I want to argue for the end to international football – or at least radical reform of it. Do you ever felt annoyed or ‘lost’ that club football is rudely interrupted for international ‘breaks’ (no break if you are a top player)? Do you ever not identify with the divisive nationalist fervour of international football, or prefer to watch matches between teams on similar level skill-wise, rather than San Marino versus France ?!
How many players are injured on international duty with knock-on effect to club and their club’s potential season success? Even without injury the performance impact upon players, as stresses of games and long travel journeys take effect, must be a factor that is rarely taken into account. An FA study over 8 seasons recorded 216 men and 177 women injured during internationals.
Fifa and cajoled media friends will claim internationals as the pinnacle of football practice – however teams cobbled together for short term events would seriously struggle against the top world club sides, who invariably have a team ethic with entrenched systems and tactical awareness. I think top club sides would make best international sides look decidedly average. How many players are sidelined by their club sides but somehow are heavily included in international level, ie Maguire, Phillips etc., which again undermines claims of international quality. Additionally, many of the international managers are now coaches in the twilight of their careers, looking for a less stressful or intense payday than the vigours of weekly club games.
Hidden from many fans and not even discussed are the many excellent players not interested or motivated by the divisive nationalism of international football, such as this quote from Oleguar Presas, the Barcelona and Ajax player who declined Spanish call-up:
In football I have always tried to be committed and give 100%, and I felt no commitment for a national team that does not represent me in any way.
Nedum Onuhua and Joel Matip are also notable recent players who declined the national team call. The recent introduction of new formats such as the Nations League format has led to top players like Kevin DeBruyne saying “we want more rest ..The Nations League is unimportant in my eyes – glorified friendlies”
Due to Fifa rulings many players and their clubs are forced to play and be released – so much for the much claimed ‘national pride ‘!!
Many players have also switched their national allegiance at a whim, with maybe a hint to international glory – Declan Rice, Podolski, De Guzman – or a more realistic chance of playing – Prince Boateng, Wilf Zaha. I wonder what the financial impact on a player’s endorsements are if on the international ‘stage’ – not saying all players are motivated by purely finance but it is definitely a consideration.
Climate change
International football with its extensive travel commitments also has a significant and unsustainable climate impact, with an estimated 3.63 million tonnes of CO2 emitted for the World Cup 2022 in Qatar, and a global output of around 30 million tonnes. This is a colossal output when compared to fossil fuel-powered Formula 1, which generated 256 thousand tonnes of CO2 in 2019. F1 even has target of net zero by 2030 while Fifa meekly aims for 2040.
A move away from global events to local/national football leagues would greatly assist football to achieve sustainability. Football is not somehow exempt from climate change – a quarter of England/Wales’ 92 league clubs could be regularly flooded within just three decades – storm ‘Desmond’ cost Carlisle FC £3 million pounds due to seven weeks without stadium use.
Would not a summer club champions’ league in one location be of more interest to fans than an international tournament, and also significantly reduce CO2 emissions from the current format, which involves weeks of games and tons of CO2 due to travel of fans and players to remote destinations – rather than say 4 weeks in one location.
The current international format is a massive cash cow for FIFA, with little thought for negative impacts upon players, fans and club football. Fifa earn billions from TV rights – $4.6 billion from the 2018 World Cup, hosted by Russia.
Sportwashing
The international format has also long been utilised by questionable regimes seeking some respectability and popularity boost from association with the world’s most popular sport – think Argentina in 1978 or Russia in 2018. The links and prestige from hosting a world or regional international competition can undoubtedly lead to bolstering a government or dictatorship which under the propaganda surface is unpopular or even repressive.
With Qatar, there were many objections to the host due to worker deaths, human rights abuses, bribery allegations and impact upon club football seasons – but ultimately the FIFA international show must go on and the individual football associations meekly fall into line. At the cost of how many lives, though?
Ultimately international football is a Fifa and regional federation franchise, which generates massive amounts of money, leading to serious financial corruption of officials. The USA Justice department found ‘evidence of bribery dating back to the 1990s’ with 30 officials charged, and around $150 million of bribes unearthed (source Ethics Unwrapped).
The continued additional heavy schedule of international football seriously undermines player welfare, contradicts Fifa and societal aims around saving our planet, and invalidates the good causes that Fifa professes to support. Corporate behemoths jump onto the events in order to commodify and legitimise their products and services, the global power of football is a Debordian ‘spectacle’ that is utilised for other, some benign some parasitical aims – a long way from the park kickabout, or local leagues. Illegitimate regimes also appear to replicate the validation process for other ulterior motives too. Viewing the international events you cannot but register the enormous corporate takeover of the people’s game, on an ever-expanding scale which risks the root values of football.
