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El 'pan y circo' de Zapatero, según 'The New York Times' | Estados Unidos | elmundo.esUnos años atrás, antes de empezar un Mundial, la prensa internacional se interesaba en los efectos políticos que una victoria podría tener en el máximo favorito, Brasil, pues sus elecciones presidenciales coinciden con la resaca del torneo.
Sin embargo, en esta ocasión, el ascenso de la "roja" a la categoría de gran potencia futbolística, a la vez que su economía se ha desplomado, ha hecho que los análisis sobre el controvertido matrimonio entre política y deporte se centren en España.
Nada menos que The New York Times, uno de los periódicos más prestigiosos de los EEUU, dedicaba un artículo este lunes al intento del Gobierno de utilizar políticamente un posible éxito de la selección española en el Mundial para eclipsar las penurias económicas del país, al que se atribuye «una montaña de déficit y un desempleo que ha crecido al 20%».
El artículo empieza recordando que ya en la antigua Roma, los emperadores usaban la estrategia del «pan y circo» para mantener a la población contenta, y distraerla de preocupaciones de tipo político. Como ejemplo de ello, el rotativo menciona el hecho de que la presentación de la polémica reforma laboral, prevista para el día 16, coincidirá en día y hora con el partido de estreno de la selección española en el Mundial contra Suiza.
"Hay mucho anhelo por salir de esta crisis, y al Gobierno le gustaría enfatizar cualquier cosa que sean buenas noticias, y un buen Mundial es ciertamente importante", declaró el ex ministro Jordi Sevilla al Times.
Sandalio Gómez, el director del programa de gestión deportiva de IESE, apuntala la teoría de la utilización del deporte por parte la clase política española: «Aquí el deporte ha sido mucho más utilizado por los políticos que en otros países ... El Gobierno utilizará esta Copa del Mundo para coger algo de oxígeno en una situación tan complicada».
Según el Times, este es un viejo hábito en España, que arranca durante la dictadura franquista, que «convirtió al Real Madrid en el equipo oficial del régimen, beneficiándose de su éxito tanto a nivel doméstico como internacional durante el largo periodo de aislamiento diplomático de España». Además, recuerda como la organización del Europeo del 1962, en el que la selección española venció a la URSS fue descrito como una «victoria sobre el comunismo».
En su análisis, The New York Times, no duda en situar a la «roja» como la gran favorita del Mundial, al lado de la pentacampeona, Brasil, y asegura que de no conseguir el triunfo, que sería el primero de la historia, sería una gran decepción para la afición.
Y el artículo oríginal:
http://www.nytimes.com/2010/06/08/sports/soccer/08iht-spain.html?scp=2&sq=spain&st=cseMADRID — Ever since ancient Rome, emperors and kings have relied on bread and games to keep their people content.
Nowadays, José Luis Rodríguez Zapatero, the prime minister of Spain, is having a hard time satisfying the public’s economic demands as he struggles to reduce a mountain of debt and unemployment that has soared to 20 percent.
So he is putting his hopes in the World Cup that begins in South Africa this week, where Spain is one of the two favorites to win.
Spain has never won the World Cup before. But with essentially the same team that cruised to victory in the European championships two years ago and a nearly undefeated record since, the soccer-loving Spanish will be deeply disappointed if they come home with anything less than the trophy.
“There is a lot of eagerness to get out of this crisis and the government would want to emphasize anything that is good news, so a good World Cup is certainly important,” said Jordi Sevilla, one of Mr Zapatero’s former ministers.
Politics and sports have long been linked, particularly in tightly controlled societies where dictators have used soccer and success in the Olympics to strengthen their grip on power.
Francisco Franco, who ruled Spain for four decades, turned Real Madrid into his regime’s official football team, benefiting from its success both domestically and abroad during a long spell of Spanish diplomatic isolationism.
In 1964, when Spain hosted the European championships and won its first international title, defeating the Soviet Union in the final was also hailed as a victory over Communism.
When Mr. Zapatero recently announced that he would present a controversial plan to overhaul labor rules on June 16, the headlines of ABC and some other national newspapers focused on the fact that Mr. Zapatero’s presentation of economic overhauls would coincide with Spain’s opening World Cup match against Switzerland.
“Football has probably been used by politicians here more than in most other countries to cover other problems and I think politicians are continuing to do that,” said Sandalio Gómez, the director in Madrid of the center for sport business management at IESE, a leading business school. “The government will use this World Cup to get some breathing room in this very difficult situation.”
And given how passionate Spaniards are about the game, it could well succeed. “However bad the economy,” he said, “football remains above this crisis.”
On recent form, Spain’s co-favorite status for the World Cup alongside Brazil is hard to dispute. FIFA, soccer’s governing body, recently pushed Spain to No.2 behind Brazil in its world rankings, but that has not diminished the expectations here. Since winning the European championship in 2008, the only glitch on Spain’s resume has been a defeat against the United States in last year’s Confederations Cup in South Africa, a tournament that was essentially a litmus test for the World Cup.
In March, in its most recent match against another European heavyweight, Spain managed its first away win against France since 1968 in *****, scoring twice in the opening 45 minutes before turning the second half into a walk in the park. Given all its success, Spain’s national coach, Vicente del Bosque, has tried hard to deflate World Cup expectations.
“Everybody in Spain thinks that anything except winning the World Cup is a failure,” Mr. del Bosque said in March. “I think that’s nonsense and a form of extremism but, in the times we live in, it seems that extremism sells.”
Mr. del Bosque has also faced a challenge in getting his players ready for the event. In recent weeks, many of them have been focused more on events off the pitch, including deciding whether to pack their bags for another city.
Indeed, as soon as Barcelona won another national Liga title on May 16, the country’s biggest clubs began the expensive game of musical chairs known as the transfer season. Trying to steal a march on its rivals, Barcelona agreed three days later to pay Valencia €40 million for David Villa, who will spearhead Spain’s World Cup attack.
Barcelona is also trying — so far unsuccessfully — to sign Cesc Fábregas from Arsenal, where he has matured into a team captain and one of the world’s best midfielders. That Mr. Fábregas happens to be Catalan is also a bonus for which Barcelona’s directors are probably willing to pay an extra few million euros.
Spain also has a long history of underperforming at World Cups, including shocking defeats against inexperienced teams like Northern Ireland and Nigeria. Still, this Spanish squad has so much talent that any of its substitutes would probably waltz into the starting line-up of Switzerland, Chile and Honduras — the three nations in Spain’s World Cup group. Certainly nobody here could imagine an early return from South Africa, an optimism that is translating into strong sales of World Cup-related paraphernalia.
Juan Antonio González Lorca, a bar owner and former marketing director of Atlético de Madrid, one of Spain’s leading clubs, noted that many employees would receive a bonus payment of an additional monthly wage later in June, under the terms of Spain’s collective bargaining agreements.
“A World Cup is the best present that a government could get in a time of crisis,” he said. “There will be no additional household savings this month, and that extra money will surely go on a soccer shirt for a kid or just having a good time outside the house.”
Two years ago, the final of the European championships was watched by an estimated 14.5 million people in the country, out of a population of 46 million, a Spanish record for a soccer match that is expected to be surpassed in South Africa. “Businesses are doing their best to create a real buzz around this World Cup,” said Mr. Gómez, the sports management professor. “If Spain achieves nothing in South Africa, this would, however, be a total commercial disaster.”
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