A prominent midfielder of the German football team, Mesut Özil, recently announced that he was quitting the team. Özil is a German-Turk. Weeks after the German squad made a shocking exit from this year’s FIFA World Cup in Russia, Özil claimed that he had faced racial slurs in Germany for being an immigrant. In a statement, he said, “I am a German when we win, but an immigrant when we lose.”
This is a classic case of scapegoating which is quite rampant in countries where sports often become entangled with certain aspects of contemporary populist politics. After shock defeats, passionate fans frequently pick out scapegoats on the basis of some underlying racial or ultra-nationalist biases. Verbal attacks and taunts targeted at the scapegoats then become an exercise in collective catharsis that has absolutely nothing to do with on-the-field facts.
Of course, those having a go at Özil for being a Turk — and thus somehow not entirely committed to Germany’s football fortunes — conveniently forgot that he was part of the German squad that won the 2014 World Cup too. Also, what about the many immigrants in the French squad which lifted this year’s trophy?
Sports is no different from other fields when it comes to victimising easy targets for dirty politics
Scapegoating in this context is simply about picking out a member of a defeated sporting team who belongs to a minority community and then using him or her to project one’s frustration and anger on. This can include slurs against the scapegoat’s race, ethnicity or even faith.
British sports journalist, Jon Spurling, in his book Death & Glory dedicates a whole chapter on the tragic fate of the once much-loved Brazilian football goalkeeper, Moacir Barbosa. Between 1940 and 1950 Barbosa was commonly hailed as being one of the world’s finest goalies. He was also one of the first black Brazilian players to make it to the national side.
During the 1950 Fifa World Cup in Brazil, the home side stormed its way into the finals. Barbosa was instrumental in Brazil’s rampant march. However, even though Brazil was a favourite against Uruguay in the deciding game, it lost 2-1. Brazilian fans were furious.
Spurling wrote that close to 95,000 people watched the game inside Rio de Janeiro’s huge Marcana Stadium. After the defeat, most Brazilians were seen either weeping or walking in a daze on the streets. And then a scapegoat was found. It was the once celebrated Barbosa — one of the first black men to be picked to play for the national squad.
According to Spurling, the reason Brazil lost was because, after scoring the first goal, the team coach and captain decided to play defensively and guard their meagre lead. Uruguay exploited this and Brazilian defenders were never up to the task of stopping a desperate Uruguayan side which managed to run past the Brazilian defence and find Barbosa standing alone and on his own.