Last week, we reported on Eric Cantona's comments on the power struggle in FIFA between Blatter and Platini and his disapproval of Qatar's hosting of the World Cup in 2022. Here he is in his latest documentary, "Looking for Rio", which explores the relationship between football and politics in Rio de Janeiro, as well as FIFA's influence on the global game.
This is Cantona's seventh documentary since his shock retirement from the game in 1997. His outspoken style and stark anti-FIFA sentiments are unsurprising given his maverick attitude which was evident since his earliest playing days. It's no surprise that Cantona comes across as the epitome of cool in the footage, and seems as much at home swaggering about the favelas as he does outlining his forthright views in the accompanying interview, given to Amnesty International in Paris. Of the commercialisation and gentrification of modern stadia, he said:
“I have been in Maracanã before and I loved Maracanã. [But] now it is just a stadium like the Emirates Stadium, or Stade de France. And they say: ‘It’s a revolution for us, we have to educate the people to sit.’ But they don’t want to sit, they just want to stand up and sing and dance." He suggested that perhaps 20% of each stadium be set aside for those who otherwise cannot afford the prices of World Cup tickets. One interviewee makes the point that the cheapest ticket to the final this summer will be the equivalent of €780. By contrast, the deciding game of the 1950 World Cup was played before a far more socially diverse crowd of least 173,000 Brazilians. According to another contributor, the Maracanã has become an "elitist place where the disadvantaged are excluded".
Despite the scope for corruption in Brazil, Cantona supports the decision to hold the tournament there on the grounds that it is a true footballing nation. Unsurprisingly, he reserves his most withering criticism for the world governing body's decision to give Qatar the 2022 tournament. He claimed that while most Brazilians will be unable to afford the ticket prices this summer, Qataris will have to be paid to attend the games. He said: “They have their responsibility. And in giving the World Cup to Qatar they show the world that they don’t really care about the sport."
Fellow 1990s footballing great Romário also contributes to the footage to voice his disapproval of what he sees as a Blatter-led FIFA takeover of Brazil for the duration of the tournament. He said: "During the World Cup, the President of Brazil will be Joseph Blatter, not Dilma (Rousseff). It will be very negative for our country" We've covered his thoughts on the topic before here.
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[Guardian]
