FIFA and Reformation

In fact, football is the only world religion that everyone managed to turn to their faith, usually without wars and almost without blood. Everything is equal to football, therefore, football geography is bizarre as the history of countries playing it. Only on the Green Field of Holland is still a great power.

Indifference to scale raises football over the world - like God. Everyone who wants to worship him, but everyone who can want. All fanatics dreamed about this, but in vain: on Earth there was never one religion - except for football. Simple, cheap, publicly accessible and understandable, this religion is not afraid of rivals, for everyone allows him to pray in his own way. So, having captured the planetary consciousness, the god of football became his master.

To be world, religion does not have to promise more than to give. Do not forget that faith does not always imply a good news of the afterlife. Buddha was silent about her, and Confucius, and the Old Testament. There is also such a religion that teaches another. Indicating the alternative to the weekdays, it brings a supernatural dimension into our ordinary life.

Football is a religion at the same time universal and national, and this makes football unique and indispensable

At the same time, football is also a purely national game, and in this he goes across globalization. The less meaning remains in the state borders of the non -boring countries, the cooler the passions on the field where players pretend that political maps mean the same as before. Football returns us to the era of heraldic battles. With their victories and defeats, the players, as before - the knights, fill the story of a tag in their eyes. Changing the military uniform to sports, football justifies a patriotic rage. Each country, often crowded in its capitals, is waiting for a goal, like telegrams from the sky.

In other words, football is a religion at the same time universal and national, and this makes football unique and indispensable. He knows how to unite, sharing. The only one is not jealous of religion, it offers the globe of her faith, not demanding to abandon the tribal superstitions, such as a cricket, baseball and a ball hockey. The tolerance, complaisance and simplicity of dogmas, which every first -grader know, makes football absolutely indispensable and infinitely influential. In addition, football is also a source of wealth: economists say that as a product it is inferior only to oil.

However, it is all these properties of football that make it extremely vulnerable to corruption, which prove the current processes over bribe takers from FIFA. And this allows you to continue the analogy with religion.

Recall the Catholic Church. Left without competition, she became a victim of such fierce corruption that to correct the vices of her authoritarian power, a cleansing storm of reformation was required. No matter how expensive this revolution cost history, one cannot but admit that ultimately it benefited both sides of the conflict. Protestants learned to live in peace with Catholics, and today no one is selling indulgences.

If you follow the logic of the proposed parallel, then football should go through the same Reformation, even if it is fraught with a split.

It is characteristic that the first to talk about this in Germany, where they not only passionately love football, but also well remembered the compatriot - the rebellious monk Martin Luther.

Alexander Genis-New York writer and publicist, author and host of the Radio Liberty program "American Hour-over barriers"

Opinions expressed under the heading "Law" may not reflect the point of view of the Radio Liberty editorial