Years ago, on an old sandy field, an elder sheikh trying to settle a soccer dispute among boys told us that football is just an inflated skin you run after, so do not give it more importance than it deserves.
What I am sure of today, after many years and heavy experiences, is that football really does not deserve conflict or dispute. However, it is indeed much more than just a game, more widespread and practiced than any culture or tradition.
Football has transcended all boundaries, spoken all languages, and has become a soft power almost surpassing any other. It is beloved by fans around the world, a source of their anger, sorrows, tears, and joys, even their unity or discord. It is that tool capable of outlining realities and ideas, and shaping images and impressions about countries and peoples.
Brazil, for example, wouldn't be the Brazil we know without football. The national identity of Samba football represents a complete cultural narrative about joy and creativity, an endearing mental image among audiences who know little about Brazil's history or culture except through football.
While a small country like Uruguay, with a population of just three and a half million, has secured an exceptional place in the hearts of football fans around the world. Beautiful Italy crept into the hearts of millions in the 1980s through football, more than its ancient history and art, while Japan has transformed its football passion into a strategic vision that began in the 1990s, as Japan rose in the football world, while generations around the world grew up with the legendary Japanese character, Captain "Tsubasa" or what we call Captain Majid, who has become part of Japan's football culture exported worldwide in all languages.
Here in the Middle East, Qatar has transformed its sports hosting into global cultural events, making Souq Waqif and Lusail Stadium - for instance - famous landmarks known and visited by all Arabs during the seasons of producing impactful cultural narratives.
And let's not forget the International Federation of Football Associations FIFA, which has become an international power, imposing sanctions and rewards, excluding some countries and favoring others, and even awarding prizes to prominent figures and heads of state. Has FIFA not awarded the Peace Prize to the president of the largest country in the world? And who knows, perhaps this could become a prize surpassing the Nobel Prize in interest.
In the world we live in today, people in India built a statue for an Argentine named Messi, and thousands in Iran chase a Portuguese named Ronaldo, while studies have shown that the Egyptian player Mohamed Salah was a direct cause in reducing hate crimes against Muslims in England, and British news sites reported that Britons converted to Islam influenced by Salah.
Football has transcended its sporting dimension, with its great ability to transform moral impact into economic benefits attracting tourism and investment, or political benefits that build relationships and expand influence, or national social benefits that enhance national identity and reinforce national unity, as distinguished in the Jordanian case, which was depicted in the collective feeling of pride and belonging, with the national flag and Hashemite leadership in the hearts of the audience before, during, and after every match, and the keffiyeh and mansaf traveled as cultural symbols with our national team, and will travel to the World Cup in a cultural narrative that will be heard by people around the world, and they will knock on the doors of search engines to learn more about it, to hear afterward about the desert and plains, about Ajloun and Petra, about wheat and olives, and about the chivalry of Jordanians.
In this context, we must realize that countries with limited resources receive greater global sympathy when they achieve accomplishments, as has happened and is happening with our team, which has gained the respect of the world for its achievements in a spirit that can be translated - and our winds have blown - into positive effects that bring us cultural, political, economic, and social benefits through supportive communication strategies that realize benefits, away from any emotional entanglements or rivalries that might occur if poorly directed, and we are rich in them, as they do not represent the true nature of the Jordanian who loves his country, belongs to his nation, and is known for his hospitality and respect for every human.
