σε όπλο προπαγάνδας.

Μπενίτο Μουσολίνι, Αδόλφος Χίτλερ, Εβίτα και Χουάν Περόν, Φρανθίσκο Φράνκο, Αουγκούστο Πινοσέτ, Μπιλ Κλίντον, Στάλιν, Ρίτσαρντ Νίξον, Πάμπλο Εσκομπάρ, είναι μόνο κάποιοι από τους πρωταγωνιστές του βιβλίου. Άνθρωποι οι οποίοι, κάτω από διαφορετικές συνθήκες και αντιλήψεις ο καθένας, εκμεταλλεύτηκαν τον μαγνητισμό που ασκεί το ποδόσφαιρο στα πλήθη, για να αυξήσουν τη δημοτικότητά τους, να χειραγωγήσουν τα πλήθη, να τονώσουν το πατριωτικό αίσθημα, να "καμουφλάρουν" μεγάλα ή μικρά σκάνδαλα κι ατασθαλίες.

Είναι ένα βιβλίο που "τρέχει" σε ποδοσφαιρικούς ρυθμούς, με πολλές φάσεις, γκολ κι αποκαλύψεις, για την πολιτική ποδηγέτηση του δημοφιλέστερου αθλήματος στον πλανήτη.

Genres: Nonfiction, Sports, Politics, History, Football

Published October 21, 2023

Reviews

[Lance · Rating 4 out of 5]

I usually chuckle when I hear people say, whether verbally or on social media, that “sports and politics don’t mix.” That is flat-out wrong and this book by Luciano Wernicke proves that for just one sport – soccer.

Starting with Benito Mussolini. Wernicke discusses how many of the world’s most vicious tyrants used soccer to either promote their form of ruling, to make threats to players and coaches if they did not honor the country or even order some killed simply due to the results of a soccer match.

Most of the matches that are used for reference are from the World Cup tournament or the Olympics, but there are some other means of using the sport for political power as well. The Spanish dictator Francisco Franco used soccer to “depoliticize” the people of the country and therefore distract them from the terrible conditions. Mussolini did not want Italy to enter the first World Cup tourney in 1930 because he did not want to risk having the team do poorly. But then he lobbied for and hosted the next one in 1934. That was to show off how well his country was doing while hiding the brutal reality, much like Adolf Hitler did for the 1936 Olympics (which are also covered in the book).

Other world leaders portrayed that used soccer as part of their iron-clad ruling included Josef Stalin, Juan Peron (through his wife Eva) and Pablo Escobar, the notorious Columbian drug lord. The writing in all chapters on these people can be dense and hard to follow at times, especially the chapter on Escobar. Nonetheless, it is a very good look at not only soccer, but also the time period in the 20th century when these dictators ruled both their countries and the game of football.

I wish to thank Sutherland House books for providing a copy of the book via NetGalley in exchange for an honest review. The views expressed are strictly mine.

[Frank · Rating 4 out of 5]

Sure, sportswashing is a relatively new term, but this book sets out how the idea of using soccer for your authoritarian regime's benefit is as old as the game itself. The section about Mussolini is absolutely wild, but some of the other sections are more of a stretch.

[Tony · Rating 3 out of 5]

This short book tells the some of the stories about how football has been exploited by politicians and criminals in an attempt to unite their people's or burnish their reputations. Ultimately it also demonstrates why these attempts are doomed to failure.

The first chapters deal with Mussolini, Hitler, Franco and Stalin. These I think are the strongest chapters. The interesting thing is that only Franco really liked football as a sport but all four of the dictators saw the opportunities that success at sport would provide them and their parties both internally and externally. We now call such a thing 'sportwashing' and the most recent World Cups - in Russia and Qatar - show us that it continues to go on.

The book later chapters have a series of different examples - Argentina; Nigeria; Colombia - which is more about its cartels than its governments; Chile; Iraq; El Salvador and Honduras etc. These are all interesting, but that part is less strong I think. Wernicke, in these sections, asks whether football can bring down governments or stop wars.

The book is well researched but I do think it could have been longer. It sometimes feels that Wernicke is dropping in example after example without the analysis he brings to the first part of the book. And even then I think there's a lot more to be written. However, the focus is on how 'history's worst tyrants' have used the game.

The stories are sometimes terrible and there's probably a separate book to be written about each country in this book and there probably have already been some. The interesting thing though is by the end of this book you realise the futility of these attempts to manipulate the people using football. The benefits of victories only last a certain time. Bread and circuses are a distraction but if you're not getting bread, not working, or suffering in other ways the joy won't last long.

There are some interesting stylistic oddities. He refers to the European Championships as the EuroCup and the European Cup - the precursor to the Champions League - as the European Champions Club Cup. And calls it soccer throughout. The latter I don't mind. I don't get the whole 'it's football not soccer' thing. The EuroCup/European Champions Club Cup grated a little for me. It might be that these are accepted uses outside the UK and I don't want to make a mountain out of a molehill. There's an occasional awkward phrase but none of these things take anything away from the book.

It's a fine introduction to the topic. A starting point for further reading if that's you're cup of tea. Either on the football aspects or the history. For example I have always found the overthrow of Allende and Pinochet's Chile a darkly fascinating story and there's much more to be read on that subject for me. The sections on Argentina make me realise it is time I picked up Jonathan Wilson's history of Argentinian football. It is a seed book, which is never a bad thing.

[Shane]

"Dark Goals" provides some interesting anecdotes about world leaders and their interaction with soccer; the sections of Benito Mussolini ("Win or die!") and Pablo Escobar were my favorite. There are also some interesting smaller details, like the politician who got bored during a game so he declared that penalty kicks should start after only 60 minutes of play.
The central premise does waver some, though, and the narrative structure could have been tied together more. As can happen with books like this, some sections (like about Spain) were much less memorable.
Ultimately, however, I have decided not to give this book a rating because I listened to the Audible audiobook, and I don't know if it's all of the versions or I got a bad file or something but there were issues: sections would skip or repeat or cut out, and this was very distracting. For this reason, it feels like I didn't get to experience a fully complete version of the book.

[Luke Fowler · Rating 1 out of 5]

Wernicke decides to tell an incomplete story of state action in soccer, including Gulf State ownership of major clubs and modern bribery for major tournaments, to favor a narrative told five times over - "strongman dictator doesn't really like soccer but sees it as a way to bolster nationalism and unity among the common people".

This is also written like a kid trying to hit a word count in an essay - listing dozens of examples when two or three would suffice, using everyone's middle name as much as possible, and detailing out acronyms multiple times. He also confusingly starts breaking the fourth wall 3/4 of the way through the book. Rough editorial choices.

[Μίλτος Τρ. · Rating 4 out of 5]

Ημέρες Euro, βιβλίο 2. Από τον Μουσολίνι μέχρι τον Εσκομπάρ, όλοι οι απίθανοι τρόποι που το ποδόσφαιρο έγινε υποχείριο δικτατόρων και εγκληματιών. Το βιβλίο είναι υπέροχο και ιδιαίτερα το κεφάλαιο για τον Εσκομπάρ και τη γενικότερη σχέση των ναρκοβαρόνων με το ποδόσφαιρο είναι καθηλωτικό.

[Nicholas-Raymond · Rating 3 out of 5]

Interesting topic, but very basic analyses and conversations had.

Writing was also mediocre at best and felt I was reading a term paper.

However it gets the topic across well — politics and sports of course mix, but if you didn’t think that before hand you probably didn’t buy this book.

[Josh · Rating 3 out of 5]

Interesting, but not amazing. Mostly your run-of-the-mill fascism and mafia stuff.

Recommended for fans of Pablo Escobar.

[Ana Mier · Rating 3 out of 5]

Super interesting topic! The sports journalism writing style just isn’t my cup of tea

[3 Things About This Book · Rating 3 out of 5]

📕Welcome to the first morning of my holy month: World Cup opening day! I thought what’s better than starting day with review of a book that talks about how world “leaders” used football for their darkest goals. Apparently all dictators loved to use football’s connecting power to manipulate masses
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📗FFS please leave the sports alone. Whether it’s football or American football or basketball or whatever they love to follow, it’s their way to recharge, to forget how much life sucks for a second, to feel part of something bigger without being discriminated for one thing or the other
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📘I knew about Hitler and Mussolini’s attempts, but I didn’t know that every country tried this. You can see how low these people go, how hard they try to get what they want. I’m beyond annoyed that football was an accessory to their cruelty.

[Sam Steiner · Rating 4 out of 5]

An interesting book on how soccer has been involved in politics and how politics have effected soccer, would recommend for any fan of soccer