Cursed and Cursing the FIFA World Cup

Since we have an international readership we have to touch on The Beautiful Game.  The World Cup kicks off in South Africa in a less than twenty-four hours.  So the things that jumped out at me the most other than ESPN’s marketing push to make Americans care about the most popular sport in the world– outside of the United States, was the media focus on cursing or curses.  Referees are learning swear words and witch doctors are dispensing some mystical enchantments to help their teams.

“A pox on both your houses.”

For the big game on Saturday that pits England against the United States, FIFA is getting the the Brazilian referee and his crew a crash course in English-language obscenities.  Apparently, they are worried about the mouth on English star Wayne Rooney.

England captain Steven Gerrard said “Wayne himself just has to make sure he controls his frustrations in the right manner — and takes it out on the opposition and not the referees.”

Referees can’t give out yellow and red cards for what they think was said, and FIFA requires World Cup referees and assistants to be proficient only in English- even though eleven languages are being spoken by the various national teams.  “At the end of the day, you don’t understand half of it,” former Premier League and FIFA referee Graham Barber said. “So what do you do about it? Say ‘I think he swore he at me, so I sent him off?’ You don’t, do you?”  If it’s said in the referee’s native language or English, however, get ready for a yellow card.

Witch Doctors Show Team Spirit

National teams from the host continent are looking for spiritual help to aid their athletes.  “Eish, it is looking very good for South Africa,” the 33-year-old Zulu witch-doctor said after casting her eyes over a seemingly random scattering of animal bones and sea shells during a seance in Johannesburg.

In Africa, mysticism and magic play a part in many people’s lives, pronouncements from a witch doctor or ‘sangoma’ such as Nsukwini can carry as much weight as those from governments.  Sangomas have been a regular but unofficial fixture on the African team sheet, using their ability to commune with the dead to determine a player’s fortunes and whether a dose of sympathetic magic and traditional ‘muti’ potion is in order.

Predicting the outcome of a World Cup is beyond a sangoma’s normal duties, although Nkuswini was confident enough to say South Africa would “be strong” despite being a lowly 83rd in the FIFA rankings and 125-1 outsiders according to the bookmakers.

There was more certainty from 78-year-old Nigerian soothsayer John Adatiri, who was able to make a precise call on the outcome despite admitting it was the first time he had analysed a soccer tournament in his 50 years as a mystic.  After a brief but intense stare into a two-sided mirror pulled from an old wash bag in his zinc-roofed hut in Lagos, Adatiri declared: “Nigeria go play quarter final. Brazil go win.”

In Ivory Coast, another West African nation with big World Cup hopes, fans have been going to juju priests and a charmed grove near the capital to conjure up some magic on the pitch. “We are visiting our sacred forest two or three times a week to support the fight,” said Gnahouleou Emile, president of the national side’s supporters’ club.

Does God Care About Soccer Or Any Sports?

The talk of witch doctors and potions might sound strange to those of us in the West, but is it any more bizarre than fans praying for the victory of their favorite team?  And it always seems to be the fans that believe that their deity cares about the outcome of a sporting event.  Do they really want God distracted from more meaning events?  And what does it mean when one of their players is injured?  Is that God sending a message of displeasure?

The player don’t put stock in supernatural or religious help on the field of play.  Opposing players have joint prayer circles after games thanking their particular religious deity that nobody got seriously injured during the game.

Although they are a little to quick to thank God when they win.  They never seem to point the finger at the Almighty when they lose.  In a January 2009 interview with Esquire Magazine, former Cleveland Brown running back and NFL Hall of Famer Jim Brown voiced the obvious:  “God ain’t got nothing to do with winning a damn football game.”

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