Announcement

Collapse
No announcement yet.

Obama Misses A Shot At Soccer Diplomacy

Collapse
X
 
  • Filter
  • Time
  • Show
Clear All
new posts

  • Obama Misses A Shot At Soccer Diplomacy

    OBAMA MISSES A SHOT AT SOCCER DIPLOMACY
    Alex Koppelman

    Salon
    Wednesday, July 8, 2009 18:01 EDT

    WASHINGTON -- President Obama had a full day of meetings with G-8
    leaders scheduled today in L'Aquila, Italy. But if he'd stayed home,
    he might have had a good chance to attempt a little bit of soccer
    diplomacy.

    The United States plays Honduras tonight at Washington's RFK Stadium,
    an easy 4-mile motorcade away from the White House, in the CONCACAF
    Gold Cup, a tournament to decide the North and Central American
    soccer champion. Honduras, of course, has been on the minds of
    U.S. diplomats and national security aides since the military there
    forced President Manuel Zelaya out of office -- and into temporary
    exile in the D.C. area -- a couple of weeks ago. U.S. officials
    have condemned the coup, even though Zelaya has been cozying up to
    Venezuelan leader Hugo Chavez and was apparently in the process of
    trying to subvert the Honduran constitution to extend his term in
    power. Republicans, meanwhile, have been flocking to the side of the
    military coup -- ironically, in the name of restoring democracy --
    on the theory that any pal of Chavez's can't possibly be democratic.

    With all that as the backdrop, the soccer game could take on more
    importance than an early matchup in a regional competition might
    otherwise have had. Honduras, after all, fought a war with El Salvador
    that began with riots during World Cup qualifying games between the
    two nations almost exactly 40 years ago. So if any country might be
    open to diplomacy on the f¨²tbol field, it might be Honduras. It's been
    tried before, with limited success; the U.S. Soccer Federation recently
    requested a match with Iran, though since Iranian authorities recently
    banned players who wore green wristbands in support of protests there,
    that may not happen. FIFA officials awarded Turkey and Armenia their
    "Fair Play" prize last year, since the two countries -- which don't
    have diplomatic relations -- got their leaders to agree to attend a
    World Cup qualifying match in Yerevan, Armenia, in September. Former
    Liberian star player George Weah ran for president there in 2005,
    losing in the second roun!

    d, and Italian Prime Minister Silvio Berlusconi -- who Obama met
    with today -- was already well known to voters there as the media
    mogul who owns soccer power AC Milan. CONCACAF officials told Salon
    they weren't sure whether Zelaya -- who was in Washington this week
    to meet with Secretary of State Hillary Clinton -- would attend
    tonight's matchup. Regardless, if Obama had been in town, dropping
    by the stadium might have been a good way to show Hondurans that he's
    thinking of them.

    So far, though, Obama has shown only limited interest in using
    soccer to promote U.S. interests abroad, even though it's by far the
    world's most popular sport -- and even though his sports-obsessed
    administration recently launched an official White House Office of
    Olympic, Paralympic and Youth Sport. Aides denied reports a couple
    weeks ago that Obama had already committed to attending the World
    Cup in South Africa next year, even though FIFA Commissioner Sepp
    Blatter, the top international soccer official, told ESPN to expect the
    president there. (The U.S. hasn't yet qualified to make the tournament
    next year, anyway.) When the U.S. unexpectedly made it to the finals
    two weeks ago of FIFA's Confederations Cup, a sort of mini-World Cup
    also played in South Africa, Obama never contacted coach Bob Bradley
    to cheer the team on. The U.S. beat European champion Spain, 2-0 in
    the semifinals, and the international media focus on the Americans
    was pretty heavy ahead of the final against Brazil. (The U.S. lost,
    in heartbreaking fashion, 3-2.) A short phone call to Bradley could
    have helped Obama shoehorn his way into some of the global coverage,
    in a way that made the U.S. seem to have a common passion with the
    rest of the world. And Obama hasn't been shy about calling other
    coaches, but apparently Bradley didn't make the cut. Obama also hasn't
    yet dropped by RFK to see the local team, D.C. United, even though
    they're in first place in their conference in Major League Soccer. (He
    hasn't been to see the Washington Nationals play baseball yet, either,
    but since they're on pace for 113 losses, that's n!

    ot so surprising; he will make to baseball's All-Star Game next week
    in St. Louis.) "Of course he and his family are welcome at any game,"
    United spokesman Doug Hicks said. "We'd love to introduce the First
    Family to D.C. United, and we'd welcome his support."

    What makes Obama's decision not to use the sport to reach out to the
    world a little surprising is that the administration is, generally,
    pretty soccer-friendly -- certainly more so than George W. Bush's
    was, though Bush rooted for the U.S. team in the 2002 and 2006 World
    Cups. Obama is already on the record supporting the power of soccer
    diplomacy. He sent a letter to FIFA officials in April urging them
    to hold the 2018 or 2022 World Cup in the U.S., and a month later,
    he told Univision that it would be a "diplomatic coup" to host the
    tournament. The president grew up playing the game in Indonesia; his
    press secretary, Robert Gibbs, was a goalie on the North Carolina State
    University college team, and other press aides were sneaking peeks at
    the Confederations Cup matches during the workday as the U.S. made
    its surprising run. The Major League Soccer champions Columbus Crew
    will visit the White House on Monday for a congratulatory photo op
    with Obama.

    And even though Obama wasn't there to welcome them, and won't be there
    tonight to cheer them on against Honduras, U.S. national team forward
    Brian Ching and defenders Steve Cherundolo, Jimmy Conrad and Heath
    Pearce all toured the White House yesterday. The players met with some
    aides and wandered the complex in the afternoon. "It was fantastic,"
    a U.S. Soccer official told Salon. Maybe soccer diplomacy has a shot
    sometime, after all.
Working...
X