Soccer and humanitarian aspects

J. Sumardianta and Yusup Priyasudiarja, Contributor, Jakarta

Trilogy: 1) Bola di Balik Bulan (Ball Behind the Moon) , xv + 296 pp, 2) Airmata Bola (Tears of Ball), xv + 275 pp, 3) Bola-Bola Nasib (Balls of Fate), xv + 320 pp, Written by Sindhunata, Published by KOMPAS-Jakarta, May 2002

Conrad Kotak, an American anthropologist, notes that football allows all to express feelings, and can unite people from diverse backgrounds in a way that can not be achieved by any other political force. Globalization results in a wider gap between developed and poor countries. On the contrary, football succeeds in spreading professionalism. The World Cup 2002 in Korea and Japan showed that there is no longer any gap between the football skills of Asian or African teams and European teams which have long football traditions. The increasing number of Asian and African players playing in European countries as well as the coaches from Europe who train Asian and African teams plays an important role in spreading the professionalism.

Football is actually a reflection of the daily life of human beings. It is possibly one of the reasons why football has become the most popular sport in the world, touching every corner of human beings and affecting many aspects of life. Sindhunata, the writer of this trilogy, Catatan Sepak Bola, highlights humanitarian features in football.

Bola di Balik Bulan (Balls behind the Moon) covers inspiring and touching stories in football. Take a look at the following data. David Beckham has his daughter name, Brooklyn, printed on his shoe soles. In spite of his fame as a great player, his love of his family is deeper than that of football. Airmata Bola (Tears of Ball) illustrates the tragedy of human beings such as the failures of football players, coaches and teams. Le jour de glorie a passe (the glory days have passed) is probably the right expression to describe the failure of Bayern Munich in the Champions Cup final in 1999 in which Bayern Munich was defeated by Manchester United 2-1 in injury time (112 seconds) after leading 1-0. Bayern Munich's loss of concentration and carelessness in the last minutes led the team to a tragic and sorrowful defeat. Bola-bola Nasib (Balls of Fate) mainly focuses on the misfortunes of football players in which they often have to work beyond their capacity as human beings. They often play too many games in one competition. Besides, football can also mean both glory and misery as experienced by Maradona who was a great player but then plunged into the hell of drug abuses.

The magnificent performance of outstanding players such as Giussepe Meazza (Italy), Santiago Barnebeu (Spain) and Pele (Brazil) used to be associated with heroism values. At present Ronaldo, Christian Viery, Del Piero, Raul Gonzales, Nistellrooy, Michael Owen and Edgar Davids become glamour present-day superstars representing individuals in an individualistic society who are merely money-oriented. Football is already integrated with a capitalistic industry system. For such players football is just a short cut to get rich quickly. The egos of the star players then turns to be a universal problem faced by all football coaches.

In addition, football competitions do not always show fairness in sports. Football teams often seek success by any means (the goals justify the means) such as involving hooligans with their brutish behaviors in order to bother their opponents concentration. The players try hard to merely gain honor and it is essentially contrary to the whole essence and philosophy of sport. Sport is originally intended to boost the spirit of brotherhood.

How do players enhance their professionalism, manage their ego and solve their problems in life? Davor Suker, a very talented striker from Croatia, gave a valuable example. Amid pros and cons, he disagreed with the idea that women or wives should be allowed to join the teams to support their performances in a competition like the World Cup. He scored the most goals in the 1998 World Cup. He proved that his idea was right, indicating that those who could refrain from having sex during the competition could perform better. Beforehand Suker had been the target of criticism for having only scored a few goals for Real Madrid and his love life with Ana Garcia Obregon, a TV moderator, blamed as the main cause. Ana G. Obregon used up the energy of a striker whose job is to score goals, wrote the daily La Vanguardia cynically.

In any feature Sindhunata, the author of the classic novel Anak Bajang Menggiring Angin, always highlights humanitarian aspects. He notes that street children (strassenfussballer), the homeless, slums (favela) and the dwellers of slums (favelado) are the life backgrounds of Brazilian players. In a favelado there is no suicidal feeling. When Brazilians are hungry, in order to survive they try to scrap around for the remaining food on streets or in the markets. Even though Brazilian players have already gained success, they still have the spirit of favelado, a high fighting spirit. They never easily give up on the pitch.

In Brazilian football history, Garrincha was widely known as a player with the favelado mentality. Earning a living as a bird hunter, he lived in a poor favela (Airmata Bola, p. 236). Having played football attractively, he was regarded by many as a Brazilian hero in the Pele era. Garrincha, more respected than Pele, is considered a spark plug of Brazilians and a symbol of their joy, a lergria dopavo (Bola Di Balik Bulan, p.210).

Football also manages to minimize ideological conflicts. Unlike what people had been afraid of, the match between the US and Iran teams in de Coupe du Monde, France 1998 in which Iran won the match, ended up in a touching scene. At the end of the match, the players from both teams, hugged each other, shook hands and exchanged their costumes. Football does not prove Samuel Huntington's thesis on the clash of civilization.

Having been a member of Society of Jesus (SJ) and interested in humanitarian sciences, Sindhunata can produce pieces of writing with high-literary quality. Before being a priest, he was a journalist. Hence he has a sharp analysis which shows his rich knowledge of football. To support the data when writing, he did not only watch football matches himself in various competitions in Europe but also collected and read papers in English, Dutch and German. No wonder, this trilogy is reflective, contemplative and encyclopedic. One of the most interesting characteristics of his writing rests on the fact that football is seen not only from the aspects of sport but also from a humanitarian angle.

According to Sindhunata, a doctoral graduate of Hochschule fur Philosophie, Philosophische Fakultat SJ, Munich, Germany in 1992, football fans are actually fooled by a spectacular event such as the World Cup. Even though the event is entertaining, it actually does not change anything. Argentineans still live under both the poverty circle and political repression as the country is still controlled by the IMF. Indonesian people also remain poor and hopeless under the leadership of the political elite who only think of their vested interests. Football also fails to protect the people from violence as what happens in South America since the people there are already trapped in drug abuses. Football itself needs to be questioned for the reason that it is closely related to exploitation, commercialization and dehumanization.

Sindhunata features have a particular distinction. They provide meaningful, rich factual information that gives readers deep insights. His ideas flow smoothly and he can describe things systematically. This particularity distinguishes him from other football commentators who tend to merely discuss the techniques and tactics in football.