FOOTBALL – THE BEAUTIFUL GAME

BY AYABONGA NKALITSHANA

As a game of sport you wouldn’t expect football to be as dramatic and shocking as it is, the most relevant about football is flair, passion, glamour and love for the game as it has been said, but like any other thing that is associated with glamour it is not entirely flawless.

There has been a lot of conspiracy theories about it over the years but what remains a mystery is whether one of them is true: let me refresh your memory by the 1998 world cup, Brazil vs France, Ronaldo apparently fell ill the night before the final but a certain sponsor could not afford to have Ronaldo not play, conspiracy theory you decide.

It’s very hard to deny the fact that it isn’t entirely full of drama with recent scandals surrounding the mother body of football around the world FIFA, which has been under scrutiny about certain donations made to benefit a few individuals to say the least to encourage them to just ‘make the right decision’…, but that’s not all with allegations of (Barcelona) having benefits on and off the field through a partnership with UNICEF.

 The same has been happening in south African football with recent reports claiming the withdrawals of a number of senior players in Bafana squad with “good” reasons was not a coincidence after all. Is this really what makes it the beautiful game? The sport played by gentleman…? Or does that also remain a conspiracy theory.