Euro 2008 has kicked off. There is no business like show business and, probably, no show business like football. Successful players earn big money, become celebrities and role models. Football has evolved into a cult. Supporting a football team is often a matter of intense tribal loyalty.
Globalisation and the mass media have led to this hyper-commercialisation of football. Top clubs earn half of their revenue from pay TV and sponsorships. Such money has transformed the economics of running a football club.
It has also widened the gap with lower tier clubs, which still rely mostly on gate money for their income. The leading clubs run their own TV channels, showing replays of recent games, classic matches, exclusive interviews with the players and so on. It is expected that this football mania will soon hit the internet.
Merchandising too is an important source of revenue for top clubs. Many of them have at any time four kit variations. They also tend to change sponsors on a regular basis. Buying the latest kit, like fashion wear, is an expensive proposition. It is a form of planned product obsolescence. Addiction to a club's colours is the kind of brand loyalty that marketers dream about.
Success breeds success. Higher revenues make it possible for these clubs to afford higher wages and to contract the best players. Still, things can go wrong as former top clubs Leeds Utd and Olimpique Marseilles found out at their own expense. Owning a football club remains an expensive business and is the playing field for long-established rich families like Massimo Moratti's, the nouveau riche like Silvio Berlusconi and Roman Abramovic, and American mega-money makers such as Malcolm Glazer and George Soros. In return, these owners ride on their clubs' limelight.
Unfortunately, much of the game's magic is disappearing. Most games are a real bore, with play being stifled by the fear of losing. Moments of creativity and pure technique are rare. Tactics and speed reign supreme. Football is no longer an art; it has become a science. What seems to matter most is the result not the show. This may seem to be a paradox given the ever-increasing popularity of football. Perhaps the intrinsic value of football is in boosting egos not entertainment.
Luckily, there is still the odd game that captures the imagination of millions the world over. This year's Champions League final was one of them. It was a night of high drama, worthy of the best Indiana Jones' sequel. Man. United's third triumph in this competition is the main storyline. But there are many other sub-plots, such as that of Chelsea captain John Terry.
A London boy, raised through the club's nurseries, John Terry is known as Mr Chelsea. Considered to be one of the world's best centre backs in action, his drive, determination and leadership make him a true hero to the club's fans. John Terry was lucky to make it to Chelsea's first Champions League final. A few days before, during the last Premiership match against Bolton Wanderers, he clashed with his own goalkeeper and dislocated his left elbow.
The final, played in Moscow's Luzhniki stadium, was an exciting game, with touches of high-quality football. United dominated the first half but, after the break, Chelsea were the better team. The game ended in a one-all draw and went into extra time. John Terry saved Chelsea by miraculously heading off the line a strike by Ryan Giggs. The game was to be decided by a penalty shoot-out, football's version of Russian roulette. Ronaldo, who had scored United's goal and the fans' man of the match, missed the Red Devils' third penalty. Chelsea's last kick could win them the much-coveted trophy.
It should have been Didier Drogba's turn to take the penalty but he had been sent off four minutes from the end of extra time. In his absence, it should have been Nicolas Anelka's turn. However, the latter refused. So John Terry stepped up to face fate. While hitting the ball he slipped, his shot hit the post and went wide. Man. Utd were saved; they went on to win the shoot-out. For John Terry, the moment of possible collective glory turned into one of extreme personal pain. The Iron Man broke down in tears. Maybe it was self pity or perhaps profound guilt at having failed his team and the fans.
Everyone seems to have expected John Terry to score. His failure was one of football's defining moments. Arguably, it came close to Roberto Baggio's miss in the penalty shoot-out against Brazil, which cost Italy the 1994 World Cup. It is these moments which stick in the public consciousness and underwrite football's popularity.
Let us hope that Euro 2008 will offer us other such moments and more entertainment.
fms18@onvol.net