Franklin Foer’s novel, How Soccer Explains the World, was very insightful on the topic of soccer and its impact on the world. Personally being a soccer fanatic, his novel was accurate for the most part about soccer and how it’s played across the world. Although when Foer went into the politics behind soccer, his argument lost credibility.
In the very beginning of the novel, Foer talks about a club that is from Serbia, named Red Star. Foer portrays the club as victims of the split of Yugoslavia, when in reality they were the main cause. Yugoslavia consisted of a few nations that included Croatia, Bosnia, Serbia, and Slovenia. As soon as Foer starts to talk about the research that he did on the club, the problem becomes very evident on the opinion that he developed. Foer only did research in and around the foundation of the club, which only includes the Serbs. So when Foer attempts to explain to the reader the politics that went on around the soccer club he only has one side of the story, and in this case a false side of the story.
Yugoslavia was very content under the rule of communism but after Serbia felt that they weren’t satisfied, as all of the other nations were, under its rule they started to break off. So in order for Serbia not to be perceived as the “bad guy” they claimed that they were the victims of Croatian and Bosnian attacks which is evident through the numerous interviews that Foer includes in his novel. If Bosnia and Croatia did in fact victimize Serbia since that’s what the Serbs claim in the novel, why isn’t there bad blood between the two nations themselves? The simple answer is that they weren’t the root of the problem in the splitting of Yugoslavia and this answer is very evident when one takes a glimpse at the history of the civil wars.
Another weak political analysis that occurs in the book is one of the Italian politics towards soccer. While Foer digs deep in this part of the book about Italian soccer and the influence that some clubs have on the refereeing on the game, he even includes a website on which the reader can go and view controversial footage, it lacks solid evidence. As in any game footage, the footage the website is primarily opinionative rather then obvious as Foer claims. The class that are made during the game consist of many different factors rather then just a close up look of the play. The referees positioning is very essential to every call. While a call might be obvious to the viewers, it might not be to the referee since his view could have been obstructed. Juventus and AC Milan are big clubs in the Italian league and in the world too, but the claims of influence that they have on the referees of their games are exaggerated by Foer. If in fact, Juventus and AC Milan have a lot of influence over referees, then it comes as a big surprise that Inter Milan, a club that always falls short, has won consecutive league titles recently. It also looks like Inter Milan is about to win another league title this year. AC Milan or Juventus are far from being capable of winning the Champions league even though they posses this influence over the referees. Once again the strength of influence that Foer claims to be existent becomes inaccurate.
The same problem lies behind the inaccuracy of the information as it did in the case of the team, Red Star, from Serbia. Foer’s lack of in depth research leads to false analogies about political influence that are not as impactful as Foer claims them to be.
Foer did an exceptional job on acquiring information about the top four clubs in the Italian league, which include AC Milan, Juventus, Inter Milan, and Fiorentina. Yet, he failed to acquire sufficient political views and political information about the remaining clubs in the league. If Foer acquired similar information on a number of more clubs in the league, the evidence would state that every club in the league has an influence on referees; especially when it comes to home games. Which Foer includes no mention of since his information is limited to the top four soccer clubs.
While Foer failed to explain the political affiliations that occur behind closed doors do to the cause of soccer, Foer did a good job in explaining to the general public the historical expansion of soccer and the cultural powers that came with. Personally, I admired the portion of the book that Foer spent on explaining to the readers of how Football Club Barcelona built their reputation and the hatred that occurs between them and the Football Club Real Madrid; from Madrid, Spain.
He was spot on how the formation of FC Barcelona and how the Club still is an underdog, as it was, in its early years of the Franco dictatorship in Spain. This part of the book appealed to me the most because Foer shares the same passion for FC Barcelona as I do and he exemplifies the points that are true about the club in a very clear manner. From when the chapter opens up and until it ends, Foer constantly mentions that the Barcelona fans are very peaceful and passionate about their club: in contrast to the hooligan fashion of the Red Star team from Serbia. That’s one of the unique traits of FC Barcelona: everyone is here for the team not to fight.
Although some political assertions are misleading, the overall strength of the book is clear because Foer gets his point across of how powerful soccer has gotten in today’s world. In a nut shell, the passion for soccer illustrated in How Soccer Explains the World Foer creates a solid novel.
