Many say that the English language has no boundaries and transcends nations, borders, creed and race. This is very much true – you have to remember that the English language was used in all the British Empire, and its importance was further boosted by the decline of that empire and the gaining in stature of the United States as a superpower. It is also the language of business and trade. But there is one far more powerful language that the whole world understands and that is football.
On Saturday, every single fan was on their feet, churning out applause for one minute in memory of the young 11-year-old Everton fan who was gunned down while playing football in the Liverpool suburb of Croxteth. It was not only the Evertonians who applauded, but also their adversaries’ fans Blackburn.
Although in the past football was often used as a tool for violence – it has – in most countries become a universal tool for the expression of solidarity, charity, unity and most of all compassion. This latest display is only the tip of the iceberg. Every week, charitable donations and simple charitable acts are made prior to kick off. It is truly incredible.
One only has to look at the likes of Ronaldinho, for example, in the way he tries to tackle to problems of poverty and education in Brazil through football. Ronaldinho tries to offer his coaching skills for free to the youngsters of Brazil’s streets in the hope of helping them boost their skills to get out of the poverty trap.
What about Iraq? Everyone knows of the problems and strife in Iraq, which is quite frankly bordering on the edge of all out civil war. Yet, when Iraq won the Asian Cup, Sunnis, Shias and Christians alike all took to the streets in a show of unity – a show of joy and pride in the fact that their own nation managed, against all odds, to prevail.
Which brings us on to the next issue at hand. If one looks back throughout this past century – awareness on various issues is more often than not championed by sports stars or musicians. The list is endless, but one can simply point out Bob Geldoff, U2’s Bono, George Weah and others. We have also seen what an impact it can have, even in Malta, with the lobbying by George Geldoff himself, R&B star Akon and now Messrs. Baglioni and co.
We now have another event scheduled for November. Past football stars of England and Italy, including such illustrious names as Rossi, Schillaci, Signori, David Platt and Ian Rush are set to take part in a football extravaganza to be followed by a concert by Simply Red.
One wonders whether they will lend a hand to the cause. Luckily in Malta, we do not any longer face the social divisions which were brought about by the idiotic, dangerous and downright uncivilised political ethos of the late 70s and 80s. We were lucky and we were sensible, we have managed to get rid of it. Yet there is now a new division – a division between the islanders and the people who have come here from Africa. We know the status quo – the Maltese do not particularly want them here, and they do not particularly want to be here. Yet we do need to live together. There is no denying that this is the situation and it is not going to change overnight. One wonders whether there will be any activities to promote diversity in this up-coming event. More importantly, one wonders what local football might achieve if it tries to organise such promotion.