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A nation's politics and socio-cultural identity can sometimes be best considered through the lens of Association Football (soccer). Examining football in the Mediterranean island of Malta in the inter-war years of 1920-1940 this paper focuses its analysis on the phenomenon that is the game of football and the epi-phenomena it provokes and sustains. In the tiny archipelago that constitutes the Maltese islands, the game as it was played and administered in this era had implications for the British colonialists, the refugees that fled Central Europe for Maltese shores and the indigenous Maltese peoples. In these years the game was played out amidst, variously, the island's unique party politics, intra-district rivalries, and historical considerations of reputation and social class. It was also to become integral to the contestations around anti-colonial sentiment and the debates over national identity. The game in Malta was thus a facilitator of both local and global processes and played an understated role in the pursuit of independence. This examination of the specific Maltese context may well shed light upon broader processes within the international game which lies at the intersection of the global and the local. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Elite sport is the vehicle for global interactions via both its shared practices and the relations engendered by its governing bodies and its global tournaments. This capability has attracted the attentions of those seeking both nation-building and reconciliation in war-damaged nations. The narrative that follows has global implications, telling as it does the story of George Weah, a Liberian-born footballer who became a humanitarian ambassador, and later aspired to become his country's president. Weah's story informs debates on globalization, illustrating the transnational career of a man who developed a keen understanding of institutional politics and patronage and who allowed himself to be courted by various global figures. These scenarios took place in Liberia, a war-devastated African nation. This tale thus provides for reflection on how sport can encourage and undermine practises of nationhood. As a former World Footballer of the Year, Weah was a Liberian success story and well aware of his populist appeal. However, the issue of who a people are and who is to be their national political representative has proven to be a very fraught issue in the Liberian context. Whether global sporting networks have made the world smaller and the people more knowing in the Liberian context is an issue this article raises in considering its most famous citizen. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Analyzes the implication of football for the rights of the child in Liberia, West Africa. Idea behind the Olympic Charter; Way in which Liberia was regarded in the turbulent history of post-colonial Africa; Significance of human rights to the foundation of the nation.

The core meaning of individual and group identities is established by sameness over time and space, sustained by ceremony and ritual. This article illustrates the complex relationship between identities, rituals, and memory by focusing on annual public spectacles in the Norwegian city of Bergen, manifestations of youthful rite de passage, expressions of local and national patriotism, and a variety of practices bound up with support for the city's largest football club. The world over the game of football generates loyalty and sentiment that vary in their consequences from mild amusement to acts of violence. Nationalistic displays abound around the game and analysts of the human condition realise that much of what we value most is embedded in the game itself and the epiphenomena around it. Football is a contrived theatre of emotions; with no universal or legal agreed-upon meaning the game becomes a receptacle for identities and loaded with significance. This article addresses to what extent the game and more specifically a football club can provide a focus for a sense of civic loyalty over and above that ideally articulated by the subjects of a modern European nation state. Employing the ethnographic method provided by participant observation, this article focusses on three locations in the collective celebration of a city. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Provides information on the role of football in the construction of national identity and rehabilitation of Liberia in West Africa. Discussion on the social responsibility of football clubs in the country; Aim of the football tournament, County Meet, organized by Liberian President William Tubman; Objectives of the fund allotted by the Fédération Internationale de Football Association for the National Assistance Programme of the Liberian Football Association.