Matt Frei's diary: The power of football

Could the fever pitch of football be turned into a force for diplomacy?

By Matt Frei
BBC News, Washington

I was staying with friends last week who live within a beer bottle's throw of the Arsenal football stadium in London.

The giant oyster was illuminated like a space ship.

All around, the neighbourhood was quietly brewing with the menace of impending victory or defeat. I could hear a thunderous voice from the stadium warning the heaving masses that racism would not be tolerated.

The passion of football can be both inspiring and intimidating. The game ended without a shower of abuse or bottles.

But the passion fulminating inside the stadium gave me an idea.

Why not turn the fever pitch of football into a force for diplomacy?

Bitterly divided

We could start with Honduras. This country has witnessed scenes of unrest ever since President Manuel Zelaya was hauled out of bed and out of power when the army was sent to arrest him in June.

Mr Zelaya returned from exile and took refuge at the Brazilian embassy

He was still wearing his pyjamas when soldiers marched into the presidential palace and despatched him into exile.

After a few months of roaming the Americas in search of support and solace, he finally managed to creep back into his country under a large Stetson.

He's been squatting at the Brazilian embassy, clinging to the belief that he will one day be returned to the position that he was elected to.

His interim successor, Roberto Micheletti, shows no sign of budging.

The dispute has bitterly divided the country, imposed curfews and dominated daily life.

There is only one thing that trumps the event and its aftermath for attention, and that is the World Cup qualifying match which Honduras will play against the US on home turf this Saturday.

If little Honduras wins, it will be on course to send a team to the World Cup in South Africa next summer.

Missed opportunity

Such is the passion ignited by football in this Central American country that the nightly post-crisis curfews were suspended in July so that Hondurans could gather to watch their team play in the Gold Cup tournament in the US.

The passion of soccer is like enriched uranium: a highly volatile substance that can either serve as a deterrent or a trigger of conflict Send your comments

One leading academic told the New York Times that if the Honduras team had been prevented from playing the qualifying game against the US until the political crisis had been solved, no president, ousted president or general with a healthy instinct of self-preservation would have allowed the crisis to fester.

Suspension would have been the gun held at the temple of the fractious political establishment.

Alas the opportunity was missed. And now it's all down to the score.

If Honduras beats the United States the combustion of national fervour and pride could smelt some kind of solution. If they lose, prepare for trouble.

Honduras has been there before. Four decades ago, a conflict over immigration and land rights between Honduras and neighbouring El Salvador erupted into the so-called Soccer War, a four-day skirmish fanned by a string of World Cup qualifying matches.

This time round, Honduras would have no external enemy to lock horns with. This raises the danger of an internal punch-up.

Deterrent or trigger

In other words, the passion of soccer is like enriched uranium: a highly volatile substance that can either serve as a deterrent or a trigger of conflict.

Remember the Iranian national team who played abroad during the bloody aftermath of the country's flawed election? The players wore green arm bands signalling their support for the opposition to President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad.

It was one of the most powerful moments of the revolution that wasn't, perhaps because the players are usually seen as apolitical. It makes the occasional political statement all the more powerful.

Perhaps this is how we should decide issues which are tormented by indecision and paralysis, like healthcare reform or the degree of deployment in Afghanistan.

Let the best team win on the football pitch. Isn't that what medieval jousts were for?

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