Sports Research Lab

Prologue: Why Football Must Be Read Through the Lens of Political Economy Football has long enjoyed widespread popularity across various regions. In Europe and Latin America especially, it has been a sport that sensitively reflected the political and economic conditions of its time. Nevertheless, attempts to read football in its political-economic context remain rare. It is as though the football stadium exists as a space detached from the world, and the 90 minutes of a match are a time of excitement and fervor unrelated to social change. Yet football has always been connected to the conditions of its era far more deeply than we tend to assume. How have the rules of football changed? When and where are matches held? Who was allowed to play? Who became spectators, and who cheered? Who owned the clubs? These questions appear at first glance to be questions about football itself. But a satisfactory answer requires consideration of political-economic context — the values of the era, the us...

 

 

 

  JOSH - Circh paper -2nd