Pros, cons of soccer among French

By Izabel Deuff

JAKARTA (JP): After welcoming the World Cup in 1938, France is once again the host of this pinnacle of soccer competitions. As the violence between English and Tunisian fans in Marseilles demonstrated on the fourth day of the event, football fever is at its peak in France. The French joyfully hailed their team after it beat South Africa (3-0) last Friday and Denmark (2-1) Wednesday night. But have the French expatriates in Jakarta caught the world soccer mania?

Although the French Embassy and the French Cultural Center (FCC) have planned no special programs for the World Cup (apart from the Allons en France (Go to France) contest and a few broadcasted matches at FCC's cinema theater, we could assume that some expatriates might organize their life to follow the matches in their homeland.

But, then, we could be wrong. Contrary to what Indonesians and others might think, most French expatriates are quite indifferent to this mass-worshiped event.

"Among the staff of the embassy, we don't discuss the World Cup much except professionally. I don't meet a lot of zealots. As far as I am concerned, I only watch the matches France participates in," a Frenchman who works at the embassy acknowledged.

What we can assume is that wherever the World Cup is staged, the clash between soccer opponents and soccer zealots knows no international borders.

In fact, the French community is divided in three parts: those who are ideologically opposed to the World Cup, those who won't miss a match, and those who are not concerned with this sports event.

The first ones are not fierce adversaries of the game. They even used to play soccer when they were kids. But they particularly dislike the idea of moving crowds for sports and thus manipulating them. There are a few who think that in that situation "soccer is the people's opium", taking up the quotation by Nietzsche: Religion is people opium.

There is also a theory developed a long time ago that this is a "political stupefier"; it's a way of making people forget their daily misery. The Spaniard dictator Franco, who reigned from 1939 to 1975, knew that very well. He used to order a lot of soccer matches, saying that it was better to see the majority of the population in stadiums than demonstrating in the streets.

Zealots

He was all the more right because soccer is the world's most popular sport and a game for the masses. This World Cup is expected to be watched by more than 37 billion soccer fans worldwide, among which are a few French expatriates.

Those few are great soccer supporters. Most of them are members of a French expatriates' team called Les coqs de France (Cockerels of France) or an African-French team l'etoile rouge de Bamako (Red Star of Bamako).

"Among the 20 to 30 year-olds, there are a lot of zealots. It strengthens when living abroad. Playing soccer is a way to meet up and to be linked to something we know," said a young French player.

They watch three, or at least two matches a day: from 9:30 p.m. until early in the morning. When they have to rest and can't physically watch the matches live, some record them.

"I try to schedule my working hours to watch all the matches. The time difference makes it possible", said a French expatriate.

It doesn't mean every French fan expects the national team to win the trophy. It is very unusual and surprising to hear that from a French person and even from those who are well-informed in the field of soccer.

"French people are very pessimistic and cynical when talking of their own team," he added.

However, some are optimistic about a French victory. One FCC member gave his forecast: he expected France to be on the first step of the podium, Brazil on the second, the Netherlands on the third and Germany on the fourth.

Multicultural team

Although sticking to his forecasts, he was critical of the management of the French players. He said this team was crippled by coach Aime Jacquet, who plays favoritism in choosing the players who participate in the World Cup.

Another soccer fan said his favorite team was France because this multicultural team consisted of talented young players.

More people, however, seem to be indifferent about the World Cup. They are not committed in the World Cup; they are not opposed to this sport but they are not interested in it either.

"In France, even if soccer is the first sport, it doesn't unleash passions like it could in Great Britain or in other European countries. In some intellectual circles, it isn't suitable to talk about soccer. And at the embassy, that is quite well reflected," a French expatriate said.

The French upper class would be more interested in squash and golf.

Some think that French viewers might have been more numerous if a site were prepared to welcome aficionados and their families to watch matches. Such a place has been set up in the garden of Surabaya's FCC; it's an open and pleasant area.

Above all, French expatriates are currently more concerned with the returning of their French compatriots following the May riots than with watching the World Cup.

Before the riots, there were about 3,000 French expats in Indonesia.

According to one official source, two-thirds of the French community has left Indonesia because of the economic breakdown and the unstable political situation.

But "it is too early to release an accurate figure. People are coming back; some with their family, others without it. Some even wonder whether they should come back. The start of the new school year will be a good indicator to evaluate the crisis influence on the French community," said Dominique Roubert, press attache at the embassy.

Nevertheless, the hard core French soccer fanatics are bound to meet either at Hotel Kristal, at Champions Cafe or at home to watch the final. They may be joined by expatriates from other embassies, as happens for the European Championship or for rugby matches. But of one thing we can be sure, that despite all, most French expatriates will enjoy the World Cup final if France takes part in it. So wait for July 12, and until then, keep on humming the World Cup theme song Go, go, go, ale, ale, ale.