France and the UEFA Euro at 60
France begins its UEFA Euro 2020 campaign against Germany at the Munich Football Arena. The symbolism is rife this year, and this edition is still known as Euro2020, a nod to the competition’s 60th anniversary and celebration of an integrated “Europe” that's had the French as a driving force in the post-1945 era.
Resumption of Rivalries: Women's Football in France a Year After the World Cup
Yesterday the world’s most dominant football club returned to square-off against its biggest rival in a grinding match, delayed by a power outage but finally won at the nail-biting end on penalties. The footballeuses of Olympique Lyonnais (OL) Féminin clenched their ninth Coupe de France title, eeking past Paris Saint-Germain Féminine as the rain streamed down in Auxerre, and earning their 30th championship trophy, according to L’Équipe’s statisticians. But has the pandemic pause negatively impacted women’s football in France, stunting the momentum of last summer’s FIFA World Cup?
"This Storm Is What We Call Progress"
In more normal times, we’d be in the midst of the 2020 European Championship, but instead this week the Football Scholars’ Forum continued our Summer Series dissecting David Goldblatt’s new tome, The Age of Football: Soccer and the 21st Century, with yours truly as moderator for the chapter on European football.
A Teachable Moment From #TalkingSport
I appreciated this insightful panel and the speakers’ thoughtful points. You can read my Tweet thread of highlights, which notes several key aspects I noted, and watch the highlights on YouTube. But for me, one of the discussion’s biggest value added was the speakers’ diversity of global views.
The Year in Review 2019: Sports Diplomacy to the Forefront
As 2019 races across the finish line more quickly than a Ford at Le Mans, its clear that sports diplomacy—recognition of what it is, the various ways that it is being used, how it is changing the sports world, and some of its caveats—is ever-more present. This is true in my own work as a scholar-practitioner, as well as how athletes, teams, and countries tell their stories or how the sports business world is impacted by sports diplomacy, for better or worse. Here’s the top ten events and stories in which sports diplomacy threaded its way through my 2019—plus one honorable mention :)
Why France Still "Won" World Cup 2019
The aftermath was bitter. While only one team won yesterday’s quarter-final showdown on the field (that would be the USWNT), France and Les Bleues won this tournament in another way.
How Do They Make Les Bleues?
A lot has changed since the early 2000s when the first wave of female footballers emerged from Clairefontaine, among them legendary icons Laura Georges, Louisa Nécib (Cadamuro), Camille Abily, and Amandine Henry. So: what does the Pôle France Féminin du football look like today?
Women’s World Cup Countdown
We’re finally here, one week before the FIFA Women’s World Cup kicks off in France. And all eyes are on Les Bleues to see if they can continue the magical journey begun last summer by their male counterparts in Russia.
Sport Diplomacy + Digital Diplomacy: Part I
A brief rundown of “Sports Diplomacy: A Vision for the Future” confab on what happens when the sports diplomacy world collides with the digital diplomacy one.
