football capitalism

Saya tentu berharap judul tulisan ini akan mengundang banyak respon, artinya saya berhasil. Demam piala dunia ternyata bukan milik negara yang berhasil mengirim kontingen ke event dunia ini tetapi sudah sampai di pelosok belahan dunia termasuk negara berkembang.

Ada teman bilang: lalu apa masalahnya? saya bilang tidak ada karena tidak dosa orang suka bola; begitu juga jika ada yang menganggap demam piala dunia seperti angin lalu. Teman yang lain bilang: kalau piala dunia bisa menuntaskan kemiskinan, baru saya mau menonton. Nah lo? menarik juga ide teman saya ini, apa mungkin piala dunia bisa menuntaskan kemiskinan?
sementara kita pending dulu pertanyaan ini untuk bahan renungan saja. Kembali ke judul 'provokatif' diatas, sejauh mana kapitalisme berhasil menggiring bola dan juga dunia? seperti bisnis lainnya sepak bola adalah bisnis tentu saja sangat menjanjikan. liat saja gaji pemainnya dan siapa saja para investor dibelakang klub-lub ternama. ambil contoh chealsea yang dibiayai oleh milioner dari Rusia.

Ini baru sebagian kecil dari cerita besar global capitalism. jika kita mau memperhitungkan berapa uang yang terserap oleh demam piala dunia ini, dari mulai pernak pernik seperti kaos, souvenir dan barang-barang lainnya sesungguhnya timbul pertanyaan: dari event dunia seperti ini siapa yang paling di untungkan? tentu saja jawabannya pebisnis antara lain hotel, transportasi dan supporting sector lainnya yang ikut kecipratan. lalu dari pihak2 yang mendapat keuntungan dalam piala dunia, berapa %-kah komposisi mereka secara total dalam sistem ekonomi? semakin kecil komposisi mereka dalam economy sementara keuntungan yang diperoleh mewakili komposisi mayoritas, maka tidak salah jika saya mengklaim sepakbola sudah dikapitalisasi.

A Hat-trick for Globalization

by Berly

All the world is a football field,

And all the men and women merely players

Forgive my pun on that Shakespeare sonnet, but if you live in Italy football is everywhere. Even if those magnificent churches are empty on Sunday, the stadium and pubs are never empty when a game is on. Sunday night’s TV is full with football coverage and Monday morning in class in time to tease between supporters of different teams.

I came across an excellent essay by Branko Milanovic, an economist at the Carnegie Endowment for International Peace, entitled Learning Globalization From Football.

So, let us set to watch a football match between near-ideal globalization represented by football (F) and real world (RW) globalization.

In football the markets works since supply met their demand. A team can hire any player they like if they can pay the price and a player can look for team that suits its taste after the contract expire (one can even break the contract, for a price). No monopoly and price fixing. Compare that with real world oligopolistic business arrangement and trade restrictions.

The whistle is sounded and the game begins… the F team make a beautiful breakthrough and Inzaghi scored with high curve that elude the goal keeper. 1-0!

In football, there is no limitation of player mobility. All of Arsenal’s players are non-British nationals and the coach is French. Most of top European clubs employed non European in their team. And how does an African or Asian get spotted? Just play well in World Cup or regional cup and flood of offers will come. Meritocracy is at work here and eveyone has a chance. Compare with real world where it’s very difficult (especially for non western) to work across countries with all the licenses and legal limitations.

The keeper of RW is making illegal move and resulted in Penalty. Totti took the shoot and make a powerful curving banana. 2-0!

Remember when Senegal beat France in 2002 World Cup? A French friend of mine give excused that it’s actually French against French since most of Senegal team play on French league. In football, after learning to play with the best and in the toughest league the players will go back to play for their own countries in World Cup and Olympics. Thus, spreading their hard gained skills to their fellow countrymen and brings pride for their country. Similar arrangement need to be made in globalization where the ex-pat from developing countries can share their skill and network to their countrymen beside sending remittance to their immediate family.

Ibrahimovic and Del Piero bring the ball crossing defensive line and work toe-to-toe in order to face the lonely goal keeper. A soft touch by Ibrahimovic brings the score to 3-0! ... Long wistle is sounded and time is up.

If only the whole globalization is a football field…



Errata:
There are still 3 British citizens on current Arsenal team.