How does soccer affect the lives of people around the world?

Looking back on where I came from and where I thought I was going I didnt think life
was worth fighting for. I was disgruntled and depressed from all the constant conflict and tension
that was going on all around me. At my job as a technician for the local telecommunications
company I barely made enough money for my grandmother and I to eat then again for me to
even dream about saving. The only comfort I could find was when I made the two and a half
mile run to an abandoned cocoa farm that my friends and I had made into a soccer field.
... To people walking by and others much better off than we were it was a 50x60 ft. plot
of land with a mound of dirt in the middle but to us it was better than Wembley Stadium.
Sekou Jabateh Oliseh, Liberian soccer player.
There are over 30 different Olympic sports, some 18 of them have their very own
associations, the top five are known of by about 56% of the planet but only one sport has total
world domination with a striking 92% knowing of the sport. Soccer, futbol, football, fussball,
futebol, these are just a few of the many ways its called around the world but how does it affect
the lives of the people it touches? Why are so many people so accepting of it around the world?
Why is it not as big in the US?
Almost two/thirds of the world is plunged into poverty and dire living conditions that
many of us cant even think of living in. For example, in a place like Liberia, many turn to crime
because they believe that there is just no other way to survive, some try their best at earning
honest livings such as farming, fishing and trading, while others, the more privileged ones, get to
go to school and possibly try to get a more professional job, they all can come together under the
same roof and have deep and long conversations about soccer. People actually find relief from
the daily hassle of life by paying attention to soccer and being passionate about it. On occassion
some individuals actually make bets about the various games that were about to be played on that
day. This is another way to get cash and enjoy your self at the same time. Watching the games is
not the only purpose soccer serves for the people of Liberia.
Playing soccer is like a rite of passage for people in Liberia meaning that there is a very
little amount of kids that have little to no interest in soccer. Every kid that I came in contact with
while I was in Liberia has the dream or have had the dream of making it into the big leagues and
coming back to make a better life for them and their parents. For example George Weah a case
study of mine.
In the early years of the civil conflict, the Liberian football player George Weah discovered
that sporting skills could provide an unexpected and liberating escape from the atrocities. Weah
soon took on the local mantle of The King and, while his playing skills were divine to his many
admirers, his personality proved to be very human.2Born in October 1966 in Monrovias Clara
Town slums to the Kru ethnic group, which originated from Grand Kru County (one of the
poorest regions in Liberia), Weahs start in life as one of nine siblings would have seen great
poverty even by Liberian standards. Weah was eventually to achieve what millions of aspiring
African youngsters sought, both then and now a lucrative contract with a famous European
football club. AS Monaco manager Arsene Wenger bought Weah for 20,000 dollars.
Weah escaped just before he would have been caught up in the murderous chaos of the
Doe years. In the global financial haven of Monaco, Weah won the French Cup in 1991, scoring
47 goals in 103 appearances in four seasons (19881992) and proving himself a world-class
player. In his first season he won his most prized accolade of FIFA World Footballer of the Year
(the first African-born player to do so), as well as the African Player of the Year. Who would
have thought that a young boy from such humble beginnings would go on to accomplish such
greatness. He later became a light of hope for his countrymen and would do so much in his
power to help his people at home. Since then, so many African soccer players have followed in
his footsteps and tried their best to develop their various countries.
Soccer gives many different people many different reasons to love it. For large numbers
of people around the gloe attachment to their soccer clubwhether it be the smallest local
amateur club or the ultimate super power club with its ultimate galactico playersis something
of the utmost psychological significance. FIFA, soccers world governing body, appositely paints
a vibrant picture of the game as physical movement that simultaneously moves the emotions
(Fdration Internationale de Football Association, n.d.). Truly the worlds game, the global
popularity of the sport has risen to new heights. Spectator attendances at soccer matches in
England are now at their highest for many years (reaching nearly 30 million in the 2003/4
season; by comparison, in 1988/89, this gure was around 18 million).
Unfortunately, however, intergroup conict and social disorder remain an inescapable
element of this pastime enjoyed by millions. Within the last decade, research has suggested that
violence arises at around 10% of soccer matches in England (Marsh, Fox, Carnibella, McCann,
& Marsh, 1996). Problems like this arise from a wide range of stuff such as why the two clubs
were founded, the location of where the club was founded, the economic means by which the
club ws founded on, and so on. Many found their identity within the club.
The social identity approach provides a logical and coherent account of the processes
which lead individuals to connect themselves to groups, and what this connectionthat is, social
identicationmeans for the individuals concerned. In particular, because of a motivational
drive toward self- and group-enhancement (e.g. Tajfel & Turner, 1986, see also Abrams & Hogg,
1998; Hogg & Abrams, 1988), consider ingroups by their very nature to be of emotional
signicance to the self-concept. The sporting world provides many sources for strong and
enduring social identication. In spectator sport, the personal psychological lives of individuals
can be tied to the fates of their chosen teams. Cialdini and colleagues (1976) classic study of
basking in reected glory demonstrated the simple power of winning and losing upon
collective self-esteem, a vivid illustration of the grip that meaningful social memberships can
exert over self-perception. In this study more students demonstrated their afliation with their
university after their university team won a football game than after losing a game. Their
ndings also hinted at the strategy of cutting off reected failure. Following group failure
members de-emphasize group affiliation and tend to distance themselves from the group.