Light and shadow (1) - Dr. Gilles Klein

Light and shadow (1)

Dr. Gilles Klein, 16 June 2017

   

Lamplighter

“The fifth planet was very strange. It was the smallest of all. There was just enough room on it for a street lamp and a lamplighter. The little prince was not able to reach any explanation of the use of a street lamp and a lamplighter, somewhere in the heavens, on a planet which had no people, and not one house. But he said to himself, nevertheless: "It may well be that this man is absurd. But he is not so absurd as the king, the conceited man, the businessman, and the tippler. For at least his work has some meaning. When he lights his streetlamp, it is as if he brought one more star to life or one flower. When he puts out his lamp, he sends the flower, or the star, to sleep. That is a beautiful occupation. And since it is beautiful, it is truly useful."[1]

Lighter

In 2007, at the time of launching ourselves on this adventure of Youth sports promotion, we knew that we should switch on lights continuously and everywhere such as the Little Prince’s lamplighter who travels around a crazy and irresponsible planet that is turning more and more rapidly. We knew also that there would be many parts in the shadows. We want to remember here the work of those who are in the light, but also the anonymous ones who are in the shadows but may be at the origin of possible enlightenment. Without overlooking the shadows cast by some whistleblowers on hypothetical perils that would endanger our initiative. More than light, the work in the shadow was then synonymous with fires that needed putting out.

Tribute

We have come a long way, not the whole planet, but many African and Latin American countries. To assume our mission, we always coordinated light and shadow. That is why, to finish this first blog series, I would like to pay tribute to some lights and some shadows, all positive, which enlightened our path or walked alongside us. I would like then to greet and thank all the women and men who, on the stage or behind the scenes, believed in our initiative, supported and still support our project. I won’t be able to greet all of them. I chose a sample of the most important people, all symbolic of our attempt to switch on street lamps to enlighten youth sport.

Light

The word “light” attracts us inexorably towards the expression “Age of Enlightenment” that designates the XVIIIth century. For our non-European readers “Enlightenment” is a literary and philosophical movement of the XVIIIth century founded on a reason that allows, according to the Enlightenment philosophers, to move beyond prejudices and intolerance and to advance humans towards happiness, freedom, and knowledge. Amongst the Enlightenment philosophers and writers’ struggles is the fight against injustice and ignorance. They defend individual and collective freedoms, notably, freedom of expression. It is through education and thanks to knowledge diffusion that humans will have access to freedom and happiness. In this perspective, the philosophers undertook writing the major work of the XVIIIth century that is the Encyclopedia (1751-1772), a dictionary that constitutes the sum of knowledge and new ideas at that time.

Education

Montesquieu was one of the major authors of the Encyclopedia. In his work, the education issue is central. Let us quote from book IV of “The Spirit of the Laws” (1748): “In our days we receive three different or contrary educations, namely, of our parents, of our masters, and of the world. What we learn in the latter effaces all the ideas of the former. This, in some measure, arises from the contrast we experience between our religious and worldly engagements, a thing unknown to the ancients”. To achieve our mission, we have retained Montesquieu’s lesson on the education that the world teaches. Let's mention two of our guides who taught these lessons and enlightened the road of youth sports promotion.

Great

Madam Zoulikha Nasri, President of the Foundation Mohammed V for solidarity in Morocco and adviser to His Majesty the King Mohammed VI, was following in the footsteps of the Enlightenment and the conquest of freedom and happiness through education and knowledge diffusion. She was a “Great Lady” of World Sports Alliance. Nine years after the creation of our organization, on Wednesday 16th December, she died after serving for almost twenty years at the Royal Palace and worked in favor of the social cause. Let us pay tribute to the presentation that made her and her work the Jeune Afrique’s journalist, Nadia Lamilli[2]: “She had an affinity for the social issues and the life circumstances of the Moroccans. Coming from a humble background, she knows well the topics linked to poverty and social exclusion for having lived in this Oriental a long time excluded from Morocco’s development plans”.

Foundation

“In 1999, she is then the right person for launching the Foundation Mohammed V for the solidarity, a royal and sprawling NGO, that undeniably changed the face of Morocco and rooted the face of a Mohammed VI “king of the poor” (…) One of the innovative projects of the Foundation Mohammed V is “Dar Taliba” or the student house. These are residential schools built in the far off corners of Morocco that welcome the rural girls in school period (…) Thanks to “Dar Taliba” thousands of Moroccan girls may have been schooled (…) A range of Foundation’s missions goes from academic support to access to micro-credit. The elderly persons, women, Moroccan community living abroad, handicapped persons… Mohammed VI has weaved, thanks to this foundation and Zoulikha Nasri’s action, a large network of support among all persons in the situation of exclusion”.

Mission

In this context of access to education for all, Madam Nasri has been our interlocutor for access of youth to sport, the creation of a world centre of excellence in physical education, sports, leisure – SDGs, the organization of the Rabat experts’ seminar, the creation of our intergovernmental organization and its formal launching to the United Nations. Her mission had been defined by His Majesty the King Mohammed VI in His address to United Nations – ECOSOC in July 2006[3]. Indeed, six years following the Dar Taliba’s launching and the action in favor of student girls, the King Mohammed VI wished to promote sports in relationships to the Millennium Development Goals. He considered sport as a means of achieving these universal goals, notably through the achievement of Youth’s social integration, the prevention of deviant behaviors and the teaching of healthy habits, or more the impact on the school performances of children and young people.

Orientation

The king had set four orientations to the Foundation and Madam Nasri for the success of the cooperation between Morocco and World Sports Alliance. The first referred to the values: sport is an asset for SDGs achievement. Particularly, a vector of human development, social cohesion and the fight against exclusion and marginalization. The second should allow the enlargement of the practice of sport and favor access to it for all. We then made a bet: favoring Youth’s grassroots sport, one promotes a sports culture and one set up a sporting tank for the country. The third referred to staff training: the opening of a national center of excellence sport- SDGs should re-energize sports staff training, notably with the support of the Royal Institute of staff training (IRFC).

Proximity

The fourth had as its objective the construction of sports community centers. We had considered the construction of socio-sport community centers in the neighborhoods and rural areas. The Minister of Education then talked about 1000 centers to be built in Morocco. That fourth orientation was not the least because it allowed the launching of our socio-economical model of our organization based on the public-private partnerships.

Ambassador

Educate African Youth to SDGs through sport, build sports community centers: His Majesty and Madam Nasri had marked out our path. A great face of African sport would give to these two projects an impetus on a continental scale, more generally in Francophonie. In 2007, Youssouf Fall has been the great ambassador who gave credit to our initiative and provided us with a major springboard. From 2005 to 2013, he was Secretary-General of the Conference of the Ministers of Youth and sports of countries sharing the use of French (CONFEJES).

Dates

Let us trace his career in four dates. Paris. 10th April 2005. He is elected Secretary-General of the CONFEJES for a four-years mandate. Bujumbura. 24th March 2009. The 32nd Conference of Ministers. He is unanimously renewed by the 31 attendee ministers for a new four-years mandate. Niamey. 12th March 2013. The President of the Republic of Niger, H.E. Mr. Issoufou Mahamadou, confers on him the title of Commander of the National Order of Merit of Niger “for the services provided to CONFEJES during his two mandates”. Paris. 19th February 2014. The Secretary-General of Francophonie, H.E. Mr. Abdou Diouf awarded him the Senghor medal that is the highest distinction of Francophonie.

Social

Youssouf Fall has been a great sportsman in his country, Mauritania. Physical education teacher, former international basketball player and national team captain, he is the first Mauritanian obtaining a high degree in sports. Like Madam Nasri, he worked very much for the youth of his country and social integration through sport. In the 90s, he collaborated on the “Diass project” supported by France and fought against the powerful merchants, speculators, politicians and businessmen who attempted to transform the playgrounds of young people into a shopping mall. Thus, it is thanks to him, that young people and sportsmen from Nouakchott, use the stadiums built in the nine Moughataa of the capital.

Legacy

His work at CONFEJES was unanimously greeted by the ministers of sports of this organization as follows: “His work at CONFEJES has always been marked by a remarkable efficiency, a prospective vision and a work capacity which have largely contributed, along eight years, to the excellent reputation of CONFEJES within Francophonie and outside”. After having been an expert within the organization for 16 years, in charge of the organization’s executive, he has left a considerable legacy. He contributed to promoting Youth, sports and leisure programs within the Conference’s member states. He gave a greater visibility to the francophone organization. He undertook the administration's modernization and earned the trust of the financial backers. He reinforced the cooperation with the francophone institutions, notably through his contribution to the Francophonie Games and the other international organizations.

Saly

Saly-Portudal. Senegal. 12 - 16 November 2007. The CONFEJES’s Secretary-General invites World Sports Alliance to present the intergovernmental organization’s project to the permanent consultative commission on high staff training. That commission gathered then thirty directors of francophone national institutes of physical education and sport and the ministries representatives. This seminar has been the opportunity of an effective start of our initiative in Africa, more generally in the francophone world.

Effect

Following this seminar, the cooperation between CONFEJES and WSA produced two major effects. 27th March 2008. Nouakchott. Mauritania. The first effect has been the signature of a partnership convention between the two organizations, signed in the framework of the CONFEJES Bureau. It had as main objectives: to promote the cooperation in favor of sport to the MDGs achievement; to reinforce the national strategies of human resources development; to implement in the francophone world the national centers of excellence that Madam Nasri introduced some months ago by the United Nations. The second effect has been the membership and the cooperation with 18 francophone states which became World Sports Alliance’s member states.

Elephant

In Saly, one could measure as well as the enthusiasm, the availability of directors for a project able to combine sports education and financing of Youth sport in the developing countries. All expressed interest. Some congratulated us. Others told us the story of the white elephant[4] which came from India but was very well used in Africa and warned us against the difficulty of the passage from promise to reality. Many accompanied us during a decade of attempting to implement our initiative in their countries. They constitute our “Hidden Figures » who we will thank in the next and last episode of this series.

Next: 23th June 2017 – Light and Shadow (2)

  

[1] Saint Exupéry, 1999, Le Petit Prince, Chapter XIV. First edition in 1945, Edition in compliance with the American edition (1943), Collection Folio (n° 3200), Gallimard.

[2] Maroc : ce qu’il faut retenir de Zoulikha Nasri, ex-conseillère de Mohammed VI, JeuneAfrique.com, 16th December 2015, by Nadia Lamilli

[3] Address by His Majesty King Mohammed VI, King of Morocco to the High-Level Segment of the United Nations Economic and Social Council, Geneva, 5 July 2006.

[4] The expression is related to practical realizations remaining economically or realizations more fanciful, even irrational. It relates as well to works that never end and are technical or economical failures.

  

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One risk and two obvious things - Dr. Gilles Klein

One risk and two obvious things

Dr. Gilles Klein, 09 June 2017

  

  

Anniversary

29th May 2017 – 29th May 2007. Exactly ten years ago before the time of writing, the Economic and Social Council of the United Nations (UN-ECOSOC) published and distributed the “Declaration submitted by the Foundation Mohammed V, a non-governmental organization in consultative status with the Economic and Social Council”. Through Mrs. Zoulikha Nasri’s voice[1], who was then President of the Foundation and adviser to His Majesty the King Mohammed VI, this solemn declaration in favor of Youth sport had been presented at the ECOSOC Substantive Session of July 2007

His Majesty

Under the high patronage of His Majesty the King Mohammed VI, the Foundation Mohammed V for solidarity brought then before the international civil society this project facilitating the access of young people of developing countries, educating Youth and training their staff through sport to the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs). Some goals that became in 2015 Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs). One year had been required to build this project supported since 5th July 2006 by His Majesty Mohammed VI in those terms: “I wish you every success and would like, once again, to underline the keen interest I take in the projected World Sport Alliance. Morocco looks forward to discussing the implementation modalities of this commendable initiative within the framework of the United Nations Economic and Social Council”[2].

Statement

Then, on 3rd July, the United Nations validated the creation of National centers of excellence in physical education, sports and leisure – MDGs (NCEPSL-MDGs) in a significant number of African and Latin American countries and announced the creation of a World center of excellence (WCEPESL-MDGs) ensuring the coordination of the national bodies. It was my honor to serve as chairman of this centre of which World Sports Alliance would supply the logistics. Ten years following the Rabat Declaration, the time has come to report on the progress underlining one risk and two obvious things underpinning our initiative aiming to bring support to Youth sport in the world.

Risk

Let us start with the risk. When one claims to promote access to Youth in sport, the risk is, and always will be, remaining at the level of discourse, further delaying a necessary moving on towards action. Let us explain. In 2007, the Rabat Declaration is published in a specific context of Youth sport in the world, a context marked by two geopolitical milestones which all of us remember, that I summarize as a “wall issue”: 1989-2008, from the fall of the Berlin wall to the Wall Street crisis. In brief, most countries adopt standards of the “New public management”. In all areas – health, education, justice – numerical targets have been introduced and profitability established as standard. The powerful Social Democrat Welfare State of the 60s and 70s, slides towards a model of Anglo-Saxon neo-liberal state.

Contradiction

Relating to sport, my academic works of the 1990s and 2000s on this issue summarized the situation as following. At the beginning of the 21st century, the more the populations’ needs are increasing (ageing, sedentariness, overweight, obesity, social integration, handicaps, gender equality, sports results, etc.) more the public supply of physical activity is tending to be reduced (optional physical education, time reduction, subject matter and teachers’ status, facilities and budgets, staff training, gap between physical education and sport, etc.). To solve that contradiction, from scientific congress to scientific congress, with some colleagues, documented and convinced experts, we urged the national authorities of all the countries to avoid staying at the discourse level on the promotion of Youth sport and effectively moving towards action through strong-willed development policies in this area.

Right

Admittedly, the national decision makers which we addressed ourselves to were themselves convinced of the need for moving towards action. Let us briefly remember the development of their concerns over five decades. Since the 1970s, on UNESCO’s initiative, the ministers and high level servants of physical education and sport met regularly to assess the worldwide situation of these areas and recommend the necessary measures to define the appropriate policies. The first assembly MINEPS I met in Paris in 1976. In 1978, UNESCO published the international Charter of physical education and sport, of which we keep in mind the first article: “The practice of physical education and sport is a fundamental right for all - Every human being has a fundamental right of access to physical education and sport, which are essential for the full development of his personality. The freedom to develop physical, intellectual and moral powers through physical education and sport must be guaranteed both within the educational system and in other aspects of social life”. But between 1978 and 2004, the ministers were faced with a contradiction. They didn’t stop to recalling that right, but from worldwide summit to worldwide summit, stated that it was not respected.

Action

That is why, since MINEPS III, Punta del Este in 1999, they wanted to move to practical action and translate the charter of physical education and sport into action. It is precisely in this context of moving into action, put on record in 2007 through the Rabat Declaration. In its own way, it means raising funds on the financial markets, without requesting it from the member states, it would then make a contribution to help the ministers and high-level civil servants to act and avoid talking about it. For the founders of the initiative, to promote Youth sport started then to raise funds, notably through developing public-private partnerships with the member states that World Sports Alliance might propose to federate. On its own terms the promise of action taken in Rabat anticipated the work of the ministerial summit MINEPS 2013 which took place in Berlin. We were on the right path. Let us appreciate it!

Berlin

In Berlin, the work of three thematic commissions is echoed in the Berlin Declaration, unanimously adopted by the 121 represented states. The Declaration agrees 70 commitments and recommendations related to three topics. The first is to better foster everyone’s access to physical education and sport. The second is to increase investment in physical education and sport. The third is to take the appropriate measures to safeguard sport integrity. Commission 1 enhanced the World Sports Alliance’s project to facilitate access of youth to sport. Some attendees insisted on access to physical education and sport as a right. Particularly for women and handicapped persons. By contrast, others noted that there was substantial work to be done to translate that political rhetoric into tangible programmes at the national level.

Invest

The work of Commissions 1 and 2 confirmed also our project to raise funds. For the members of Commission 1, access to sport depends mainly on the investments that are dedicated. Investment is THE problem that handicaps moving into action. That is why, in Berlin, Commission 1 turns to Commission 2, in charge of financing. Access to physical education and sport depends on investments, on availability of facilities and equipment. The statement applies also to teacher training. A method is mentioned: conclude partnerships. Commission 1 made proposals as well. Within a government, to develop inter-ministerial actions, for example through public-private partnerships. Commission 1 concludes: without these cooperation initiatives, neither the MINEPS V recommendations, and neither physical education nor sport will ever become realities in the 193 United Nations member states.

Numbers

29th May 2007 - 29th May 2017. Within this Alliance’s General-Secretariat we spared no effort in implementing this project of international mobilization in favour of Youth sport and ensuring the launching of this world centre of excellence. On the way, we kept some traces of these efforts that are summarized in a few numbers. We phoned and emailed a lot: to build a network gathering more than 600 experts in sports sciences, mainly in the areas of education, health and gender, to create 33 NCEPESL-SDGs, to follow the diplomatic relations with 33 member states with more than 12,000 interventions on the network created by the General-Secretariat, gathering experts and ministers, to inspire the curiosity of 13,000 followers on the social networks. We talked a lot: 33 key notes and conferences explaining our model and our actions. We wrote a lot: a 3200 pages logbook; 4 programmes Sport-SDGs on education of young people and staff training; 5 collections of books on sport education, sports sciences and WSA’s member states; 18 articles in international journals; 22 articles on this blog named « Give some Oxygen ».

Boxes

There would be much to be said, a lot to write about on the access to Youth sport, the originality of the socio-economic model, the projects to be implemented in the Alliance’s member states, the inspiration to be taken from the states leading a true sport diplomacy. We can think about the United States of America with the roles of high level sporting ambassadors operating in foreign countries, attending tournaments with young people, and the organization of American youth camps in the framework of sports academies opened to young people coming from all the continents. We can think about Qatar and its fantastic Aspire Zone gathering an academy for young people, a hospital for sportsmen and women as well as high level sport facilities and equipment.

Projects

Our boxes are overflowing with projects. Let us name seven of them. The creation of a platform of well-being and sport to put in touch the customers’ demands and the trainers’ supplies on individualized training programmes. The creation of a sport academy opened to the young sportsmen and women of the Alliance’s member states. The indexation of sports action in favour of SDGs. The creation of a sport centre with a global outlook able to welcome major international sports events. The creation of a hospital structure specialized in the treatment of injuries and fitness programmes for sportsmen and women. The implementation of liaison offices in the 33 member states. The implementation of the organizations’ headquarters.

Severe

There are now the two obvious things! “Give some Oxygen” is the title of this blog. It was also our project focused on the young people of the developing countries. We need to tell the truth of the matter. At the time of this tenth anniversary we didn’t produce the necessary Oxygen to finance Youth sport in the 33 organization’ member states. In a manner of speaking, in our turn, we fell into the trap pointed out by the ministers in Punta del Este in 1999: less talking and more action. It would be too severe to apply to us this maxim of Gustave Le Bon, anthropologist, physician, psychologist and sociologist: “The weak wills are translated by discourses; the strong wills by actions”. This maxim is too over-simplistic. Life is more complex, less dichotomous than that.

Obvious thing

In our situation, the first obvious thing we have to point out is as follows: our thinking, our analysis and our writings, our tireless conviction and willingness are only the dressing of our true capacity to act, i.e. our capacity to mobilize the investments to finance the effective implementation of our projects. Until there is investment dedicated to Youth sport, is it reasonably useful to continue to talk or write about?

Penultimate

That is why this article is the penultimate of this blog, at least of this first series. The next series depends on the effectiveness of our actions. The final delivery will be dedicated to thanking the women and men who, in the light or shadow, believed in our project and have placed their trust in us. We will find our writing path to describe the diversity of our effective implementations.

NBA

To conclude, let us affirm the second obvious thing. As others we have a dream, but we are still awake. Awake for the development of Youth sport, for the development of Africa, the continent of the XXIst century. To understand this dream, thanking Julien Brygo[3], let us look at the fields of the National Basket Association (NBA) in the United States. This author publishes an excellent article dedicated to that sport which he summarizes thus: “With around thirty million occasional players, Basket-ball is one of the most popular sports in the United States. Depending on whether it is performed on the Chicago Bulls’ floor, in the street of a black township or in the university of a small city in Indiana, can take very disparate social functions”. Let us name some excerpts.

Dream

He describes the billboards of the outfitter Nike surrounding the grounds of this prestigious league: “Come from nowhere”; “Here, you are judged on your acts, not on your beliefs or your appearance”; “The ball should rebound for everyone”. He examines the NBA’s social function: “Looked and imitated everywhere in the world, the league exalts the American dream of the meritocracy” (…) “But is it possible for a child born in an unprivileged neighborhood to access to NBA”.

Hard

He tells this story illustrating the American dream through basketball: “Seated on his bed in a well orderly bedroom a black kid contemplates the flag of his favorite team, the New York Knicks. He wears the Kristaps Porziņģis’ jersey, a Latvian player recruited in 2015 for 6,5 million US dollars, who lends his voice to a publicity of the National Association of basket-ball: “It’s always been my dream, since I was a kid. I took the ball in my hands and I did never turn back. In the end, if you work hard, everything becomes possible, even for a player coming from a small Latvian village”.

Possible

America particularly appreciates these social stories. We dreamt of writing ours by giving access to the practice of sport to so many young people of the unprivileged neighborhoods of the developing countries. If we didn’t achieve it, we are still believing in our American dream: “If you work hard, everything becomes possible”.

Next: 16th June 2017 – Light and Shadow

[1] Mrs. Zoulikha Nasri of which I would like once more greeting her memory and pay tribute to her tremendous achievements and legacy

[2] Address by His Majesty King Mohammed VI, King of Morocco to the High-Level Segment of the United Nations Economic and Social Council, Geneva, 5 July 2006.

[3] Julien Brygo, Le rêve américain au miroir du basket-ball, Le Monde diplomatique, June 2017, pp 4-5.

  

  

  

  

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Thiago & Dilma

Thiago & Dilma

Dr. Gilles Klein, 02 June 2017

  

Cafu

Sunday 30th June 2002. The final of the football World Cup is played at the Yokohama International Stadium, in Japan. The Brazilian Seleçao takes the match against the German Mannschaft thanks to two of Ronaldo’s goals. Marcos Evangelista de Moraes, nicknamed Cafu, team captain since 2001, lifts the cup. This is his third World Cup in a row, already having won in 1994. Cafu is an international Brazilian football player of the 1990s and 2000s. He counts numerous victories in Brazil with his São Paulo club, then in Europe where he clinched the most prestigious titles: Champions League and Clubs World Cup. He has been selected 142 times for the national team between 1990 and 2006. His exceptional track record makes him one of the best lateral defenders in football history.

Card

Friday 4th July 2014. One of the quarter-finals of the World Cup is played at the Governador-Plácido-Castelo stadium in Fortaleza in the State of Ceará in Brazil. In front of more than 67,000 spectators, the Seleçao wins the match against the Colombian Cafeteros, two goals to one. Thiago Silva, Seleçao’s defender, and captain, plays a determinative role in this quarter final. He scores first in the seventh minute. But in the sixty-fourth minute, he prevents the Colombian goalkeeper, David Ospena, from clearing his goal. The Spanish referee, Velasco Carballo, penalizes him with a yellow card. He is suspended for the semi-finals against Germany. The follow-up remains in everybody's minds.

Cap

On 8th July, at the Estadio Mineirão de Belo Horizonte, in the absence of Thiago Silva, suspended, and Neymar, injured, the Seleçao is crushed 7 to 1 by the Mannschaft. That match is the most severe defeat of Brazil’s history. Before, the Seleçao’s largest loss occurred on 18th September 1920. It was a 0-6 against Uruguay. The yellow card forced Thiago to watch the match from the stands. The fallen captain, white cap back to front on the head, can only watch the damage afflicted by Klose, Müller, Kroos, Khedira and Schürle. If Oscar does score in the last minute of the match, he doesn’t manage to cancel out the damage. Thiago tries to comfort David Luiz and his tearful teammates.

Tears

Some tears! For Thiago, they are not the first! On 28th June, in the round 16th against Chile, he burst into tears following the narrow qualification of the Seleçao’s. The one nicknamed “O Monstro" “The Monster”, a nickname that was acquired in his Fluminense FC training club, could he become a shadow of his former self? During this World Cup, the efficient defender, Brazilian goal bulwark, was far from monstrous. The journalist Rémi Dupré described him thus: “The elegant defender then appeared as a leader without charisma and deprived of courage, a falling off general at the first hurdle”[1]. “I am an emotive, and easily bothered (…) I have no problem with that on the field (…) contrarily it helps me”. Let us give him credit for this admission. Indeed, it would not be fair to imply that Thiago’s tears reveal a weakness, whether it is his or that of the team. Cafu, the 2002 valiant captain is his best lawyer. In 2015, during the year following the disastrous World Cup, this one who Thiago had dreamt to imitate said having great trust in him: “He has character. He is important for Brazil, with him we are good, there are no central defenders at his level”.

Defence

Yet Thiago did not raise the cup. Contrary to Cafu, he will not be elevated to the rank of national hero. Conversely, in the eyes of Brazil, he became the emblem, the symbol of the Seleçao’s historical decline on the field, during its World Cup. During this World Cup, Thiago embodied the profile of a defensive Seleçao, with little evidence of creative ability and deprived of geniuses in the front lines. Yet Thiago defends the defenders: « Before people only had eyes for Pelé, Garrincha, Zico, Zagallo and they did not talk about the Seleçao’s defensive sector (…) Today I am happy to see the reverse assumption because it is not easy to be Brazilian and to be recognized for his defensive power”. But on semi-final day, the defense conceded seven goals. These are seven defense failures, this weakness not having been counteracted by the attack which has also been particularly sterile that day. That day, we could only hope for an upsurge, even a resurrection. The small final against the Netherlands would decide for better or perhaps for worse.

Ole

That was the worst. On 3rd July 2016, Netherlands easily beat Brazil 3 to 1. That time, Thiago is on the field to bring stability in the defense along with his partner of the central defense, David Luiz. More than Thiago’s tears, his skill becomes his weakness. Outpaced by Arjen Robben on a flicked on through ball, he grips the winger on the edge of the box. The referee awards a penalty, converted by Van Persie. On the second goal, that time David Luiz makes the mistake. In the heart of the surface, his bad header relaunching deflected straight to the Dutch defender, up to the attack to challenge the Brazilian defense. The Brazilian public doesn’t want it anymore, doesn’t, can't take it anymore. Out of spite, this one greets each Dutch pass via a sardonic “Ole”. As though mocking the pole vaulter Lavillenie two years later, the Brazilian public doesn’t hesitate to mock his own champions.

Worst

It will be then the worst and above all the best. Never Thiago would not imagine it for his team and above all for his country. Indeed, he expected that the sporting success reinforces the political and diplomatic success of his country. Before the opening to the worldwide tournament, Thiago Silva insisted on clearly establishing this relation between sport and policy, showing his support to the Brazilian president Dilma Roussef, who ran an electoral campaign for a second term. He declares: “I think that Lula and Dilma initiated this evolution. Dilma had the competencies to follow up Lula, she had the competencies to pursue these changes. And I think that Brazil is with her because of each Brazilian wishes these changes towards the best and above all, not the worst”.

Campaign

Dilma Roussef, a faithful supporter of Seleçao, indeed planned to lean on the success of the latter to continue with a second presidential term. From Sunday 3rd July, the country hit the electoral campaign trail. A favourite in the polls, Dilma Roussef candidate of her own succession, is comforted by the ultra popular success of the World Cup. Highly criticized before the start of the competition, she progressed by four points during the World Cup, to achieve 38% of intended votes. During the competition, the Brazilians forget their complaints about the cost of the World Cup and for the improvement of the public services which they had powerfully expressed before the first matches. On Monday 2nd July preceding the final, she asserts: “I will present the Cup to the winner on Monday, I hope it will be Brazil”.

Illustration

Let us borrow Thiago’s words towards Dilma: “each Brazilian wishes these changes towards the best and above all, not the worst”. In a sentence, Thiago just summarizes the sport and political Brazil’s history. That is a story in itself, from 2002 to 2014, from Cafu to Thiago, from victory to humiliation, from Lula to Dilma, from a Workers Party (WP) adulated to a contested WP, from social promotion to charges of bribery. We shall avoid any functionalist shortcut[2] which would suggest that the success of a sports team is in a close relationship with the country development. However, the Seleçao and its staff’s failure, Thiago or Naymar, the slow reassessment of the governing party and its staff, Lula and Dilma, show that sport can be at some moments a revealing illustration of the situation of society.

Workers

Such as Cafu, with Lula, the Workers Party’s successes began in a stadium. Such as Thiago, with Dilma, the defeat has been shouted down, but that time in the street through massive protests. Brief return to the Workers Party’s policy which, from Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva to Dilma Roussef, is reflective of the slow descent of the Brazilian football team. Let us start with Lula and his successes to better understand the Dilma’s failure and the Workers Party’s policy.

Lula 1

We are in 1979[3]. At the football stadium of the Vila Euclides neighborhood, the syndicalist leader Luiz Inácio da Silva, nicknamed « Lula », is acclaimed by a crowd of a hundred thousand workers. Thanks to an amendment of his political strategy initially founded on help to the poor, he invents a scholarly compromise policy. Building on the expansion cycle of the worldwide economy between 2003 and 2008 and the boom in raw materials, Lula leads an inventive but prudent policy. This policy combines poverty reduction and internal market reinforcement measures, without rushing the dominant classes interests or breaking with capitalism.

Lula 2

In 2006, Lula returned to power thanks to a different electorate. It is not only the middle classes that traditionally supported the Workers Party. It is the poorest who have been the main beneficiaries of “Lulism” social policies of the first mandate. Lula progressively loses the middle classes’ support which brings closer to the right of the Brazilian Social Democracy Party. In June 2013, just one year before the World Cup, some protests gather up to one million people in the major Brazilian cities. The Workers Party, in power since 2003, came to break the compromise which founded his policy.

Inequality

Within thirty years, “Lula” succeeded in getting around 40 million people out of poverty, from which he suffered himself, while seducing the powerful financial sector of the country. But this balance remained fragile. The statement is mixed. With Lula, the country registered evident social progress. However, if poverty has been reduced, it did not imply an inequalities reduction, insofar as Lula did not threat the powerful. “In 2012, Brazil was still one of the worst Latin American countries in terms of revenues distribution. 40% of the federal budget was cornered by the debt – largely internal and owned by wealthy families of the country – against around 4% for health, 3% for education and 0,70% for transports, all three among the main concerns of the June 2013 protesters”[4].

Capitulation

26th October 2014. The crushing Seleçao’s defeats did not have any influence on policy. Dilma Roussef narrowly wins the presidential election with 51,64% of votes facing to Aécio Neves, a candidate of the Social Democracy Party, holder of a more liberal economic policy. At the investiture for her second mandate, on 1st January 2015, she promises the return to economic growth in Brazil. Such as Thiago, it is the Dilma’s turn not to play the match expected by the Brazilians. It will not be a defeat but a capitulation facing the opponent. An assessment summarized by Breno Altman[5] thus: « Corruption, economically unfavorable context, popularity down... Confronted by multiple difficulties, the Brazilian president Dilma Roussef could have chosen boldness. She preferred to give way to the finance exigencies”. “Dilma surrendered facing the markets” summarizes, in turn, the economic daily newspaper Valor Econômico on 16th January 2015.

Crisis

Such as Cafu, Lula played and won a balanced match cleaning finances and implementing sized social programs. Dilma who played that card during her first mandate, this time will break the balance. It is true that since Lula the 2008 crisis changed the deal and mainly 2001 when its impact on Brazil was aggravated: demand decreases for raw materials, a turnaround in the trading balance, need to increase interest rates to attract capital, fall of private investment, stagnating growth and a plunge of tax revenues. For Dilma, the conditions are not met to reproduce the successes registered by Lula and by herself during her first mandate.

Banker

She appoints the banker Joaquim Lévy to the position of Minister of finances. He is a banker who wishes to cut off social benefits, notably employment insurance and reversionary pensions to retired. He is a minister who manages a reduction of expenses and public investments, including in the areas of health and education. However, the announced measures save the sector of finance and the richest Brazilians. The banker manages to preserve Lula’s policies, such as the salaries indexation law both on growth and inflation, as well as the programs for fighting against poverty, in which Bolsa Família. But the country will break with the balancing strategy between the economic and social dimensions of the previous decade.

Petrobras

For her second mandate, Dilma thus concluded agreements with the economic system and its forefronts, inside and outside of the country. She will then in a manner of speaking play and score against her camp. But Dilma will be overtaken by these affairs. Just before the World Cup truce, in March 2014, Brazilians discover the connivances between the national oil company Petrobras and the major companies of the building and civil engineering sectors and the suspicion of bribes paid to the main political parties, in which WP.

Impeachment

Dilma Roussef’s impeachment trial takes more than one year. On 15th March 2015, around five hundred thousand people protest in more than one hundred cities at the call of right organizations, such as Movimento Brasil Livre and Revoltados On Line. They demand the president’s impeachment. On 31st August 2016, the senators decide the effective impeachment of the president Dilma Roussef, a vote consistent with the wish expressed by 60% Brazilians in April of the same year.

Removal

2002. Victory for Cafu and Lula. 2014. Defeat for Thiago and Dilma. Some football players and political leaders illustrate twelve years of a slow descent of the Brazil team, but also the inexorable decline of the Workers Party. A man knew the two periods, moving from success to failure. Luiz Felipe Scolari, coach of the Brazilian team led the Seleçao to victory at the 2002 World Cup in Japan and South Korea. Some hours following the end of the 2014 World Cup in Brazil, the Brazilian press announced his resignation decided by the football federation and Dunga picked up the burden.

Next: 9 June 2017 – Risk and obviousness.

[1] Brésil 2014 : Thiago Silva, le capitaine qui a lâché la barre, Le Monde.fr, Rémi Dupré, http://lemde.fr/2pRyB9t

[2] The functionalist sociology observes societies from institutions insuring their stability and structuring the individual behaviours through roles and statuses.

[3] I take here inspiration from an article that reports the development of the Workers Party: David Estevam, 2013, Du Parti des travailleurs au parti de Lula Le Monde Diplomatique, July 2013, unpublished paper.

[4] Ibid.

[5] Breno Altman, Virage à droite pour le Parti des travailleurs, Le Monde diplomatique, April 2015, pages 6-7

  

  

  

  

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