What would have happened if Diego Maradona, in the middle of the Azteca stadium, he approached the Tunisian referee Alí Bennaceur, confessed his mischief, and Did he ask me to annul the goal with the handball that he had just scored against England? “The Hand of God is a symbol of the euphemisms we use to disguise behaviors that are difficult to defend from an ethical level. For an Argentine, the violated rule was nothing more than a punishment that England deserved, and therefore, it was largely justified. But what would have happened if Diego had corrected the referee’s error? We can imagine all kinds of consequences. That the most ultra Argentina would never have forgiven him. Even that Maradona would be less of an idol than he is today. Or, perhaps, an act of such an entity would have contributed to making a better country because the symbolic force of such powerful episodes can modify a society. I say it so many years later and considering me an accomplice of that famous event because if I was not the first, I was surely the second to hug Maradona after the goal.” He writes it Jorge Valdano in his book ‘The 11 Powers of the Leader’. An invitation to think.
The every man for himself clouded Argentine football and offers a thousand derivations. He comes crawling, of course, and Several episodes in the current League Cup rub him in the face. Everyone is warned: since the other is willing to cheat, there is no need to look innocent. An invitation to small corruptions, such as simulations, overtaking, card requests and constant complaints that, if they remain unpunished, time can degrade into scandalous actions such as incentive scenarios, suspicion of match fixing, the shadow of betting and even doping. “When you play on the street, mischief is necessary, but From mischief to deception there is a small step. And when you go to professional football you have internalized this idea of taking advantage of anything, so deceiving the referee is an option. The footballer moves within a framework that not only allows and endorses disloyalty, but also practices it. The player is functional to a social and sports system, and grows in that context,” the former soccer player and television commentator tells LA NACION. Diego Latorre.
Emergencies suffocate and disloyalties appear. “Within the game, the footballer brings out the Argentine inside him, who lives on liveliness, on the advantage. This is about winning, so enlisting the referee gives you more chances of scoring a goal and at that moment you don’t care about your colleague, you only care that your mischief is credible,” he adds with a certain resignation. Christian Bassedas, former footballer, coach and manager of Vélez. One of the consequences of the pressure to win is that it tests the players’ sense of morality. And weaknesses appear. “The mischief was put on a pedestal that, in many cases, goes against the values that we supposedly usually proclaim. Simulating or exaggerating a foul is still a bad thing, In the country where people usually walk on the shoulder, we cut in or try not to respect the line, or there is a cult in the art of evading obligations,” details the psychologist. Germán Diorio, sports specialist, consulted by LA NACION.
In some places, ball catchers are taught to hide the balls. Many footballers pretend, they simulate. Sometimes they do not return the ball to the opponent or stop the game when an opponent is down. They get arrogant and even salivate and they are hurt by moral turpitude. They are terrified of losing. Or worse: “Nothing is more humiliating than losing because of gilt, “Let your rival beat you no matter how clever you are,” he accepted. Roberto Perfume with such a special sensitivity. For this there is a maxim that protects and gives impunity: “Football is for the living”, they assure. What a blur, what a toxic environment. “Being advantageous is the worst of sins,” warns and summarizes Gerardo Martino, with a displeasure that does not hide.
The diagnosis is clear, but almost no one dares to challenge the decline. One day he told them Pope Francisco: “Dear players, I would especially like to remind you that, with your way of behaving, both on the field and off it, in life, you are a role model. Even if they don’t realize it, For so many people who look up to them, they are a model, for better or worse. Be aware, therefore, of this and set an example of loyalty, respect and altruism,” the Supreme Pontiff begged them, in August 2013, in the Clementine Hall of the Vatican. Too many footballers do not understand its dimension. And they don’t care either.
In a more civilized football like European football (although it retains the stench of racism), disloyalty is socially condemned. “We are the society in which we grow up, and that is not going to change. In the Premier League they get angry, they point at you and they condemn you. They are permissive even with rough play, “as long as they do not notice disloyalty, but what is celebrated here is unacceptable,” Bassedas, who played in Newcastle between 2000 and 2002, counts for LA NACION. Around here, cheating is encouraged and often celebrated. That is why an act of justice generates so much surprise. Like the day Bielsa ordered his team, Leeds, to let Aston Villa score a goal, in 2019, after a controversial play in which his team had taken the lead. “The social cost of defeat in Argentina makes the players empower themselves. No player wants to lose. “Going out on the street is more difficult than in most countries where football is a passion,” has precisely analyzed Marcelo Bielsa. Good summary.
Because footballers are not aliens, they come from a disjointed society. A very widespread maxim assures that the players are the healthiest part of Argentine football. TRUE? Misdiagnoses are the heart of the disease. Ricardo Caruso Lombardi appears with his direct style: “The footballers, the healthiest…? Sanata, sanata… There are good ones and there are bad ones. As in all branches. “Former players betrayed me, politicians betrayed me and technicians betrayed me.” “Within the football environment, someone pure, pure, pure, pure? Does not exist. And not just the players: I don’t think there is a pure coach or a pure leader. As in any environment where there is a struggle for power, for money,” adds the former defender. Juan Manuel Herbella, always an invitation to reflect.
Probably the growth of the football business encouraged disloyalty. So, it’s worth winning at any price. And the media contributes to that hysteria that elevates and condemns the ephemeral. The players arrive younger, more immature, and also come from an increasingly impoverished socio-cultural background. In short, with fewer tools to resist raging waves. “It is easier to question the referee when he charges against us than to know the regulations, for example. There is always an enemy to blame, and there is less and less time for learning or self-criticism. The footballer is asked to be an example and a reflection, but we do not worry about preparing him seriously. So, we laugh at the “very difficult” from Tevez, but we do not demand the same from a politician who is embarrassing giving a speech in English in an international forum. Why are we like this? Because the entire society has its values mixed and subverted. And football is no exception to the rule,” completes Germán Diorio.
“In Argentina the context is very powerful and one, slowly, whether you like it or not, tries to deceive, to take advantage, since here the coach and the player who live by liveliness are saluted, and not the one who insists on defending the game. That guy can only sustain his ideals with permanent results, otherwise he will be marked as naive,” Latorre develops. Disloyalties were installed as a tool that enables victory. Almost no one condemns them; many consider them a value. AND It is no longer enough to commit them, but they must also be exhibited. The ostentation of the sinking.