The decline of our football is a sociopolitical problem, bigger than we think
Union Berlin was saved and built upon the blood of its fans. The very headline resurfaced to the sporting world as the German club qualified for the UEFA Champions League, the most prestigious football tournament in Europe last week. For some, the news brought respect and awe knowing how the fans once donated blood to earn money, a regular practice in Germany, in order to save the sunken club a decade or so ago. The fans also worked over one thousand hours for free to build its stadium.
However, for many football fans it was a quotidian thing. For them, even giving away everything for club is the bare minimum. In the modern world, where religion and even nationalism is somewhat losing unquestionable submission, the loyalty to football club for some is the motto of life.
As a matter of fact, the incredible bonding between fans and football clubs is one of the most vital threads in the knitting of modern urban societies. England, the birthplace of modern football and pioneer of bringing forth the urban drudgery of working-class people saw the birth of this awesome bonding and it spread throughout the world almost inevitably. The displaced people from villages were desperate to find their identities and clung onto the local clubs or any club that reminds them of the ancestors’ place helped them finding that by creating a new community. These club-based communities helped them find solid ground and confidence to thrive. The story is so ubiquitous and well known that it may sound cliché.
However, the very story is becoming relevant once again today as Mohammedan Sporting Club and Abahani Limited, two of the most fan following clubs in the history of Bangladesh football, the clubs who occupied a large chunk in the hearts of thriving Dhaka City back in 70s, 80s and even in 90s, face each other in a domestic final after a hiatus of 14 years.
The glory days of these two clubs are long gone and even the standard of domestic football dropped to the nadir as the country of around 200 million people hover around the bottom position in world ranking. The Federation Cup final between the two old foes, a rare occasion, provoked strong nostalgia and an avalanche of sweet memories and frustration of losing it.
For many, the sole reason is the decline of footballing quality, for some the ascendance of cricket and for many others the global connectivity and modern technologies that bring best football leagues around the globe within the palm of one’s hand.
All these reasons are true and they even have compound effects but there are even profounder causes of such decline.
As mentioned earlier, the Berlin club is not best in the world, let alone in Germany but people root for them with their lives. We see ecstatic scenes throughout not only in Europe and Latin America but also in Africa and Asia when small teams achieve big things. Be it Germany’s second division or the top league of Malaysia, there is not dearth for support for the local and smaller clubs the despite overreaching presence of bigger clubs. So, when one says the presence of Real Madrid, Barcelona, Liverpool or Bayern Munich are the cause of effacing the passion for Mohammedan or Abahani, the causality does not seem right.
Talking about cricket, the game got immense popularity in the country thanks to the success of national team. The success hungry and somewhat nationally inferior nation, which has the largest population without any Olympic medal, are more jingoist than lovers of the game for the very sake of it. The thing is evident with the empty stadiums in local games. The number of spectators in the domestic cricket match is same or even lesser compared to football matches.
The problem is sociopolitical, or to be more precise, the rise of problematic democracy in the era of neoliberalism. From the early 90s, policy makers in the country emphasized free market economy and overt capitalism that destroyed the social knit of old ages.
Not only the football clubs, but also local and community-based gatherings are discouraged. The state and market took the erstwhile responsibility of society and encouraged people to think of themselves as isolated islands rather than being part of a society in thick and thin.
Moreover, Dhaka never saw the rise of industrialization and consequently the community of strong working class, the main source of clubs’ loyal fan base.
As a result, middle class now does not feel the passion for locality and working class are not even consolidated. Me, a lifelong Dhaka inhabitant may remember the presence of whole neighbourhood during the vital games of our local club in the second division. Even the ladies used to gather to support the local boys in that era that for many ‘the days of innocence.’
Unfortunately, without building proper industrialization and public organizations, our politicians devoured them. The greed of the powerful people saw uncouth, short-sighted and abhorring practices which killed not only football clubs, but our cinema halls, trade unions, local parks and so forth.
Clubs became places to organize gambling and other illicit activities, cinema producers were keen to earn money without thinking about quality and trade unions were dismantled. The last one, a global phenomenon around the world and the discussion should be done elsewhere.
In short, the youth are now discouraged to be part of any sort of organisation. The emptiness is being fulfilled by international games, drugs and activities that devoid politics. A cynical mind may say, youth bestowed with drugs and without the chance of forming collective awareness is the perfect situation for the unholy triumvirate of corrupt politicians, drug mafias and the ones who wish to keep their hegemony easily. The fragile, frustrated youth become their easy prey and also at the same time kills the chance of them becoming changemakers in the society by bringing revolution.
These problems, one may argue, is not unique in Bangladesh. But why Bangladesh’s football failed so miserably and club culture is completely annihilated. The answer, as mentioned earlier, our failure to generate proper organizations be it public, political or even business. The global football clubs more or less trying to implement business models elsewhere but here in Bangladesh that almost never occurred. Like most of our public organisations the football clubs remain a place to siphon profit and bastion of power for the crony capitalists. Worst thing is, they even don’t care about the longevity of these.
The clash between Abahani and Mohammedan in a domestic final may not ever happen again. Probably for the last time people will savour it. The organisers, however, seem to care very little about it. The game is going to take place during the middle of the week under the scorching noon sun in Cumilla, far from the capital. That is the state of our morbid game.
We may rue for the past and even blame ourselves for not being passionate enough for the local clubs while ecstatic for global clubs, but it will change nothing. The cancer of the society, it seems reach a terminal stage and a mere football game cannot hope to live within it.