ETHICS
On Sundays, churches in the Christian world used to be packed by believers to have inspiration and guidance. Today soccer has become the new religion for many as they take more pain to get to see their favorite teams at whatever cost. Stadiums are packed with supporters chanting for their teams instead of the halleluiah. Players have become idol. Fans know the great fortune they can get from the game. They don't envy them for that. They want them to go on entertaining. Their lives become mixed with their favourite players because they believe in their honest play.But when a club like Juventus lowers itself to cheat for the sake of winning matches, the game loses its appeal. Fans find no reason to go wild in case of victory or to get bitter in case of loss. Cheating in such a game is an attack on the feelings of fans and making little of their regard for their favourite team.
Sport in general should remain noble. It should not be commercialised to the point of having insiders who totally spoil the pleasure of the game.
FOOTBALL: A GAME OR BUSINESS?
Monday, 05 June 2006
World Football Cup has become a big business. Gone the days when it was possible to watch matches on national TV without paying a cent. Now the game is monopolised by cable channels that make a great profit from the great enthusiasm of football fans who can't have access to stadiums. In the past, it was a privilege to go to the host country and watch the game. But even this has become difficult even when one has the financial means as seats are subject to quota.
For viewers in many developing countries where the purchasing power isn't so high, watching the game on TV has become a privilege as they need subscription to a cable channel. In Morocco, people won't’t have the chance to watch the matches in full and live as the Moroccan channels RTM and 2M didn't’t reach an agreement with ART (a cable Arab channel) which monopolises the match transmissions in the Arab world. ART charged a very high price to both channels. They can watch the game on ADSL TV. But only a few have Internet connection at home. So like miserable fans, they will be watching just highlights of this tournament TV daily reports or on free sport channels.
Friday, 09 June 2006 13:48
In a previous message, I mentioned the hard luck of the Moroccans who Can't watch the World Cup on the Moroccan channels RTM and 2M because of ART which charged a high price for the match transmissions. Now after the intercession of King Mohamed VI, they can watch part of it: the opening match, semi final matches, and the final match. The BBC published an article on the website entitled: North Africa world cup fear. In this article, there are explanations why North Africans can't watch the 64 World Cup matches on their national TV channels. Now with the last minute change there is just a partial World Cup TV Blackout in Morocco.
June 16th, 2006
Finally, the Moroccans managed to do without ART lucrative demands to watch the World Cup. They got plenty of satellite channels which are transmitting the matches free of charge. ART made this exuberant change because the commentary is in Arabic. However, the Moroccans are multilingual. They can adapt to any commentary. After all the beauty of football is the game, not the sweet voice of the commentator.
HOOLIGANISM OR TOO MUCH ENERGY?
Hooligans are always intent on making trouble to make their presence felt. Sometimes it is shameful to hear that among hooligans there are soldiers, engineers and others having seemingly respectable jobs. There were casualties, dead and injured in stadiums because of hooligans.
For hooligans at Clayton Square who began hurling bottles, cans and other missiles at the screen, they did so because they weren’t at the stadium where the match was being played to hit the players or their supporters.
For some hooligans such acts are a means to enjoy football since they have no other means to exorcise their energy. Perhaps they should learn to play football instead of watching it and hit one another during their play instead of trying to hit players and well-behaved fans alike.
Hooligans are always intent on making trouble to make their presence felt. Sometimes it is shameful to hear that among hooligans there are soldiers, engineers and others having seemingly respectable jobs. There were casualties, dead and injured in stadiums because of hooligans.
For hooligans at Clayton Square who began hurling bottles, cans and other missiles at the screen, they did so because they weren’t at the stadium where the match was being played to hit the players or their supporters.
For some hooligans such acts are a means to enjoy football since they have no other means to exorcise their energy. Perhaps they should learn to play football instead of watching it and hit one another during their play instead of trying to hit players and well-behaved fans alike.
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