Football and Fascism -- The Lazio Conundrum

We all have clothes in our closets that we just want to forget we ever owned. Preppy and punk, mohair or leather, they are the textile skeletons of our past lives.  If we go near them at all, its with gloves on.

But some, don't seem to think twice about echoes and ghosts. Take SS Lazio, a professional soccer club in Rome. Lazio is one of the oldest sporting clubs in Italy, with a lot of history under the bridge, some aspects of which, to extend the analogy, are delicate to wear in public.

But the design and marketing department at the club did not put 2 and 2 together, as it were, and unveiled a new kit that has stirred up a hornet's nest of accusations and defensive denials.

When is black just black? And when a political and racial badge? Here is the story....

http://aldianews.com/articles/opinion/lazio-those-who-forget-history-are-condemned-wear-it/40963

Football's 'We Are the World' Moment

The refugee crisis is a major stepping-up moment for the world's most popular, and profitable, sport. Here is my take...

http://aldianews.com/articles/opinion/refugees-welcome-soccer-has-its-we-are-world-moment/40778

Mario Balotelli, Luis Suarez, and Italian Racism

A figurine of Mario Balotelli between those of two
holy men: Pope Francis and Francesco Totti.

One star scored the winning goal against England, did nothing much in a loss to Costa Rica, and was replaced at half-time in the decisive game after getting a yellow card for a stupid foul. The other scored the winning goal against England, sat out a loss to Costa Rica due to injury, and committed an outrageous foul that elicited global scorn and got him banned from the remainder of the tournament.  Guess which star is being ostracized and singled out as the embodiment of flawed egoism.  Yes, the black man who plays for the white country.

After Italy's elimination from the World Cup, by toothsome Luis Suarez and Uruguay, a tidal wave of angry criticism of Mario Balotelli swept through Italian media and the Internet.

Balotelli is accused of being lazy and not trying, of being childish and unable to control his temper, and committing a stupid foul that forced his coach to bench him at a critical time. The coach, the argument goes, says he was worried that Balotelli would commit another dumb foul and get himself ejected, forcing the team to play with one man down. The great irony is that another Italian player, Marchisio, actually got himself ejected from that same game, and, yet, is not blamed for the defeat. Bad call by the referee, Italian pundits moan.  Marchisio, by the way, is white.

Italian soccer has been rocked
by repeated racist incidents.

Balotelli is further charged with failing to carry the team into the second round. He was the offense of the team. It was designed around his particular skills. This is often the case with great talents. Portugal is designed around Cristiano Ronaldo.  He scored one goal, just like Balotelli, and the Portugal are also out. Sweden is built around Ibrahimovic, and they didn't even make it to Brazil.  Uruguay is structured around Luis Suarez (with all due respect to the talented Edison Cavani), and his oral fixation has most likely condemned the team to a quick exit. The failure of these teams has lead to some grousing about their mega-stars, but no cascade of hate and blame, even in the case of Suarez where global shame is being heaped on the player.

All of these players are superstars. They receive a disproportionate amount of attention and are paid outrageous sums of money to play, what is in essence, a kid's game. Along with the inevitable envy of their riches, fed, in some cases, by outsized egos and by relentless publicity, there is also a baseline of admiration and respect accorded to great players by fans. And come World Cup time, by co-nationals. There is solidarity and loyalty.

But not with Balotelli. He was immediately fingered as the culprit by his fellow players. Balotelli left the team locker room alone, and sat on the bus alone, while the coach bade goodbye to the  rest of the team. He was subject to racist rants and posts on the internet. Italian fans regularly greet Balotelli with the chat that "there are no black Italians." And on TV, despite a general consensus the the whole team played badly, only one player was singled out for blame: Super Maro.

African immigrants in the police
immigration center.

Balotelli, in a raw post on instagram, responded to a fan's accusation that he had not tried because he was not a real Italian. His response is heatbreaking: I was born in Italy, he writes, and chose to be Italian. He then lashes out at the lack of solidarity he feels from his fellow Italians. Africans are smarter than us, they do not turn on their brothers, he pleads. This last comment, of course, was received as a slap in the face by the Italian media. Poisonous, one pundit describe his post. Out of bounds, declared a football official. Not the racism Balotelli is regularly subjected too, one supposes, but the temerity of comparing Italian unfavorably to Africans.

After the loss to Uruguay, the Italian national coach and the director of Italy's national football federation presented their resignations. The witch hunt rages on. Mario Balotelli, a black Italian, is the perfect outsider - too young and rich and talented. Too tall. Blame him. Rip him to shreds.

Empty Nationalism, Enlightened Soccer Fans

Italy is a country that has surrendered most of its national sovereignty.  At least traditionally, when one thinks of an independent country, one thinks of the ability to write your own laws, manage your own economic policies, and have an independent foreign policy. Italy does none of these.

The country's laws are subject to European Union regulations, and are routinely changed to conform. In foreign policy, Italy follows the EU lead even, as in the attack on Libya, when it is against Italian strategic and economic interests. Italy does not set it's own monetary policy, has no real central bank, and it's government budget must be approved (or not) by Brussels.

Yet, despite having given away many of the tools of the modern nation state, the Italian political elite can still work up a heady froth of nationalist rhetoric, especially over issues that might impinge on a politician's ability to place a cousin in a good job.

Two recent cases have set off this empty nationalist tick. Italy's national airline, Alitalia, is going bankrupt. It has an aging fleet, high labor costs, and lots of debt. It also has been regularly feathered by politicians with people who need to be placed, routes that lose money, and facilities it does not need. Needles to say, it cannot compete with low cost airlines. It certainly cannot compete with the modern Middle Eastern airlines without a ton of new soldi (money).

The Italian state is one of the most indebted in the world, and yet, to save the airline, it is tapping into the money of the postal system to keep Alitalia flying for a little longer. Even then, the very ideal of selling the airline to a foreign rival -in this case, Air France- fills Italy's political leadership with dread. What if they highjack weathy Chinese tourists on their way to Rome and force them to see Paris? The fiends! 

The idea that a country that already receives more tourism than any other in the world needs a national airline, is highly suspect. When the country itself is almost bankrupt, then throwing the pension fund money from the postal system into a money-burning biz like an airline is a crime.   

The second nationalist tiff is over the Italia Telecom -- the phone company. Like all landline, legacy telecoms, this is buried in debt, is losing customers to wireless, and needs megabucks to lay down a broadband network, something the country genuinely needs. In this sad state, a bid came in from Spain's Telefonica. Suddenly Italian politicians were spouting nonsense about the need to guarantee the security of Italian phone and online connections by keeping the company Italian. Absurd to anyone who understands modern technology.  Even more absurd if you see how much investment is required to wire Italy (a land where ay hole in the ground stands a reasonable chance of striking an archeological find).

But, I guess, if you can't control it, better not to do it.  

Except when it really matters, when there is something truly important at stake. Take soccer. One of Italy's grand old soccer clubs, Internazionale of Milano, was just sold to an Indonesian billionaire. This provoked a very positive reaction from a football crowd not normally associated with enlightened, cosmopolitan reactions. But the fans know that for Inter to compete with their hated rivals, AC Milan, owned by Berlusconi, and Juventus, owned by the family that founded Fiat, the team needs more money. So, play ball!

As for Alitalia and Telecom, both Air France and Telefonica have since backed-off their offers.