FEARS FOR OUR GAME: A review of States of Play by Miguel Delaney

States of Play – How Sportswashing Took Over Football, by Miguel Delaney, published by Seven Dials, Price: £22

THE Independent’s chief football writer Miguel Delaney has produced a forensic investigation into sportswashing and how it has damaged the beautiful game.

Delaney journeys from Abu Dhabi to Newcastle and on to London, Paris, Moscow and New York to investigate the allegations of sportswashing and misconduct in football.

He explains how football has been taken over by the world’s wealthiest businessmen, state-backed corporations, media tycoons and oil-rich oligarchs.

Details of transfer

He provides details of Neymar’s £198m transfer to Paris Saint-Germain and Abu Dhabi’s construction empire in Manchester to failed Financial Fair Play constraints and the dawn of the European Super League.

He writes: “Abu Dhabi’s Manchester City have won more trophies and games across seven years than any other English team in history; Qatar’s Paris Saint-Germain have rendered the French league a joke and the global party of the World Cup has been held in countries where minorities fear to go, and migrant workers have been abused in its staging.

“The sport’s economy has meanwhile been upended with state influence in every corner, and capitalist enterprises picking off everything in between.”

Sporting victory

Delaney identifies that it is difficult to have too many rational thoughts about human rights amid the profound emotion of sporting victory.

This is perhaps why so many negative things have been allowed to happen in football.

Every metric shows the sport across Europe is more predictable than 30, 20 and even 10 years ago. Somehow, a world where the vast majority of teams can’t compete has been normalised.

The essence of football is community, and yet cynical interests have sought to commodify the football experience.

Rightly critical

Delaney is rightly critical of how the football authorities such as FIFA, UEFA and the Premier League have allowed this to happen.

Delaney believes the current legal case by the Premier League against Manchester City for breaking more than 100 of its financial rules could provide an existential moment for football.

“If City are found guilty, it will alter the perception of an entire decade of the Premier League,” he states. “The entire face of the competition would similarly be transformed if City were to be expelled.

“If City are found not guilty, however, other clubs may revolt. That might even happen if any punishment from a guilty verdict is deemed weak. The strength of feeling is that high, the pressure that intense.”

Damning account

Delaney’s book has provided a damning account of the state of football and suggests that the game is at a point of crisis. Football has a very uncertain future, but he believes there is still hope that instead of sportswashing, the game can be cleansed.

He ends on a note of optimism and says we must look to the way women’s football is being developed.

Ian Aspinall Rating out of 10: 9