SPORT & SOCIETY

www.bl.uk/sportandsociety

The Summer Olympics and Paralympics through the lens of social science

Olympic Football and Nation-building in Uruguay Javier Szlifman http://pelotaafuera.blogspot.co.uk/

Before the institution of the football world cup in 1930, the Olympic football tournament provided the main international forum for national teams to come together to compete against each other. After 1952, only amateur players were allowed to play and since 1992 with some exceptions- only players under the age of 23 are allowed to take part. It is therefore fair to say that in the past few decades, the Olympic tournament has existed in the shadow of the World Cup. In the history of the Olympic Games, football teams regarded as weaker have often achieved gold. Belgium (1920), Hungary (1952, 1964 and 1968) the former Yugoslavia (1960) Czechoslovakia (1980) and the now defunct GDR (1976) have all triumphed. It would appear that, in the Olympic Games, the balance of world football power is altered. At the London 2012 Games, team GB was one of the hopefuls, along with Spain, the current World Cup title-holder. African countries have won at previous Games (Nigeria and Cameroon in 1966 and 2000 respectively) and will also have had their eyes on gold, as will Brazil and Uruguay, representing South America. The return of Uruguay to the competition after 84 years was particularly significant, since so much of the countrys football history is tied to the Games. It won gold in the Paris games of 1924 and in Amsterdam in 1928 on the only two occasions it took part. Both these tournaments had been organised by FIFA and were effectively world championships. It was because of these two victories that the Latin American country was subsequently chosen to host the first football world cup in 1930, when Uruguay triumphed once more and became the king of world football, having defeated the much stronger European teams. Its success at the Olympics was reflected in the terminology used to describe two important elements of football in later years. In Latin America Olympic goal became the name for a corner kick and the wire fences which separate the crowd from the pitch are still known as Olympic fences.

Page 1 of 3

Sport and Society: the Summer Olympics and Paralympics through the lens of social science

Following their victory at the Amsterdam Games of 1924 the victorious Uruguayan team played two friendly matches against Argentina. The first match took place without incident on 21 September and resulted in a draw. A week later a rematch took place in Buenos Aires accompanied by such crowd violence that the game had to be suspended. It eventually took place on October 2nd but because of crowd problems the authorities decided to secure the pitch using a metal fence. Thus was the Olympic fence born. Used once or twice before, it now became a permanent feature, and it is ironic that violent behaviour has this contorted connection with the Olympic ideal. Despite the Olympic fence, violence was evident both on and off the field of play in 1924. During the match with Argentina Cesareo Onzari scored a goal from a corner kick which put the Agentinians 2-1 up, upon which the Uruguayans abandoned the game. Adolfo Celli of the Argentinian team suffered a broken tibia and fibula and the crowd assaulted the visiting players, pelting them with stones and bottles. A month later, when the two countries met again in the final of the Copa America in Montevideo a spectator Pedro Demby was killed in a confrontation between fans, becoming the first fatality in the history of Argentinian football. The aggressor, protected by his side, was able to escape safely to Buenos Aires and was never tried for his crime.

The Olympic victory itself was a triumph for the unification movement initiated by Batlle, who had envisaged the countrys participation in the Olympic tournament as part of his wider aims for the modernisation of Uruguay. We are no longer that little dot on the worlds map announced Atilio Narancio after the victory, while Lorenzo Batlle Berre wrote in El Dia the only live media to report on the success You are Uruguay; now you are the country From the government to the public, people from all echelons of society joined in celebration behind the national flag and other national symbols, and the countrys president Jose Serrado of the Partido Colorado appeared in public to greet the crowds. Thus a way of playing football, characterised by tenacity and virtuosity, fed into perceptions of the national character. Upon the teams return to Montevideo in 1924 all Uruguayans filled the streets, sharing a sense of joy and belonging; and the triumph ensured that Uruguay hosted the first football world championships in 1930 which they again won. Street celebration was once more in evidence and the footballers were given public sector jobs by way of thanks, something of a dream for most Uruguayans at that time.

Football & nation building in Uruguay

Page 2 of 3

Sport and Society: the Summer Olympics and Paralympics through the lens of social science

The Uruguayan team played once again at the London 2012 Olympics, aware that it is to the games that the country owes so much of its national pride. References and further reading: Carbonell Debali, A., Mancebo Decaux, H., Corbo Sentubery, M. Primer Campeonato Mundial de Futball. Montevideo: Ediciones de la Impresora Uruguaya, 1930. London reference collections shelfmark: LB.31.c.14169 Etchandy, A, El clsico. La fiesta mayor. Montevideo: Ediciones del Caballo Perdido, 2004. FESUR Nunca mas campeon mundial? : aportes del Seminario Uruguay, Nunca Mas Campeon Mundial? Futbol, Deportes y Politica en Uruguay, organizado por FESUR Montevideo, julio de 1990. London reference collections shelfmark: YA.1996.a.10999 Gimenez Rodriguez, A. La pasion laica : una breve historia del futbol uruguayo. Montevideo: Rumbo Editorial, 2007. London reference collections shelfmark: YF.2008.a.12922 Jawad, H. Four weeks in Montevideo: the story of World Cup 1930. Hertfordshire: Seventeen Media, 2009. London reference collections shelfmark: YK.2011.a.11729 Lombardo, R.J. Donde se cuentan proezas : futbol uruguayo, 1920/1930. Montevideo: Banda Oriental, 1993. London reference collections shelfmark: YA.1995.a.22302 Luzuriaga, J.C. El football de novecientos : orgenes y desarrollo del ftbol en el Uruguay (1875-1915). Montevideo : Fundacin Ita: Ediciones Santillana, 2009. London reference collections shelfmark: YF.2010.a.31047 Morales A. Football, politics and society, in Journal of the History Teachers Association of Uruguay 2002. Morales, A. (2003) "Battlismo and football", Buenos Aires, [digital sports magazine] www.efdeportes.com. Rocca, P. Literatura y futbol en el Uruguay, 1899-1990 : la polemica, el encuentro. Montevideo: Arca, 1991 London reference collections shelfmark: YA.1995.a.11983

Football & nation building in Uruguay

Page 3 of 3