Seeing the Mid-East through football

The Turbulent World of Middle East Soccer - By James M Dorsey

JAMES Dorsey is not a fan of football, and yet, for the past 11 years, he has taken a keen interest in soccer in the Middle East. He discovered that studying the sport could be very revealing of the politics and social currents of the entire region. He writes a blog on the subject and has now written a book.

Football is so popular in the Middle East that it should perhaps not be surprising that rulers try to commandeer it to enhance their prestige. Saddam Hussein's son, Uday, notoriously took a direct hand in managing the Iraqi national team, who were extravagantly rewarded for victories, but tortured and humiliated for whatever Uday saw as their failures. One former national team member recalls players being electrocuted, forced to play barefoot with a concrete ball in temperatures of 55 degrees C and having their heads shaved when the team failed to qualify for the World Cup. Al Saadi, son of Libyan leader Qaddafi, took charge of the Libyan Football Federation and is accused of murdering a player who accused him of being part of a dictatorship and corrupting the country.