The Wembley arches remained dark during England's match with Australia on Friday night. Photo: Reuters/Matthew Childs
It was a week that finally broke English football's carefully calibrated position as the great spotlight of messages — sympathy for tragedy, allyship with causes, no place for racism, various tributes — and at the end came the thought that perhaps we asked too much from him.
On Saturday night, only Crystal Palace, out of 20 Premier League clubs, described Hamas' killing of more than 1,000 Israelis, including foreign nationals including British nationals, as an act of terrorism. Only Chelsea reported anti-Semitism. What was not done, the lighting of the Wembley arch, the missing words in statements, were as important as what was. The corporate policy of not taking a position ends up being subject to a conflict in which taking a position is not possible — or at least neutrality means something.
For the avoidance of doubt, the murder in southern Israel was a barbaric and unconscionable act of terrorism. Every now and then, Palestinians die — a story of grief and bloodshed that continues every minute in the Gaza Strip — a tragedy of unimaginable proportions. But the pages of football are not the place to reveal 75 — or even 5,000 — years of history in the Middle East. Perhaps by next weekend we will be able to achieve success in English football.
Then, in the perfect moment that football so often specializes in, comes the second part of the Premier League's No Place for Racism weekend. A laudable goal — but what does it mean now if one is not prepared to even raise the issue of anti-Semitism on the occasion of the bloodiest day in Jewish history since the Holocaust?
The Premier League itself took six days to prepare the statement. The clubs were waiting for her initiative. Many of these clubs believe that, unlike institutions such as the government, the Royal Family or the Metropolitan Police, they do not have the necessary specialized departments to conduct what they believe is beginning to amount to foreign policy. The corporate point of view is that these things take time to formulate.
The problem is that, remembering earthquakes, train crashes, floods and the death of many football luminaries, those six days seemed like a long time. When it came to big words — terrorism, anti-Semitism — many clubs, the Premier League, the Football Association simply could not squeeze them out of their throats.
The England footballer also questioned why, privately, unions such as cricket and rugby, which currently host the World Cup, are not subject to the same scrutiny. It's something related to the profile, but it's more than that. English football has come to be expected, perhaps unrealistically, to do its part to change the world and give its fans the right answer. This week it turned out to be too difficult.
Naturally, the question has been raised as to whether a new class of football investors is raising a silent hand in the background — with Abu Dhabi and Saudi money so important for property, shirt and stadium sponsorships and television contracts. The response was that this was never considered in any of the discussions.
However, as Saudi Arabia's leadership retreated over the week from normalizing diplomatic relations with Israel, there was a feeling that much more pressure could be brought to bear on the Premier League in the future. Could this have an impact on Qatar's bid for Manchester United from Sheikh Jassim, although early reports suggested that the bid had already come to an end?
Over the past two decades, clubs have been sold or refinanced in an increasingly fierce battle for a share of the biggest sports show on earth. State ownership in the Middle East. US private equity families. Private equity brothers from the USA. An investment and financing network that we trust is properly approved and regulated. What this may mean in the future for how these great social institutions will respond to crises, no one knows for sure.
There has been a reluctance to engage in debate at the two clubs that are perhaps most closely associated with the British Jewish community and are located near the country's largest Jewish population in North London. At Tottenham, home to the only Israeli footballer in the Premier League, Manor Solomon, there have been no public words of support for the player from his club. The chairman of the Spurs fund set up to help former players resigned due to the club's «lack of moral clarity», making a strong statement criticizing the club's position.
At Arsenal, Alexander Zinchenko made a personal decision to block his Instagram account after posting in support of Israel. Arsenal-linked Jewish fans' group, the Jewish Gooners, said the delay «from the world of football» meant that «whatever happens now… Jewish and Israeli football fans know that when it really mattered, we did not support.”
On Thursday, the Jewish Gooners reposted Arsenal's statement following a meeting with the club this week. Although the other side of the coin may be the club's previous decision not to support Mesut Ozil in his position on Chinese oppression of Muslim Uyghurs.
In the past, Arsenal have chosen not to use the word «terrorism» in public statements, which is at least a degree of consistency, although sometimes one word is enough. Most of them found these words too heavy. Clubs, like the FA, will say that ultimately their primary job is to get people in and out of football stadiums safely. Everything else should take its place further down the line. But what those security concerns were was never discussed this week.
Players will be required to wear black armbands next weekend in line with the Premier League's statement on the Israel-Gaza issue. Some wonder that even this could be a problem for some people. The question is what exactly these armbands are, or at what time these armbands appeared in a decades-long conflict.
The Premier League, as the great instrument of 21st century soft power in Britain, has tried its best strength Many will say that it never aspired to become a political entity and that this status was thrust upon it, but this time there is so much left unsaid that next time it will be even more difficult.
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