Israel’s future in FIFA is uncertain after a recent incident that put an end to the aspirations of two young Palestinain soccer players. On January 31st, Jawhat Nasser Jawhar and Adam Abd al-Raouf Halabiya–both under 20 years old–trecked to Faisal al-Husseini Stadium to attend what became their last training session ever. The 2 athletes were met by bullets as they approached a checkpoint on their way home. More than 10 bullets were fired by the Israeli forced who also beat and released checkpoint dogs onto the young men. After hospitalization, they learned that soccer would no longer be a part of their futures.

The unfortunate instances where Palestinan soccer players are targetted by the Israeli army and security forces are not rare. Death, injury, or imprisonment has been a reality for several members of the Palestinan national team for quite a while.

Full article: http://www.thenation.com/blog/178642/after-latest-incident-israels-future-fifa-uncertain

(WRITTEN MARCH 9th)

Many things that have little to do with corporatism–namely sports–have been used throughout history, and are still in use today, by companies to promote products. Numerous corporate advertisement agencies have had success in finding a niche within the realm of sports. A new term, the sports industrial complex, has surfaced recently to describe this and other observed links between sports and capital. Although the Unites States is commonly though of as the principle contractor of the phenomena known by some as the sports-industrial complex, the practice of using sports as a marketing tool occurs in places all over the globe.

For example in Britain, Bovril (a beef extract used to make drinks, flavor soups/stews, and/or spread on bread)  was a staple of the British match day experience for years. Here are a few soccer-themed Bovril ads from the 1950s/early 1960s: 

       (WRITTEN FEB 13th)