Well another World Cup is upon us and after just four days of the competition we've already seen some magnificent goals, scorelines and memorable moments at Brazil 2014. The tournament has certainly lived up to its' great expectations with enthusiastic crowds flocking from the around the world to catch a glimpse of their respective national team in what is the greatest tournament of all, the FIFA World Cup. The red hot favourites at present seem to be the in form Holland, Germany and Brazil. Not surprising really when you consider that, between these three nations, they've appeared in 17 World Cup Grand Final matches. The Socceroos played out a 3-1 loss to Chile which was a bit of an unfortunate scoreline for Australia, given the amount of attacking football and near chances the Socceroos had. The match was also a stark reminder of the divide between our national team compared to the other 31 nations at this tournament. Australia holds the proud distinction (insert sarcasm here) of being the lowest ranked FIFA nation at this World Cup, with a FIFA World ranking of Number 62. Bearing in mind there are 32 countries at this tournament, it's very surprising that a country like Australia (with a ranking that low) are able to qualify for the World Cup ahead of other worthy contenders like Sweden and Romania. This also comes down to the FIFA qualification rules when it comes to each continent, but that's another story for another day. When it seemed the Socceroos and Australian Soccer couldn't sink any lower, due to the disappointment of the Chile match and the current ranking of the national team, a former Socceroo made headlines yesterday for all the wrong reasons.
On the back of what has been a poor 9 months for the Socceroos, this was the last thing the national team and its supporters needed. Having had very little to cheer about since September last year with the sacking of Holger Osieck coupled with a few heavy losses on the field, this recent incident will surely set Australian Soccer back a few steps. The incident I'm referring to is the racism scandal surrounding former Socceroo midfielder Scott Chipperfield. While watching the Ivory Coast v Japan match, Chipperfield took to Twitter to personally vilify Ivorian midfielder Serey Die with the following tweet, "Serey die looks like a typical African. Forget how to play. Need brains to play football" sic. Not only is this an ignorant, uneducated and racist comment, but it comes at the worst possible time for Football. The World Cup, like any other International Sporting event , is about bringing nations together and spreading the message of unity through Sport. The message of peace and harmony through Sport is the central message of each and every FIFA World Cup. Whether supporters know it or not, this was the inspiration and edict laid out by Frenchman Jules Rimet when he came up with the idea of staging the very first World Cup tournament back in 1930. For Scott Chipperfield (who played at two World Cups for Australia) to say say these racist things is to contradict and go against everything Jules Rimet stood for and what the World Cup stands for. But the problem for Australian Soccer is not limited to these comments made by Chipperfield; it's a deep-seated issue that's been holding Australian Soccer back for many years.
In his 2002 Memoir "Sheilas, Wogs and Poofters", former Socceroo captain Johnny Warren chronicled the rise of Australian Soccer from its early years in the 1960's to the 2000's. The book was an insight in to how Soccer was vehemently rejected by Australians in the early days (1960's) for the fear of an ethnic Sport dominating the Lily white landscape of Anglo Saxon Australia. Newly landed migrants who played the game in Australia were met with strong opposition as Australians preferred their game to be rugged and their ball to be oval shaped. It was these turbulent years that were highlighted brilliantly by Warren in his 2002 Autobiography. The book was an honest account and a tell all of not only the migrant's struggle to play the game of Fooball (Soccer) in Australia, but also Johnny Warren's and other players players struggle during that time. Even today Football is met with stiff opposition by those (namely preppie Private School Rugby Men/Boys) who feel it's a game for pansies. There have been a barrage of comments and memes (mainly in Australia) since the World Cup started, denouncing Soccer by saying it's a Sport full of divers and cheats. It goes without saying there are cheats in Soccer who play act in order to receive a free kick or penalty, but that sort of thing happens in every Sport. If a Rugby Union player was found guilty of illegal betting, match fixing or bribing, than they're no better than the Soccer player who is accused of taking a dive on the field. My point is, cheating exists in all forms in every Sport. And with the rise of SportsBet and other Sports Gambling syndicates, we're probably not far off seeing a betting scandal on TV involving some Sportsman, punter or bookie in the near future.
The Scott Chipperfield incident is a constant reminder that Racism is a lot like the common cold or flu, everyone hates it but it's never going to disappear. The deeper issue at heart though is Australian Soccer and how it's being embraced. Much like the early years of Soccer back in the 1960's, Soccer in Australia is still at odds with the Australian public. Whether it's for fear of supporting a Sport that is seen as not being totally "Australian" or just complacency, it's surely set the standard of what we're seeing today with the Socceroos, a subpar team that need a lot of improvement at the International level. When you consider the abysmal performances and these recent Scott Chipperfield comments, the Socceroos credibility has well and truly gone out the window. He now has the World's attention, only now (unlike in 2006 and 2010) all eyes are on him for all the wrong reasons. But as long as Chipperfield keeps this racist mindset and as long as Rugby lovers keep denigrating Soccer, then we're always going to see a lacklustre Australian Soccer competition and national team.
Written by Alex Stilianos.
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