Oh how it is so much more than kicking a ball!

Brazil eats, sleeps and drinks football. It lives football! – Pele  

It’s a funny old saying isn’t it ‘the beautiful game’, one that often provokes huge debate and sighs from those, who just simply do not understand the love affair millions have with football often labelling it as ‘just a game’. However to others, it is a way of life, it is all some have ever known, it provides opportunities, friendship and yes, the so-called ‘beautiful game’ has even caused tears to plummet down heartbroken faces across the globe. As the FIFA World Cup is now upon us, these emotions will only increase. Those who label it as ‘just a game’ perceptibly are not opening their minds to realise that the sport of football, simply put is the most absolute, powerful way of uniting opposed communities globally, regardless of their background. It stops current conflict, potential conflict, creates the most unlikely friendships, generates the unthinkable… and this why.

December 25^th 1914, also known as the ‘Christmas truce’. One of the most famous dates for World War 1, the date in which two fierce enemies in battle became companions for a singular day with the festive spirit and a game of football bonding the two. Just as easy as that, a sport with such simple rules uniting enemies and setting aside differences, nothing else could have the influence and the power like football does to do such things. ‘Just a game’, is it heck!

After four years of conflict in a Civil War, the sheer influence of football prevailed once again in the African country of Cote d’Ivoire. Following intense gunfire between the rebel-held Muslim north and the government-held Christian south, things were getting from bad to worse, the fighting catastrophically dividing the country in two. However, on the 8^th October 2005, despite all the conflict a 3-1 victory over Sudan thus resulted in Cote d’Ivoire qualifying for their first ever World Cup, with what came next depicting ‘the beautiful game’. Pouncing on the opportunity, captain Cyril Domoraud invited the media into the dressing room to then pass Ivorian hero Didier Drogba the centre stage, in which he addressed the nation urging them to forgive one another, stop the war and to hold elections, further ensuring this happened, in 2007 Drogba took the power upon himself to change the venue of an African Cup Of Nations qualifier from the capital Abidjan to the rebel capital of Bouaké, an occasion that brought both armies together peacefully for the first time and saw both sides singing the national anthem all as one, stopping the tensions. If there is anything that can stand alone to show the power of football, it is this. ‘The beautiful game’ is one that unites all, the influence that not just the sport but the stars themselves can have on the global stage is something that minimal things can be compared to. How can something be labelled as ‘just a game’ when it stops civil wars from obliterating a country? Nothing creates peace and unity more than football. ‘Just a game’, is it heck!

Earlier this year in February, a group of eleven others and I were fortunate enough to visit a deaf school in Makeni, Sierra Leone in which, obviously one would think it would be near impossible to communicate with the deaf students, but football says otherwise. A ball was all that was needed to communicate with the students, when there was a ball, everyone was on board and friendships were therefore created. Football is the only universal language. Nothing more than football could possibly create such a mass number of different friendships between two contrasting groups of individuals. Two groups of strangers with a communication barrier united through that ball which therefore removed all barriers.'Just a game', is it heck!  

Seeing as though it is now the World Cup season, let’s discuss a memorable moment from a past World Cup. Now, some may say the Ivorian situation is just a one-off, an anomaly. However seven years prior, football created the extraordinary. The 1998 World Cup finals saw USA and Iran drawn in the same group whilst at the time, tensions between the two were scorching with the president of the US Soccer Federation labelling it ‘the mother of all games’ but then the footballing spirit had its say. The pre-match handshakes saw the Iranian players present the Americans with white roses (a symbol of peace in Iran) to then result in the opponents coming together for one pre-match team photo rather than two separate ones. This shows for those ninety minutes and also not just those ninety minutes, (evident in Sierra Leone) peace is created, communities come together and no matter what political matters arise, every problem is overlooked within the arena as the thing that brings all together, works its magic to deliver the unthinkable. Nothing can do this quite like football. 'Just a game', is it heck!

Whether that person is deaf, in poverty, financially stable, a leader, a rebel or speaks a different language, all these people no matter their background, the spirit and love of football is all that is needed to bring them together with the ball being the only communication required. Thus showing it is so much more than kicking a ball and it is these unthinkable, out of the blue moments that makes ‘the beautiful game’ so special, so unique and one of the most influential things on earth, making it the showcase it is today. The FIFA World Cup, is just one way in which this is shown. ‘Just a game’… is it heck!