By Albrecht Sonntag, professor at ESSCA and member of the Sport and Citizenship scientific committee
We forget it too often: a football match is first and foremost a meeting. It is a simple truth that deserves to be remembered, as it is drowned out in the hubbub of frenzied media discourse, eclipsed by business issues, tarnished by racist or violent incidents that are certainly quite rare but intolerable.
And when this meeting is international, as are the 51 matches which will take place during the European Championship in Germany between June 14 and July 14, it takes on a particular dimension. For many children, major sporting events are the discovery of all the diversity of peoples gathered around a game in a peaceful competition. Abstract names printed on a card take shape into the embodiment of a team. Now is the time to get a first idea of what “international” means.
And for the less young, international matches, at the stadium or in front of the television, are small doses of intercultural boosterism which have the advantage, thanks to the well-oiled sports calendar, of being administered on a very regular basis. Each of these meetings is an opportunity to nuance received ideas, to have fun inviting old stereotypes that we know are outdated, to update our perceptions. Football, it’s the poor man’s ERASMUS : accessible to all, it allows, during its high masses, to sniff others. To see that they are, in their ordinary passion, both singular and ultimately not so different from us.
A wide open window
It has become a cliché to talk about the gain of soft power what the nations that host these events are aiming for. This is debatable. Will Germany gain influence on the diplomatic scene because it is paying football Europe a nice summer party? It is permissible to doubt.
On the other hand, for us, the spectators, it is certainly a great opportunity to update our knowledge. This year, football opens a wide window onto a neighboring society which, due to lack of linguistic knowledge and cultural appetite, often remains distant, vague, foreign for a large majority.
It is to seize the opportunity provided by this Euro 2024 that was designed the project of a “Travel Guide” book of a particular kind: a dive into the culture of German football which, we quickly realize, really cuts across all of society across the Rhine. Initiated by myself, coordinated with the help of Stephan Klemmjournalist in Cologne and author of a remarkable investigation into the semi-final of the 1982 World Cup in Sevilleas well as Paul Dietschygrand story du football, professor at the University of Franche-Comtéthe work was produced by the Presses Universitaires de Franche-Comté, with the support of theFranco-German Youth Officewhich allows it to be distributed for free.
The Travel Guide, which thanks to its format can be read comfortably on a smartphone screen, is organized around ten chapters focused on the host cities hosting the event. There is nothing academic about these portraits: they are testimonies from football fans, anchored in local culture, who share their passion, not without humor, with their French readers. By getting to know these cities, you learn a lot of things, well beyond just the history of German football with its treasure trove of anecdotes. We appropriate an everyday, popular, unvarnished culture, which has a lot to say about society as a whole.
To share without moderation
Between the portraits of the cities, a whole series of shorter chapters provide additional insight. And some distinguished guests leave their mark: Philipp Lahm, tournament director, gave us a very personal interview; Jean-Charles Sabattier and Hervé Mathoux question “the metamorphosis of German football”, Katja Kraus and Helen Breit, founders of the “Football can do better” movement evaluate the place of women in football in Germany.
If the 10,000 printed copies of the book are primarily intended to be distributed on site, to supporters of the Blues who have traveled to accompany their team in Germany, the downloadable PDF version (https://pufc.univ-fcomte.fr/Euro2024.pdf) can be shared without the slightest moderation in France. We do not go too far in guaranteeing a reading that is both entertaining and enriching.
A modest goal
These days, there is often a tendency to overload football with societal missions. It must promote inclusion, challenge racism and discrimination, achieve gender equality, raise awareness of climate change, lead the fight against a sedentary lifestyle, and reduce inequalities. And as a bonus, bring moments of cohesion to societies experiencing increased fragmentation.
A European Championship is perhaps the opportunity to address a more modest request: if it could simply arouse curiosity for neighbors, allow us to know more about their lives, and why not generate this empathy which remains the mother of all intercultural skills, it would have already done a lot.
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Read the previous article of the week:
Educate young people about environmental protection with the OSES guide
par Dominika Wojcieszekspecialist in marine conservation and Julie MongardCommunications Officer, Sport and Citizenship
