"Football without fans is like dancing without music" said Eduardo Galeano.
You heard it well, football is gone. In fact, some people say that football died in 1994 when a multinational like Nike, until that moment an exclusive basketball brand, began producing commercials starring by Ronaldo or Cantona. Maybe the Marseillais wanted to tell us something else when, in the instant before putting on the collar of his shirt, he said: "au revoir". And this is the worst part, that it is not a sudden death but a disease that has long been propagated thanks to the passivity of the bulk of the fans. Welcome to "modern football" or "football-business".
Before going on, I need to say that I am an Atletico Madrid fan since I can remember. Radical. One of those that sing, vibrate, jump, feel, travel, scream, cry, sing again, suffer, encourage, and so on. For me that's football and that's how I would like everyone to understand it. In fact, I would like to tell those who only like to see twenty-two players kicking a ball in the football pitch that they have probably chosen the wrong sport.
I´ve been fortunate to have lived in London for a period of time. Thanks to it, I could see for myself that not all hope is lost. The average English is full of passion when the time to support his team comes and combative, when necessary, against the impertinences of some presidents of Premier League or Championship teams. In addition, the English Football Federation (FA) remains unmoved by the temptations of a global football that has forgotten the priorities of the local fans in favor of a few elites from countries without football tradition whether they are Yankee, Arab or Chinese.
On the other hand, in Spain, those fans who declare ourselves against the new football model imposed are labeled as criminals. Here, we have long taken that drinking beer is forbidden inside a stadium, that tourists are the ones that occupy the seats instead of local fans, that the fight against predatory pricing is lost and, in general, football. Personally, I am lucky that my team has one of the best animation groups on the European scene, the Frente Atlético. However, in the majority of cases, most people have to settle for melancholy memories of the good old times.
Not long ago, I had an argument with a friend about all this. He told me that I didn´t like football and that clinging to a team in such a radical way was stupid. I did not deny it. If I liked football, I would probably prefer to watch the World Cup final instead of Atlético de Madrid - Albacete. What we feel for our team is just a feeling; and like all feelings, it is irrational. Maybe the stupid is the one that asks for a rational explanation to something irrational.
Football will die when they end up with us, the last romantics.
