Aboriginal Rules: A Bibliography
*Some time last year I participated in a conference on ‘sport and discrimination’ held by the University of Sunderland at their London campus. ‘Discrimination’ evoked ideas of ‘racism’, ‘prejudice’, ‘abuse’ and also a resistance to, a mediating of, and also an avoidance of. In my paper I wanted to stress not the act of discriminating […]
Shane Edwards Playing Footy
(above photo from Korin Gamadji Institute.) The AFL has aligned itself closely with the cause of reconciliation between Aboriginal and non-Aboriginal Australia. It regards itself as being a progressive agent of change in promoting Indigenous rights and well-being. There is much infrastructure in place to show the work of the AFL with Aboriginal Australia: the […]
Panggilan Kontribusi
Setiap hari kita buka internet untuk tetap up-to-date dengan kabar dari Manchester United, Liverpool, Arsenal, Barca. Kita pakai kaos atau jersey ori agar tampak keren. Kita bangun pagi-pagi untuk nonton Liga Champions. Kita tidak tidur agar bisa nonton derby Manchester atau el clasico di Spanyol. Kita tiba-tiba menjadi pendukung tim German yang sangat nasionalis waktu […]
W-League Rising
It is round 4 of the W-League and I’m traveling across Melbourne to Epping Stadium to see Melbourne Victory play Adelaide United. This is my first W-League game of the season, after having watched both the semi-final and final in Perth last season. The game is to be played in Epping, some 20km north of […]
I Heart Ben Arfa
Hatem Ben Arfa, recently interviewed by France Football, spoke of his troubled time at Newcastle FC. For him it was a kind of hell; he felt he was being punished beyond his crimes. He says, “It was a very, very difficult period. The worst of my career. It was as if my hell began at […]
Sukab Dribbles the Ball
Sukab dribbles the ball. Sukab dribbles the ball upon a manicured green field. He guides the ball gracefully, with the skill of a player in the Italian Seria A. Sukab – Sukab from Indonesia – dribbles the ball, caresses the ball, heads the ball, guiding the ball along the field, the great empty expanse without […]
At the Edge of Asia
*Tim Flicker writes on the poor state of Australian football relations in Asia Robbie Gaspar (pictured below) is a name known to few Australian football fans, and yet he is one of the few Australian footballers to have had a stellar decade-long career in Indonesia, Brunei and Malaysia . While games in Australia’s growing A-league […]
Hello, Eindhoven Marathon
Running is about getting a good time and improving. My time today in Eindhoven was not what I was aiming for: it was more or less eight minutes slower than the time I had set as a target. Of course, perhaps because I talk too much or had too much confidence I had mentioned this […]
Origins are Important
(or, Playing Footy and Negotiating Identity) Sport and discrimination: sport, perhaps, is discriminatory. The question is not whether or not ‘discrimination’ takes place in the Australian sporting context, but, how it takes place and what kind of face discrimination shows. I find ‘discrimination’ a somewhat intimidating word; a word that provokes defensive responses. I find […]
What’s your next move, PSSI?
*Article by Ary Wibowo, Kompas newspaper, Jakarta **Translated by Andy Fuller Football, in Indonesia, is like a party. Football can become a means of national resistance, entertainment, a resource of happy stories, as well as a means of making a living. How depressing Indonesia would be without football.People of all ages – from very young […]