soccer

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To cover Qatar World Cup, journalists will have to understand both soccer and Islam

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To cover Qatar World Cup, journalists will have to understand both soccer and Islam

The World Cup in Qatar kicks off in less than a week. It is likely to be the most controversial soccer tournament in FIFA’s history, something that has dogged the host nation since being awarded the tournament in 2010.

The controversy is largely tied to the Muslim country’s beliefs and mores. It’s about human rights, welcoming LGBTQ fans, drinking alcohol and modest dress. It’s as much a cultural and societal issue as it is a sporting one. It is also, of course, a religion-news story.

The focus of the news coverage so far has been around what could happen on the field as much as off of it.

Qatari officials have labeled much of the negative coverage either racist or Islamophobic. Either way, this could be the first global sporting event in history where religion, and understanding it, will be a major part of the overall context of this competition. Even the World Cup’s official mascot is an homage to Islamic garb. And did you notice the Pride logo for the 2022 team USA kit?

I explore many of these themes and issues in my new book on the history of the World Cup. With over a billion followers, Islam is the second-largest religion in the world after Christianity. Muslims are forbidden from drinking alcohol since the Prophet Muhammad, to whom Muslims believe the word of God was revealed in the Quran, spoke against it. This is key for sports editors and journalists to understand when it comes to Qatar 2022 coverage.

For example, Qatari officials have said beer will be sold inside the venues and drinking will be allowed inside designated areas, such as fan zones, hotels and restaurants. I was asked that very question months ago when I was booking my trip to Doha. At the same time, billboards have been put up across the country with quotes from the Prophet Muhammed.

The Associated Press, with bureaus across the globe, put together a great explainer under the headline, “Islam in Qatar explained ahead of FIFA World Cup.” This is a must-read for editors and reporters as well as fans and visitors. Here is how it opens:

Qatar is a Muslim nation, with laws, customs and practices rooted in Islam. The country is neither as liberal as Dubai in the United Arab Emirates nor as conservative as parts of Saudi Arabia. Most of its citizens are Sunni Muslim.


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Sports, passion, faith: The ties that bind are always there, even if journalists miss them

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Sports, passion, faith: The ties that bind are always there, even if journalists miss them

Sports, in so many ways, are almost like a religion for many people. Like religion, sports can convey important lessons about culture and values. From the times of the Ancient Greeks, athletes were sometimes accorded the status of gods.

Not much has changed since ancient times. Modern society has given god-like status to many athletes. Lebron James, Tiger Woods and Lionel Messi are just three athletes who garner such adulation on a global scale.

The question here at GetReligion is how this relationship shows up in news stories about sports, especially stories in which religious faith is — according to the athletes themselves — a key element in their lives and their success.

A new book by Randall Balmer, a historian who holds the John Phillips Chair in Religion at Dartmouth University, called “Passion Plays: How Religion Shaped Sports in North America” (University of North Carolina Press) explores the relationship between sports and religion. It will be available starting Sept. 20. For journalists and news readers, this book can be a door into some important topics in the news.

Balmer is an academic, not a journalist. Yet, he is on to something here -- something most sports writers miss altogether when they cover games or write player features. This is a book about subjects that religion-beat pros need to consider, since so few sports pros appear willing to do so.

GetReligion hasn't shied away from sports in the past and how it often intersects with faith and religion, as seen in this Google search for “GetReligion,” “sports” and “ghosts.”

For years, GetReligion has noted God-sized gaps in sports stories. We refer to these holes as "holy ghosts." Consider the titles of these posts: “Tragic death of NBA coach's wife Ingrid Williams and a missing element in the news,” “God credited with shrinking figure skater's brain tumor, but otherwise terrific story haunted by ghost” and “Haunted house Olympics: How many of the faith-driven stories did you see in Rio coverage?”

Balmer writes in the introduction that the book “examines how the history of religion across North America connects in fascinating ways to the emergence of modern team sports.” He also argues, very persuasively, that modern sports have “evolved into a phenomenon that generates at least as much passion as traditional religion.”

I can relate to Balmer’s general argument.


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Concerning prayers and penalty kicks: Inside the official Vatican soccer tournament

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Concerning prayers and penalty kicks: Inside the official Vatican soccer tournament

Beyond the Vatican’s walls and its soaring columns lies a not-so-secret passion. It is this passion, one that envelopes much of the planet, that takes over the lives of a select group of Catholic priests and seminarians.

This passion is especially relevant with the Italian national team playing in the finals of EURO 2020.

What is this passion? It’s soccer, of course. In particular, it’s the annual Clericus Cup, a soccer tournament contested by teams from various seminaries located throughout Rome. Founded in 2007, the competition features 66 different nationalities and is the brainchild of Cardinal Tarcisio Bertone, the former Vatican secretary of state and rabid soccer fan.

The tournament pits against one another different religious orders and schools where seminarians are studying and training to become ordained priests. Think of it as March Madness for priests-in-training who play the world’s most popular sport. In fact, the tournament has received regular press from the Italian media and even the subject last year of a feature story on FIFA.com, soccer’s world governing body.

This unique sporting event is the focus of a new 69-minute documentary called “The Holy Game” by filmmakers Brent Hodge and Chris Kelly. The film, distributed by Gravitas Ventures, details what’s often called the “World Cup of the Church” — but also takes a behind-the-scenes look at these seminarians who love both playing the game and the challenges that come with dedicated their lives to God.

Soccer aside, the film follows several seminarians all with a seemingly similar backstory: self-doubt and anxiety over what awaits them once they are ordained.


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Catholicism, faith and soccer: Asking some questions about a Messi religion situation

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I often joke with friends that the biggest religion in the world is soccer.

Yes, soccer. It’s kind of a combination of worldview, faith and sociology.

Depending what part of the world you hail from, this sport is also known as football, futbol, calcio, futebol and voetbal. But no matter what you call it, soccer is the passion of millions upon millions of people across the globe (including this super fan) and increasingly so in the United States.

Soccer, in my experience, can be — and has been — a very unifying force. No matter where in the world I may be, just mention that you follow soccer almost automatically results in a conversation. I have found that to be true everywhere I’ve been — from South Africa to Brazil to Russia. I have also found taxi drivers everywhere to be among the biggest, and most knowledgable, fans of the world’s most popular sport.

Soccer has many parallels to organized religion, especially Catholicism. Some of the world’s best players hail from majority Catholic nations (although evangelicals and Pentecostals are on the rise in South America).

True believers gather — at least they did before COVID-19 — on Sundays inside massive stadiums (often likened to cathedrals) to cheer on their favorite teams with a fervor unseen in other sports around the world. It also isn’t unusual for soccer players to make the sign of the cross after a goal or when a team records a victory. Despite all these parallels, it is often lost on journalists that religious faith, and how it impacts a particular player or team, has very real resonance to the story and readers.

Take, for example, Lionel Messi. The Barcelona star (who seemed to be on the brink of signing with Manchester City) decided earlier this month to stay in the Spanish city.

In an exclusive interview with Goal.com, Messi outlined why he decided to stay. Here’s what he said:

“My son, my family, they grew up here and are from here. There was nothing wrong with wanting to leave. I needed it, the club needed it and it was good for everyone.

“My wife, with all the pain of her soul, supported and accompanied me.”

This is a time when journalists, sports writers in particular, have little trouble asking public figures questions related to politics. Indeed, this summer has seen leagues across the United States, for example, openly advocate for social justice by wearing Black Lives Matter shirts or refusing to play altogether in order to make a statement about police brutality.

If politics can be something athletes can care about deeply, isn’t faith also one of them?


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God, man and FIFA: The ongoing struggle to keep soccer as 'secular' as possible

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God, man and FIFA: The ongoing struggle to keep soccer as 'secular' as possible

Before we dive into this week's "Crossroads" podcast -- which is about faith and football (soccer here in America) -- please click here and take a look at the map that ran atop a Washington Post feature story in 2015. (To tune in the new podcast, just click here.)

Basically, if you are looking for lots and lots of unbelievers, your best bet is to head to China, Europe and other highly industrialized and educated nations.

Where things get really complex is in Europe -- a continent in which belief and unbelief bump into one another on a regular basis. North America is quickly moving in that direction as well (you may have seen a few headlines about that). 

Now, look at the same map and think about the teams that made it into this year's FIFA World Cup (click here for a list).

Quite a mix of faith-intensive and rather faith-free nations, right? And what about the championship game, with powerful France taking on the cinderella squad from Croatia?

The Catholic News Agency offered this interesting feature about Croatia and its coach, under this striking headline: "Croatia's World Cup soccer coach clings to the rosary as he finds success."

How would this kind of symbolism play in modern France? Here is a key chunk of this story:

Here’s one reason Catholics in the US might be rooting for the small Central European country: Croatia is a deeply Catholic country, and the coach of its national team, Zlatko Dalic, is a man of sincere faith.

Dalic said recently that his current success is due to his faith in God, and that he always carries a rosary to hold onto in difficult times. Dalic spoke about his faith on Croatian Catholic radio when the World Cup began.

“Everything I have done in my life and in my professional career I owe to my faith, and I am grateful to my Lord,” Dalic said. ... "When a man loses any hope, then he must depend on our merciful God and on our faith," he said.

In that sense, Dalic explained that "I always carry a rosary with me" and "when I feel that I am going through a difficult time I put my hand in my pocket, I cling to it and then everything is easier.”

Now, why is the rosary hidden in his pocket? Why not just wear it around his wrist?


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Flip side of GetReligion's coin: Some people (journalists) really think religion is fake

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Flip side of GetReligion's coin: Some people (journalists) really think religion is fake

This whole week, I have been in Prague in the Czech Republic, teaching in a conference for young journalists -- most of whom are from Eastern Europe.

You will not be surprised to know that I have been lecturing on the importance of accurate informed news coverage of religion. And that led right into this week's (long distance) Crossroads podcast. Click here to tune that in.

Since I am in serious soccer territory, I talked about my post earlier this week that ran with this headline: "Telegraph hits some sour notes in a simple story about a footballer becoming a priest." I told them that this was not a horrible story, but it contained many awkward, simple, rather stupid mistakes.

What, I asked, if you were a soccer fan and you kept reading stories by reporters who did not know the difference between a striker and a goalie, between a corner kick and a brilliant cross during a breakaway, between the World Cup and the Euro championships? After a while, wouldn't you lose some faith in that newspaper, in its commitment to quality?

This, I said, is how millions of people feel when they read twisted, flawed religion-news coverage.

But what, several of the students said, if you really don't think religion matters? That you believe that religious faith is basically meaningless or worse?

It doesn't matter, I argued. Do you think you need to understand religion to cover the Middle East? How about European arguments about immigration? How about the 2016 USA White House race?

In other words, I made a SOCIOLOGICAL case for religion coverage, not a THEOLOGICAL case. I have known atheists who were fine religion-beat pros, because they grasped the role that religion played in public and private life.

So then a student from the former Soviet bloc asked: So, would you argue that Communism was a religion?


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