Philosophy, Football and Sportswashing
“That’s a thing sportswashing can do. You can literally buy people’s minds.” The Sports Gazette speaks to investigative journalist, Philippe Auclair, about the dangers of state ownership.
Investigative journalists in the football industry in these days have their desks heavy and diaries full.
With the acceleration of corruption within football’s most ancient institutions, the proliferation of ‘sportswashing’ across all sports, and with fresh scandals being unearthed constantly, spending an afternoon picking the brains of investigative journalist, Philippe Auclair, seemed unrealistic.
But in a quiet yet quirky pub in Hammersmith, Auclair seemed appreciative to have a break from his usual line of work, the most recent of which relating to the presence of Asian betting brands in European football.
Auclair – a musician, journalist and author – is at heart, a philosopher. He studied a master’s degree in philosophy at École normale supérieure de Saint-Cloud in Paris from 1979-83 before making the jump to football journalism in the 90s.
“[Philosophy]’s been fundamental. It’s changed my life. There’s a pre-philosophy Philippe and a post-philosophy Philippe, and they’re not the same person. It informs absolutely everything I do.
“My training as a philosopher basically gave me all the tools and the skills I needed, and then some. Philosophical skills are applicable everywhere,” he said.
Football and philosophy interrelate depending on the way you spin it: Total Football and the influence of Johan Cruyff on the game, or Manchester United’s approach to bringing through the youth.
If you wanted to be cleverer, you could apply formal logic to football. For example:
All bald men are crooks.
Gianni Infantino is a bald man.
Gianni Infantino is a crook.
Speaking in philosophical terms, that would be a valid argument to make. But during his time in Paris, Auclair and his lecturers weren’t interested in logic.
“My specialties were ethics and aesthetics. A philosophy background certainly helps with the understanding of some of the key questions – certainly moral and ethical questions around football – better than others.
“I place a huge value on language which means my bullshit detector is super-finely tuned which is a good thing. In football, it is a very good thing,” he said.
Ethics is a particularly pertinent aspect of philosophy as it pertains to football. Moral dilemmas pop up in philosophy all the time. The Trolley Problem – in which you must decide whether it is right to save five people by killing one other – is perhaps the most famous dilemma of them all.
Football fans have recently found themselves entrenched in the same kinds of moral quandaries. Choose success with morally compromised owners, or choose stagnation under incompetent ones?
Newcastle United is the latest club to opt for the former, and it perhaps won’t be the last. The Qatari bid for Manchester United is reported to be the Glazer family’s preferred choice over Sir Jim Ratcliffe’s offer.
“To be honest, if I were a Manchester United fan – a proper Manchester United fan – I would look at it and be absolutely appalled. And if the same thing happened to The Arsenal, I would do it without a second thought. I would create a second Arsenal somewhere,” said Auclair.
If the Qatari bid were to be successful, Man United would join Newcastle, Manchester City and PSG on the list of high-profile, state-owned clubs. FC United of Manchester might have a boost in season ticket sales. They might not. If we’re taking Newcastle as an example, the latter seems more likely.
The states who own those clubs have been under the magnifying glass ever since they dipped their toes into football.
We all know about the deaths of migrant workers in Qatar; we know about the Gulf’s stance on members of the LGBT+ community; we know about the rights of women in those countries. Last year in Saudi Arabia, 81 people were executed in one day. Who will be in the running to host the 2034 World Cup? Iran?
Talk around those issues, however, has almost completely dissipated post-World Cup.
“It’s quite extraordinary to think that we have people who are responsible for ethics committees within football administrations who come from Qatar and Bahrain. Come on, man. Bahrain – really?
“In terms of what is happening in those countries, nothing has changed. Despite all the efforts they’re making to present themselves as forward-looking countries, they’re forward-looking in only one way which is in terms of the economic sphere,” Auclair said.
Should we be worried about the new roots through which success in football can stem?
“Yes, I’m incredibly worried and I think the balance has tilted already. In some way, that’s the kind of fight that my friends and I are fighting. I really believe that we are part of a resistance movement – sort of like an undercover commando of truth,” Auclair said.
At a fundamental level, sport is about escapism: savouring the 90 minutes; cheering on your favourite driver; wincing as your idols slug it out over 12 rounds. That’s why we love it. When you’re there, the horrors of the real word feel secondary.
“Today I was at the Emirates and that’s all I was focusing on. I wasn’t thinking about the moral implications of being at the Emirates Stadium. I was thinking, ‘Bloody hell! Martin Ødegaard is one hell of a footballer’,” Auclair said.
But when those horrors are staring you in the face – whether that’s at St. James’ Park or the multiple circuits on the Formula One calendar – surely it becomes increasingly difficult to banish those thoughts from your mind.
Don’t misconstrue this as some kind of high-horsery. Newcastle have had it so painfully bad for such a long time; it’s every fan’s dream to get to the top, let alone those who have suffered so brutally. The point is that fans shouldn’t have to choose. Football is our sport – our escape – but state ownership creates rifts, and leaves people behind.
The message purported by FIFA and other sporting institutions alike is that sport is for everyone. But in handing world sporting events to some of the cruellest dictatorships in the world, the inclusivity begins to wane.
Of course, this handover isn’t a free transaction. The Gulf states’ wealth is the main reason why the World Cup was in Qatar last year, and why the World Cup in 2030 might be held in Saudi Arabia. It’s also why the Gulf states have recently become a holiday home for F1 and combat sports.
“It’s like a dictatorship grand tour thanks to the FIA,” Auclair said.
More money flows through football and there’s more eyes on it too, so it’s not a surprise that the FIA’s exploits aren’t given as much scrutiny.
I’m sure, however, that most Newcastle, Manchester City and PSG fans would all scrutinise their owners for the same reasons Auclair does. But perception doesn’t matter – to the fans, nor the owners – when the trophy cabinets need replacing every few years. That is, for Auclair, the most harrowing sentiment of it all.
“I don’t think the perception of Saudi Arabia has changed one jot. I don’t think the perception of Qatar has evolved positively. But they don’t care because that’s not the point of the exercise for them. They don’t want to be loved. They want to be powerful.
“It’s beyond cognitive dissonance, I think. There’s a point where you become instruments, and that’s a thing sportswashing can do. You can literally buy people’s minds,” he said.
There’s no tax on the purchase of peoples’ minds, but there are other caveats. The threat of the European Super League in 2021 was quickly extinguished, but by allowing state ownership to become a bridge for success, we’re putting at risk the very fibre of the game: competition. The Super League would happen, just without the branding.
“The risk is that over the next few years, and it’s going to come very quickly, the discrepancy in terms of spending power between those clubs will be such that there will be a super, super elite.
“Newcastle United, Manchester City and PSG are clubs unlike any other in the world; they are a different beast, a different species. But we carry on talking about them as if they belong in the ecosphere,” he said.
So along with morality, competition could also be on its way out of football.
Newcastle secured Champions League football next season after their draw with Leicester City in midweek. Since the Saudis took over, they’ve spent a mere £250 million on the way. If Sheikh Jassim’s bid is accepted, Manchester United may embark on a similar spending extravaganza, adding to the £200 million already spent since Erik ten Haag’s tenure began.
The problem is that a precedent was set back in 2008 with Sheikh Mansour’s takeover of City. Money equals success, and the Gulf states have the most money.
Five Premier League titles in the last six years is the perfect example of that precedent in action, and Newcastle may be in store for an even quicker rise based on this season.
The Premier League cannot be complicit in the formation of this super, super elite, especially if they claim to be an all-inclusive, world-leading sporting body.
Hopefully, the introduction of an independent regulator in English football will ensure that those who are supposed to be custodians of our national sport have a strong moral compass, and value competition as quintessential to the game.
If it doesn’t, the beast that Auclair refers will go untamed, and the consequences he alludes to, perhaps realised.
