Football can show us the way – sometimes
A friend commented on my last week’s article as being too morbid. Writing a weekly column on domestic and world current affairs these days is certainly no picnic. Wars, natural disasters, rampant corruption and incompetence are everywhere around us. This is why the Euro 2025 which reaches its climax this week is such a breath of fresh air.
Wait, what? I thought the European football championship was not on until 2028. Have they brought it forward so Ronaldo can play before he tops 40? Mercifully, no. It is the women’s championship which takes the limelight on Sunday. I for one will be watching the final between England and Spain.
Women’s football has taken off exceptionally fast in the past few years and the quality of the football played has risen remarkably, which makes following the women’s game a joy to watch. In May I cheered as Arsenal women won the European Champions league against Barcelona. I was aghast when I learned, despite being an Arsenal fan, this was their second Champions league cup, the first one being in 2007, 18 years ago!
The march of women’s football comes as recognition of the vast strides that women have made to overcome discrimination in a patriarchal world and to seek equal recognition in all aspects of life. Make no mistake, the struggle for women still goes on. There is lots of room for improvement, with many examples of where women still suffer prejudice and discrimination. But football has the ability to show the way towards a more progressive society.
In 1978, when I was still in high school, I distinctly remember how Viv Anderson became the first black player to play for the English national football team. As colour televisions were still being rolled out in Cyprus, you could still watch a game on the old black and white TV sets which made watching Anderson make those darting runs from right back a surreal experience.
Almost 50 years have passed since Anderson paved the road towards a more tolerant society. Yet still racist tendencies continue to exist that require constant vigilance and effort to educate and demonstrate by example how accepting one another is the only way to conduct our lives if we are to build a better world. An example of how racist sentiments continue to fester among us is the racist abuse that Jess Carter, the black England defender, suffered after her admittedly, bad performance in the quarter-final game against Sweden.
How fitting it was then to see Michelle Agyemang put on a superb performance in the semi-final against Italy to rescue England with a wonderful goal in the final minute of added time. The 19-year-old black player’s performance came as a vivid lesson to all those who only a few days earlier used race as a way to vent their anger.
So, putting aside all the negative thoughts around us, fires and everything else, I will escape later today watching the women fight it out in the final in Basel. I will particularly be cheering on the young Michelle Agyemang who, it must be said, is an Arsenal player. Come on. If there is one thing that Donald Trump has taught me (yes, I managed to squeeze him in) is that you should play your own trumpet whenever you can. Have fun watching the game.
Loukis Skaliotis is an economist