Throughout history, soccer teams have been founded for many reasons. Many of the most prominent teams today were begun by groups of friends eager to find a source of amusement.

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On December 1, World AIDS Day, numerous events were held around the world to raise awareness about the deadly disease. One of these events was a soccer tournament held in Bloemfontein, South African. Organized by a young woman named Leah Bellow-Handelman and others at the non-profit organization Grassroot Soccer, the event was intended to bring in teams for athletic competition, and to encourage them to get tested for HIV/AIDS. Bellow-Handelman took time out of her busy schedule recently to talk to me about the tournament she was organizing and other work she’s involved with at Grassroot Soccer.

Students involved with Grassroot Soccer (photo: Grassroot Soccer)

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When Tim Vickery went to Brazil in 1994 he was, like many people traveling to a new land, overwhelmed by a sense of “straight off the boat surprise.” Everything was new, and he loved the feeling of being immersed in it. Vickery, who had never left England until he was 23, quickly came to realize that “discovery is the best thing in life.”

Since 1994, Vickery has been discovering more and more about South American soccer and writing about it for the BBC, The World Game, Sports Illustrated, and World Soccer magazine. He was kind enough to take the time to speak with me recently about soccer in Brazil, the country where he is based.

Tim Vickery (photo: Tim Vickery)

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President of Liberia was a position for which George Weah was eminently unqualified when he ran for election in 2005. He never completed high school and had no political experience. Liberia was mired in a state of despair, coming off of years of civil war which had divided the country and crippled the economy of the west African nation. Yet despite all of this, Weah finished a respectable second in the run-off election (after winning the first round). George Weah had something that no other candidate could match: a glowing career in soccer.

Surprisingly, George Weah is one of the few former soccer players to use their fame to move into a career in politics. Former players are some of the most prominent people in society and were they to move into politics, they would begin their new careers with higher name recognition than many politicians in office for years. But, for whatever reason, few players attempt to make this transition. A few of those who have (along with some former coaches, officials, and referees) are listed below. I’m limiting this list to those who have played at the professional level. Many politicians played soccer as kids (though few are as bad as Tony Blair).

Blair attempts to at least make contact

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The Qaddafi family of Libya treats soccer just like they treat politics: strangely. Father Muamar Qaddafi, Libya’s leader of the past forty years, has gone from international outcast and sponsor of terrorism to host of a peace conference between rebels in Daruf and the Sudanese government.

Son Al-Saadi Qaddafi, meanwhile, has signed for several Italian Serie A teams, played no more than one game for each, and been banned for drug use. Trying to understand the way that the family’s mind works, on politics or soccer, is difficult, is mind-boggling.

Father and son (photos: Getty Images/BBC and AP/BBC)

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Matches between Turkey and Greece almost always have a political edge to them. The two countries have been historical rivals and continue to feud over the status of the divided island of Cyprus. One would expect, then, that games would become an arena for fans to express grievances toward their Mediterranean neighbors.

When Greece and Turkey faced off in a recent Euro 2008 qualifier, politics hung heavy in the air. But it had nothing to do with Turkish-Greek relations. Instead, the game, played in Istanbul, offered the local fans a venue to air their more recent grievances against the Kurdish PKK group, which recently killed 12 Turkish soldiers.

Turkish fans wave flags before kick-off (photo: Asher Kohn)

I was tipped off to this by Asher Kohn, a student at the University of Maryland, who is spending the semester abroad in Turkey. Asher went to the game (which Greece won 1-0, their first ever victory over Turkey) and sent me this account of what he saw.
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