Globalize Soccer? Not in Your Lifetime, Chum

From outward appearances, soccer epitomizes globalization by enjoying worldwide appeal and trading players internationally. The culture of soccer, however, refuses to homogenize across borders or even across towns. Instead, says this article in the New York Times, local soccer teams come to embody the specific nationalist or tribal emotions of their local fan bases. For example, over the last few weeks – just as representatives were being elected to a Europe-wide parliament that supposedly represents a transcendence of nationalism – European soccer hooligans were booing the national anthems of other European countries. As Edward Rothstein succinctly puts it, “the culture of soccer is the culture of nationalism and the culture of the nation affects the culture of play.” – YaleGlobal