‘Carry On’: The Response of the Victorian Football League to the Challenges of World War II

The Victorian Football League (VFL) was formed following an acrimonious split with the Victorian Football Association at the end of the 1896 season. Despite being based around clubs located only in Melbourne and Geelong, the VFL soon became Australia's premier football competition. Although much has been written about League players who served in the armed forces during the two world wars, less attention has been given to identifying the issues and challenges that football competitions, and the VFL in particular, had to address if they were to continue to function during times of military conflict. Trials faced by organisers of the code were logistical, political and moral. Player and administrator shortages and a restricted number of venues to play at, were the most obvious challenges. The Australian government assumed control of manpower and resources in January 1942 and placed many restrictions on discretional activities of the population. In this context, a general feeling was that there was little room for organised major sporting competitions because they could detract from the war focus. The way society reacted to the constraints shaped football's direction, and the VFL had to interpret government policy and read the mood of the public before deciding whether to continue playing. In the end, the League, despite criticism from some quarters for continuing its competition, sided with the prevailing view that the public needed a diversion to allow them some relaxation from the pressure of war. This article discusses how the VFL responded to a number of key issues during the critical period between 1942 and 1944.     

The decline of the ‘Soccer-Nation’: journalism,soccer and national identity in the 2002 World Cup

This essay analyses the media narrative in the coverage of the Brazilian team during the 2002 World Cup. The corpus of our work is concentrated on the sports supplements of Jornal do Brasil during the 2002 World Cup from two days before the event until two days after its end, reaching the total of 32 supplements. We focus on the hypothesis that the qualification ‘Brazil: the soccer country’, usually even more intense and singular during this worldwide event, has been decreasing and the journalistic narratives about the Brazilian soccer team do not approach soccer homogeneously as a metonym for the nation. The reflection about the role of the sports press as cultural builder is fundamental to observe how newspapers confirm and construct mythologies and identitary discourses, in spite of the journalistic objectivity, one of the pillars of the profession.     

Barney Kieran,the Legendary ‘Sobraon Boy’: From the Mean Streets to ‘Champion of the World’

This article explores the remarkable career of Bernard Bede (Barney) Kieran, known in the Australian sporting press of the time as ‘the Sobraon Boy’. He was born in Sydney in 1886, grew up in the mean streets, was imprisoned aboard the industrial training ship Sobraon and, at the zenith of his sensational world record-breaking swimming career, died suddenly on 22 December 1905. He was only nineteen and was mourned by the public as one of Australia's first sporting icons to be cut down tragically in his prime. Incorporated in this study is the forgotten tragic sporting saga of the first great Australian twentieth-century swimming hero and its connotations of muscularly-based youth reclamation. Consideration is given to the social context, the growing popularity of swimming in the early twentieth century, Sydney and the widespread newspaper coverage of his career and death which helped to create the formation of the tragic sporting hero of Australian myth.     

Projecting the ‘Chineseness’: Nationalism,Identity and Chinese Martial Arts Films

Wushu, also known as Kung Fu, is a traditional Chinese martial art. It also symbolises the strength of the Chinese and their pride in their history. Wushu came to be associated with Chinese nationalism after China's various defeats at the hands of foreign imperialist powers at the turn of the twentieth century. This relationship has been further strengthened through martial arts films. In the first half of the twentieth century, martial arts films helped to construct national identity among the Chinese. They also facilitated the development of Wushu, making it a symbol of indigenous virtue and strength. From the late 1960s, influenced by a defensive strain of nationalism, Chinese film-makers began to adopt a new approach to the portrayal of Wushu. Martial arts films were endowed with political and cultural significance, and evolved as a unique representation of Chinese nationalism. Several decades later, martial arts films still retain at their core a sense of ‘Chineseness'. From Bruce Lee's Fist of Fury to Donnie Yen's IP Man, Chinese martial arts films have demonstrated not only the important place of Wushu in Chinese nationalism, but also the influence of nationalism on Chinese cinema.     

‘Make Goals Not War’: The Contribution of International Football to World Peace

Academic treatments of football have tended to focus either on the game's capacity to inspire xenophobic hooliganism amongst its followers or how it has been exploited by politicians for nationalistic purposes. This article seeks to readdress the imbalanced impression of football's social and political impact presented in this literature and in the dominant media discourse by highlighting the positive contributions made by the world's most popular sport to international relations by facilitating communication and respect for global rules of fair play.     

‘The Event That Shook the Whole World Up’: Historicizing the 1983 Pan-American Games Doping Scandal

Abstract

In August of 1983 at the Pan-American Games in Caracas, Venezuela, a multi-faceted doping crisis occurred that overshadowed all other aspects of the games. This essay marks the first attempt to historicize the events surrounding this watershed moment in the fight against drug use in sport. Doping was revealed in three ways in Caracas: by the large number of positive tests that resulted in the first loss to doping of medals in the history of the Pan-American Games, by the exodus of the 12 American track and field athletes who flew home rather than be subject to testing in the sophisticated lab run by Dr Manfred Donike, and by a rash of ‘injuries’ and unexpectedly poor performances that kept athletes out of the medals and thus out of Donike’s lab. In the aftermath of the games, the United States Olympic Committee implemented new policies to ensure that Americans competing in the 1984 Los Angeles Olympic Games would not run the risk of similar public embarrassment.     

Why Zico is called the ‘God of Soccer’ in Japan: the legacy of Zico to Japanese soccer

This essay will shed light on the reasons why Brazilian football player Zico has become the ‘God of Soccer’ in Japan by discussing Zico’s unique character and actions and the social condition surrounding him, as well as the role played by the image of a hero held by the Japanese. The study uses the existing literature on Zico’s tenure in Japan along with Zico’s own writings and anecdotes to reflect upon his legacies from various angles. While it emphasizes the ability of an interpreter in constructing Zico’s image, it also encapsulates the key moments and images Zico elicited in Japan, including his brilliant style of play, his memorable hat-trick in his opening J-League match and his figure as a father of Japanese football. The essay will try to show that Zico’s emphasis on the importance of family, as in building a ‘Zico Family’, as well as his strong sense of obligation, professionalism and integrity contributed to creating his image as a legendary human being in Japan.     

United in Protest: From ‘Living and Dying with Our Colours’ to ‘Let All the Colours of the World Unite’

Istanbul's ‘Big Three’ football clubs, Be?ikta?, Fenerbahçe and Galatasaray, dominate the Turkish Super League. The matches between these fiercely rival teams, also known as ‘derbies’, are often intense and culminate in the eruption of violence, which has even been fatal on occasion. To many people's surprise, the anti-government protests which were sparked by outrage over police action against environmental protestors in May 2013 brought these eternal rivals together. Thousands of Be?ikta?, Fenerbahçe and Galatasaray supporters marched arm-in-arm to Taksim Square and demanded justice and freedom. Out of this solidarity is born Istanbul United, a seemingly new fan group with a new logo that combines the three rival logos. Çar??, the legendary fan group of Be?ikta?, also played an important role in the protests and received the support of all football fans as well. This paper will focus on the politicisation of football in Turkey during the second half of 2013. By looking at both the political role of football fans of the ‘Big Three’ during and after the Gezi protests, and the ways in which mutual respect and solidarity is born among diverse protesters, this paper discusses the possibilities of translating this positive genre to a peaceful spectatorship in Turkish football.     

The Invention of a ‘Drug of Mass Destruction’: Deconstructing the EPO Myth

In the wake of previous contributions by scholars like Verner Møller and Paul Dimeo, which have demonstrated the mythical nature of the accounts concerning two famous ‘doping deaths’ (the cyclists Arthur Linton and Knud Enemark Jensen), this article thoroughly examines the existing evidence (both anecdotal and scientific) concerning the much repeated claim that EPO ‘killed’ 18 Dutch and Belgian cyclists in the late 1980s and early 1990s. This examination shows that these claims almost absolutely lack empirical evidence, and that in fact the existing truly experimental and epidemiological research downplays or even rules out the existence of a casual link between EPO intake and sudden death in healthy adults. It is therefore concluded that EPO has been constructed by the expert literature and the lay press as the ‘drug of mass destruction’ of the war on drugs in sport, and that the story about the ‘EPO deaths’ is to be seen as anti-doping propaganda.     

Cuba’s Challenges Hosting the 1991 Pan-American Games and the Spectacle of the Revolution’s ‘Soft Power’

Abstract

This paper examines the confluence of global, regional, and national politics in the lead up to the 1991 Pan-American Games hosted by Cuba. Cuba’s contentious selection as host was wholly underpinned by the international politics of the time. Once selected, the preparations for the Games in Havana were surrounded by an unprecedented domestic economic crisis fueled by shifts in global politics. This paper analyzes how international politics informed the hosting of the 1991 Pan-American Games, and shaped the political challenge the Cuban government faced in hosting such an event. The Revolution’s use of sport domestically and internationally came to the forefront in its efforts as host and the results of those efforts proved to be providential given the emerging political economic contexts during and in the ensuing years after the Games.     

The ‘British World’, other worlds,and the five rings: possibilities for trans-imperial histories and historical ‘what ifs’

In the early 1890s an ardent British imperialist proposed a ‘Pan-Britannic Olympics’ that included not only the British Empire but the USA in a plan to use sport to unite the English-speaking peoples of the globe into a world-ruling coalition. While that proposal was eventually bested by the Baron Pierre de Coubertin's movement that created an even more inclusive modern Olympics, the sentiments of the ‘Pan-Britannic’ scheme became in embroiled in debates over the national and imperial uses of international sport. Pondering the role of Coubertin's Olympics in forging a variety of imperial and national identities within the British Empire while also employing speculative alternative histories reveals the complex transnational and trans-imperial dimensions of the Olympics in modern global history.     

‘What about the community impact?’: The Corpus Christi ‘hook’

This case study draws on theory in the following areas (1) public financing of sport facilities and in particular, the method of bonds and the impact on and involvement of local taxpayers, (2) community impact of minor league sport teams, and (3) leveraging of sport teams and facilities. This case is centered on Justin Drew, the president of the Corpus Christi Hooks, who must work with city officials to ensure that his minor league baseball team does not lose local support. The city of Corpus Christi helped finance the Hooks’ stadium a few years prior, and now with new members on City Council, tough economic times, and a history of folded professional sports teams in the city, Drew must be proactive in seeing that the Hooks do not meet a similar fate.The case presents a common challenge confronted by communities that host professional sport teams. In many cases, cities must provide some level of public financing for sport facilities in order to attract or retain a team. To gain public support, various promises are made about the potential for the team to transform the community. However, once public funding is secured and a team and facility is in place, it is unclear who has the responsibility for delivering on these promises. The situation presented in this case is not unique. In fact, similar claims are made about the impact of a sports team, regardless of the size of the host community or the type of team. This case gives students the opportunity to measure impact and also think critically about how to leverage a sports team to create value for the community. Although the characters in the case are fictitious the case draws upon actual facts and data from public records regarding Corpus Christi and their minor league baseball team, the Hooks; thus, providing students with a realistic dilemma to consider. The case is intended for use in Sport Finance/Economics and Sport Policy courses, but could also be adapted for other courses such as Sport Marketing, Sport Communication, Facilities and Event Management or even Research Methods.     

‘Africa's Tournament'? The Branding Legacy of the 2010 FIFA World Cup™

In 2010, South Africa became the first country on the African continent to host the FIFA World Cup. Crucially the hosting of such a prestigious tournament was seen as a chance to prove that this developing nation could host an event of this magnitude as efficiently as the developed economies who had hosted the previous editions of the event, such as Germany in 2006 and Korea and Japan in 2002. Significantly though, this flagship event was also promoted by FIFA as ‘Africa's Tournament' with South Africa encouraged to share the identity and success of 2010 with the entire African continent. Based on the findings from in-depth interviews conducted with event and destination stakeholders from national and regional South African Government departments, this article explores the 2010 tournament as a branding opportunity that was used to promote both the continent of Africa as well as the South African nation. Expanding upon previous studies in this area the challenges and successes of hosting the 2010 World Cup are examined as is the role of mega-events such as the 2010 FIFA World Cup in generating a nation and continent-wide branding legacy. Stakeholders specialising in sport event management, tourism, operations and communications reflect on the branding and exposure for both Africa and South Africa achieved as a result of the event and the degree to which this was coordinated and co-created between various stakeholders. Insights are also given as to the degree to which the branding gains achieved during the event have been leveraged post-2010. As such, this article offers an original socio-historic perspective on existing studies examining the impact of the 2010 tournament.     

The Origins of Football Debate: The ‘Grander Design and the Involvement of the Lower Classes’, 1818–1840

This article presents extensive new material in ‘the origins of football debate’ by using the British Library's digitisation project of nineteenth-century newspapers. In so doing, it responds to claims from Graham Curry and Eric Dunning that previous works of the ‘revisionist historians’ John Goulstone, Adrian Harvey and Peter Swain are misleading and have led to hasty conclusions. It evidences a football culture beyond the domain of the public schools and highlights the shift in the locus of games from urban areas to paddocks and fields complying with the Highways and Police Acts. This compliance reduced the number of prosecutions covered in newspaper reports of the day but other games, in which misdemeanours took place, are recorded, suggesting that a broad football culture did still exist in this period. The article rejects Curry and Dunning's thesis surrounding a mid-century ‘civilising spurt’ in sport in favour of explanations surrounding the structural changes taking place in the nineteenth century, including increasing industrialisation, urbanisation, population growth, and migrationary movements. It also emphasises the emergence of a horizontally stratified class-based society and an attack on football games from an emerging social and industrial elite who were looking after their property and commercial interests.     

Sociology of a scandal: the emergence of ‘FIFAgate’

This article examines the social forces underlying FIFAgate. Why do corrupt practices, which are often highly consolidated or even institutionalized, suddenly become scandalous? What is a scandal? Why did FIFA fall into crisis in 2015 and not before? To answer these questions, it is necessary to look at the sequence of thrusts and parries between all the parties involved. Our analysis embraces the notion that social processes are based on relationships in order to provide insights into why and how denunciations can lead to long-tolerated corrupt practices suddenly becoming compromising enough to force an organization’s leaders to implement measures that would have previously been unimaginable. We use multiple sources to examine the emergence of FIFAgate and the way FIFA overcame previous critical situations, describing how FIFA neutralized earlier allegations and developed a remarkable ‘resilience’ to scandal. Finally, we analyse the successive mobilizations whose domino effect led to the emergence of FIFAgate and the measures FIFA took to contain the scandal. Our research enabled us to draw up a new theoretical model for analysing corruption scandals.     

‘The old days of amateurism are over’: the Samaranch revolution and the return of Olympic tennis

Tennis featured in every Olympics from 1896 to 1924, after which disagreements between the International Olympic Committee (IOC) and the International Lawn Tennis Federation (ILTF) on matters pertaining to organisational control and the amateur eligibility of players led to tennis being removed from the Olympic Games as a full-medal event until the 1988 Seoul Olympics. This paper traces the steps of the sport’s reinstatement, from when efforts commenced in the 1950s, setting this development in the contexts of: broader political movements, shifting IOC leadership, burgeoning commercialisation of Olympic sport, the concomitant push for professionalisation and the declining influence of amateur ideals within both the Olympic movement and international tennis. Under the leadership of the amateur stalwart Avery Brundage, the IOC stymied attempts to facilitate tennis’s re-entry, challenging both the ILTF on failing to deal with widespread ‘sham-amateur’ practices and the avaricious promoters luring amateur players toward the professional ranks. Brundage and the IOC also strongly condemned the move to ‘open’ tennis and an acceptance of full-blown professionalism. Only a change in leadership, firstly with Lord Killanin and then the progressive reformer Juan Antonio Samaranch, did the IOC recognise the value of tennis within the Olympic movement, which by then had itself become increasingly money-oriented.