Page 32 - Issue 39

ELITE Vol.1, Issue 39, January 2022
Vol.1, Issue 39, January

Soccer...

Between Economics and Politics

Mostafa Ahmed - Level 4 - Political Science
Since ancient times, mankind has known competition Where the Italian striker “Anastasi” moved to the Italian
and challenge. This was very evident in their invention club Juventus, at a value of half a million euros. Then in
of means to help 1982, when the Argentinian star "Maradona" moved
satisfy that desire, and amongst those
innovations was sports. Sports appeared in the beginning from Argentine's Boca Juniors to Spain's Barcelona, at a
through a group of primitive games in which everyone is value of 3.5 million euros. Hence, and with the huge
allowed to participate and there is a winner and a loser, deals that followed, everyone began to realize that
which represented the first nucleus of the Olympic football was gradually transforming into a trade. This
Games for the Greeks. In the Roman civilization, it was soon supported more and more by the spread of
gradually developed into a competition dominated by televisions and the Internet around the world, which
excessive violence. caused an increase in the demand for the good supplied
With the occurrence of increased interactions between represented in matches, and from here, businessmen and
people, either through travelling or occupation, these investors began to enter the football field.
games began to spread between people to the extent that From Sport to Investment:
the origins of some of these games has become Since the beginning of the 2000s, club purchases and
unknown, such as football. Where it is not known their impact on the game have become clear. In 2017,
whether it originated in China or Britain. However, it is the famous Italian club “AC Milan” was sold to a
confirmed that it appeared in its usual form in the Chinese investment alliance, which made deals to
nineteenth century in Britain, but not in its current form restore the club to its glory. However, this did not
that we know. materialize, so it was sold again to an American
At the beginning it was just a popular game in Britain. management company, but it did not succeed either.
But the year 1885 witnessed a pivotal shift in the history And so there was news circulating in August 2020 that
of football with the issuance of the “Professional Law” the club will soon declare bankruptcy.
that allowed players to play football full-time and opened In Italy, an alliance of Chinese investors also bought the
the door for transfers between clubs to make the largest proportion of the shares of the “Inter Milan” club
competition greater, which is what happened in 1893, and made huge deals, such as the Belgian “Romulo
where it witnessed the transfer of several players Lukaku” that made the club compete for major
between clubs inside Britain. And after a long period, championships after a period of stagnation, but with the
specifically in 1968, the first transfer deal was made for a Corona pandemic, they were prompted to abandon those
huge sum of money at the time, deals due to the economic crisis that afflicts the world.

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