The ongoing football championship in Europe, is the right moment to thing a bit more beyond the competition itself. I am far from understanding too much about the rules and the game in general, but I can see the other implications of this popular game: from national branding to political prestige, football operates sometimes like a drug to masses and elites as well.
In case of Colombia, football tells literally a drug story. Narcoball. Love, Death and Football in Escobar´s Colombia by half-Colombian, UK-based film producer David Arrowsmith offers a fascinating insight into Escobar´s obsession with football. At the height of his fame and wealth, the narcoterrorist wanted to support and win through football, a domain offering him the perfect drug he was lookinng for: money and power.
Well documented and focused on facts and biographical details, Arrowsmith is able to convene in a relatively short amount of pages, both Escobar´s adventurous life, as well as his times, the changes taking place within the football´s arena in Latin America and abroad. It´s an extraordinary efffort of concision and precision, as it offers a non-dramatic, facts-fuelled story where history meets journalism.
Narcoball is a recommended read to anyone curious to learn more about the - sometimes - bloody history of football and some of its dangerous puppeteers. Beyond those dangerous stories, football remains a sport worth watching and passionatelly answering our need for show and fair-play.
Rating: 5 stars
Disclaimer: Book offered as part of the book tour but the opions are, as usual, my own
Thanks for the blog tour support x
ReplyDelete