Opinion: Why ISIS declared war on soccer
By Andrés Martinez
It’s not surprising that the crazed “Soldiers of the Caliphate” terrorists selected the France-Germany soccer match at the Stade de France as the central target in their assault on Paris. For starters, the match was a high-profile attraction bringing together 80,000 fans, including French President Francois Hollande. As American moviegoers across generations can tell you (see “Black Sunday” or “The Sum of All Fears”), televised sports events present dramatic, desirable targets for terrorists.
Indeed, the Stade de France was the one target in Paris last Friday night where the terrorists must have known they’d encounter a level of security they might not (and ultimately did not, thankfully) overcome. Still they deemed it a worthwhile attempt. At least one and possibly up to three suicide bombers sought to enter the stadium. The first bomber detonated his vest upon being stopped at a security perimeter. Two other suicide bombers blew themselves up outside the stadium; the thwarted bombers only took the life of one victim. The gruesome plan probably entailed sequencing the explosions inside the stadium in such a way that would have killed not only people seated nearby, but also thousands more in an ensuing panicked stampede.
There is another reason why Islamist fanatics intent on a war between civilizations would target a major soccer match: the sport’s singular role in bridging western culture and Muslim youth.
Soccer is one form of global pop culture not driven by the United States, but it’s still a potent Western influence. If terrorists in the Middle East spend any time fantasizing about attacking an NFL or NBA game, it’d only be because they know Americans care about those games. But soccer — the global sport centered on Europe’s major leagues but drawing in players, fans, and business interests from most of the planet — is an obsession throughout the Muslim world.
The game also offers the most prominent example of successful cross-cultural assimilation within Europe. Some of the most prominent French and German stars in recent years – Germany’s Mesmut Özil and Sami Khedira; France’s Karim Benzema and Bacary Sagna – are Muslim celebrities of immigrant backgrounds.
The impressive diversity of Europe’s soccer leagues and national teams has long been a potent force for disarming xenophobic anti-immigrant sentiment and racism across Europe. North African immigrants have never felt more welcome in France than when the entire nation rallied around Zinedine Zidane, the captain of the 1998 World Cup winning French squad. And it is no small cultural milestone for Turkish immigrants in Germany to have millions of German fans wearing jerseys bearing the name of midfield artist Özil.
But the converse often gets overlooked: the impact of immigrant players on the mindsets of soccer fans across the Middle East and North Africa — and of crazed terrorists who thrive on the narrative that there is no compatibility between degenerate infidel societies and righteous Muslims.
The sport is a seductress of Muslim youth much to the chagrin of those eager to fend off Western influences. Across the Middle East, soccer has been a galvanizing force in the debates over whether girls should be allowed to play sports. Just look at any photos of large crowds milling about anywhere in the region – whether at a Syrian refugee camp in Jordan or an upscale mall in Dubai or Saudi Arabia – and you will invariably see some people sporting Real Madrid, Barcelona, Bayern Munich, or Manchester United jerseys.
European games are avidly watched across the region, courtesy of Qatari-owned beIN Sports, the same TV network broadcasting Spanish and French games to U.S. audiences. The success of so many Muslim and immigrant players in the English, Spanish, French, and German leagues provides a constant counter-narrative to tales of immutable estrangement and alienation between West and East. And it isn’t just about players — business interests from Muslim countries (most prominently the airlines from the Gulf states) brand themselves through the sport, to a point where people in the Middle East (and as far away as Malaysia, in the case of some teams) proudly feel that certain fabled European clubs belong to them.
In some cases, they literally do. Paris’ own iconic team, Paris Saint-Germain F.C., is now owned by Qataris.
The targeting of soccer by jihadists fighting modernity should only intensify as the game’s influence continues to expand in the Muslim world. And when you look at the calendar of upcoming major tournaments—with the next two World Cups slated for Russia and Qatar, and next summer’s Euro Championship hosted by France, kicking off in the targeted Stade de France—security forces everywhere, not to mention lovers of the game, should consider last Friday night a declaration of war by the terrorists against the world’s most beloved sport.
Andrés Martinez writes the Trade Winds column for Zócalo Public Square, where he is editorial director. He is also professor at the Walter Cronkite School of Journalism at Arizona State University.
“security forces everywhere, not to mention lovers of the game, should consider last Friday night a declaration of war by the terrorists against the world’s most beloved sport.”
Then I guess we can assume they have declared war on Eagles of Death Metal music as well. How about this, Islamists have declared war on Western Civilization, Middle Eastern civilization, Russia, and just about the rest of the entire world. These animals gutted their victims while alive in the theater in Paris. They are killing old women in captured territories whom they deem to old to be used as sex slaves. And they are coming here, soccer or not.
Time to fight back as though our lives depend on it. Because they do.
Someone else said this last Friday. “Be prepared to give-up more civil liberties in the US”.
Does anyone think it’s time to stop the visa-waver- travel from Europe, fiasco? Doing THAT first, seems to be a ‘Duh’ moment IMO.
Yobobby, so are you enlisting today to fight the war you think is coming? Maybe you are escorting your son or daughter to the recruiting office to give their service. Just maybe your children along with marco rubio or raphaiel cruze’s kids will be first in line. Somehow I doubt it.
Isee,
I agree with you that no potential terrorist would go through the huge hassle of trying to get refugee status. The un-American stupidity of giving Daesh the exact response they desire by refusing refugees fleeing their despicable ideology is something that is contrary to our core values in this country.
Please don’t let the corporate media fearmongers instill xenophobia in our great nation of immigrants. Don’t let the bombastic right wingers change Lady Liberty’s torch of freedom into her middle finger to the world.
Bat crazy – done my service. How about you? You apologists have served no one very well over the years. WWII stands out a bit as a complete and utter failure for your ilk.
And am I prepared to do it again? Yep.
As much as I have no use for your kind, I hope you nor your loved ones ever have to face what 3000 did on 9/11 or the French did as they lay wounded and then were gutted while still alive. Evil must be confronted.
Have a good day.
Kae, It is time to pull the plug on the comments section. There is nothing positive or enlightening. Only bigotry and hate from the crazies that share our town. Or at least no use of pseudonyms. Maybe if they had to use their real names the conversation would be civil, but I doubt it. Its not censorship, you own the page and have control.
AROD,
You call those who disagree with you “crazies” who share your town, while hoping for more civil discourse. You don’t want civil discourse, just a one-sided one. One that you agree with.Alternate views should be banned…..
By the way, point to one comment that was bigoted.
Yobo. Tell us who are you going to fight exactly against in Syria. Islam worldwide is 80% Sunni and 20% Shia. Sunni and Shiites have been fighting a civil War for almost 1400 years. We just took out the so-called evil Saddam Hussein with Trillions of Dollars and Thousands of Casualties but the civil War continues.
ISIS is Sunni. Most of the Militias are Sunni. Saudi Arabia is Sunni. Al-Assad is a Shia Ba’thist who was forced to give up his stockpiles of chemical weapons he used on Syria and Russia/Putin did nothing. With the hanging of Saddam, Iraq is now Shia. Iran is Shia. The Sunni Turks hate the Sunni Kurds; the Turks call them Terrorists. Turkey is a NATO Ally.
To try to recap.
Russia invades Afghanistan, we help the Mujahideen defeat Russia but later the Mujahideen fight each other and the Taliban take over Afghanistan.
GW Bush declares War against the Taliban, Al Qaeda and Bin Laden but Bin Laden escapes and lives for years in Pakistan until Obama gives the kill order. Pakistan was supposed to be our ally in defeating Al Qaeda.
We invade Iraq and kill Saddam only to see the Shiite Militias take over. The Shiite Militias were the insurgents we were fighting against in Iraq. Now, the same Shiite Militias are fighting for us against ISIS.
After the Beirut Truck Bombings in 1983, Reagan got out of the Middle East.
Bush Sr. pushed Saddam’s army back into Iraq, but did NOT invade Iraq in 1991.
Collin Powell was absolutely correct saying that if we break (invade) Iraq we own it, so called “pottery barn” argument AGAINST invasion in 2003.
Yobo. For the record “Islamists” believe in Islamic Fundamentalism, however, they are NOT by definition radical jihadists, even Bush Jr. knew this.
War is not the answer
For the record, Al-assad, and his father who previously ruled over Syria, are Alawites, not Shias.
(Quick, oversimplification here: Sunnis view Mohammed as the sole prophet of their god Allah. Shias place Mohommed’s cousin/son-in-law, Ali on an equal footing with Mohammed as a prophet of Allah. Alawites believe Ali was God himself on Earth.)
Thus, some don’t view Alawites even as Muslims. Sunnis, the great majority in Syria certainly don’t. And thus the masses have never viewed the Assad family as having any legitimacy in ruling the country.
Al-assad’s Dad basically made a deal with the Iranian Ayatollahs of, “Give us the stamp of approval of being Muslims, and we’ll be your ally in the Arab world.”
Alawites make up less than 20% of Syria’s population. Now that the lid has blown off in Syria, (only Russian & Iranian support has allowed Al-assad to cling to power) order will never be restored until a Sunni govt. has the controls.
The hope is it’ll be a moderate one, not a radical ISIS one.
Parker. Yes, that is the detail of Al-Assad and the deal or allegiance, but the end result is Shiite control.
We can hope that a leader is moderate, but look what happened with our history in Iraq with Saddam; he was our “friend” at one time.
The simple point is that no one has clean hands in the Middle East.
bat: If war is not the answer (in your mind) then enlighten us as to what your answer is. Maybe you choose to hide behind your chicken Sh*t joke of a leader.
You don’t think the war is coming? ISIS is HERE and will attack. If you can’t see this then again, hide behind your coward of a leader. You have no respect for this country, just like your coward.
Kitty litter, sticks and stones
You are one HATEFUL B/+€#…
Ahh. Smells like 2002 in here. Fear mongering, xenophobia, calling people cowards and unpatriotic. We better do something ‘before the smoking gun becomes a mushroom cloud’…
Where is Justass?
I need a drink, pronto.
Saddam was only our friend in terms of having a mutual enemy, Iran. When he was at war with a govt. that siezed our embassy, Saddam at the time was found to be the lesser of two evils. We worked with him only to the extent of defeating Iran.
And while Iraq certainly has its serious challenges, and has brutal Shia-Sunni conflicts, those two 2 sects are to a degree working together to defeat ISIS. They can find some Islamic common ground in an effort defeat such a brutal theology.
In Syria, since what’s left of the govt. is not Islamic, not Shia, but Alawite, there is no common ground to defeat ISIS.
So hopefully we are under the radar at least, helping those non-ISIS Syrian resistance groups, so they eventually can get some degree of control and get some law & order established in that country?!
nature: Once again, you failed to answer the question. So predictable.
Kit: Most military experts I have listen to all agree a US ground invasion is not the answer. While they vary on some particulars, they all general argue, the continued air offensive, which the US is the main player, combined with ground troops from the neighboring countries and some US special forces, plus diplomacy that forces various countries to align their interest – such as Russia has to give up on Assad (their interest is they believe he is the best bet to protect their borders), Iran who hates ISIS needs to be engaged, probably in an indirect way, the Turks have to decide ISIS is a bigger threat then the Kurds, etc. A war fought by the US will not solve the problem, only get us bogged down with more Americans dying and us being there for decades.
ISIS has begun to loose territory as of late and things are not looking quite as rosy, but the solution is to help find a transition gov that can work. Keep in mind, Islamic scholars pretty unanimously do not consider ISIS Muslim, just as most Christians are offended by the KKK which claims a Christian origin. ISIS kills far more Muslims then any other single group by many magnitudes – why there are so many refugees. Assad on one side ISIS on the other.
Rick
Kits, reread what you wrote as if someone else wrote it.
Would you respond considerately to those comments?
No?
Kit, also, if you want a war that will actually reduce the # of Americans killed each year on U.S. soil, then go to war with White Supremacist. White supremacist have killed more Americans in the US since 9/11 then Islamic terrorist. So the the best strategy is to go after the danger that kills the most people – White supremacist.
Rick
AROD…”Kae, It’s time to pull the plug on the comments section……you own the page and have control.”
That is the most offensive comment on this page.
Kits, clearly if War was the solution in the Middle East, we would not be in this situation; there has been War and Conflict for about 1400 years between to many Religions, Clans, Tribes and States to list on this blog.
Americans, have been in conflict since the late 1700’s. Just look up Barbary Pirates in North Africa, Barbary War I and Barbary War II for references.