Religion. Politics. Things to avoid discussing even amongst friends. Apparently the owners of FC New York need a lesson on etiquette when it comes to the game of soccer.
The first and most important rule of running a soccer franchise: politics doesn’t belong on the pitch in any form period. It doesn’t matter if you call it a sponsorship or not. It cheapens the game and makes us no better than the rest of the world.
But we are better than the non-soccer world. We set standards and rules; we embrace diversity. We give people 90 minutes of freedom, a place where you forget about the problems of today and just get a break from the everyday. Soccer is better than plastering a candidate’s name across the front of your jersey. It transcends politics, thriving in times of war and peace and sometimes being the difference between the two.
FC New York did a dreadful thing, launching a blatant publicity stunt to promote their political beliefs and provide much need exposure for their struggling NPSL side. Famous showman Phineas T. Barnum once said “there’s no such thing as bad publicity,” but I think most of us would disagree. This was publicity that harmed our game and how it is perceived by the mainstream.
Some made a faulty argument that the FC New York leadership didn’t know any better. I find it hard to believe that educated, wealthy, intelligent people wouldn’t do some research or even make a phone call. This was not an accident, but an ill-timed grab for some press.
When soccer makes headlines at MSNBC or The Huffington Post, I want it to be something good that promotes the sport, not someone trying to advance their agenda at the cost of everyone else.
We wanted to hear FCNY’s side of the story as it is only fair, but phone calls to the owners were never returned. Our message to them and the NPSL: we can do better.
Daniel Casey, Soccer Newsday Columnist
When your team isn’t winning and when the front office isn’t exactly on solid ground, it makes sense to drum up a bit of controversy to raise the brand profile. Gimmicks are cheap in all senses of the word; they’re committed because a business has its back to the wall…or the owners are just buffoons. This week saw a mild hullabaloo when FC New York of the NPSL (the fourth tier on the American soccer pyramid) announced its new kit sponsor—Mitt Romney.
Well, not really Mitt Romney. A donor who insisted on remaining anonymous supposedly paid FC New York to place Romney’s name and campaign slogan, “Believe in America,” on the team’s jerseys. The only information given about this anonymous donor was a rather vague statement from the team’s press release, “I love fútbol, I love America, I am a proud Latino-American who believes Mitt Romney needs to be our next president.” The story made a few waves and even managed to be covered by The New York Times. Not bad for a team that has only managed two wins this season, was kicked out of the USL last year for failing to meet their standards and dropped a down a division, and has no home field to play on in Long Island. The FC New York organization seems to be a bit out of sorts, which is truly unfortunate.
It’s a difficult situation to be in but one that doesn’t excuse the farce of political sponsorship. FIFA, the world governing body of soccer, forbids items of political nature to be worn on shirts including political sponsorship. FIFA sanctions the United States Soccer Federation (USSF), the governing body of soccer in the United States, which in turn sanctions the NPSL. Simply put this was a controversial move to say the least, one that alienates and divides. FCNY should be looking for ways to bring people together to help save the club, not push people away.
But FC New York never wore the kits. The league stepped in and prevented it. As previously reported by other outlets, this stunt merely reflects the disarray that seems to be the FC New York organization at the moment. In the match where they were supposed to feature the new kits, FCNY mislead fans by promoting the game as being against MLS New York Red Bulls first team and not the New York Red Bulls Under-23s. Perhaps an honest mistake, but then the team failed to provide the basic amenities expected from a professional side. There was no water for the visiting side just a cooler of beer (which works for a Sunday league team but not for one of high performance athletes, many of whom were underage), there was no physio available, and no warm up given. FC New York won, 3-2, giving them their second win of the season, which is a big deal for a team that already has three forfeits.
However, the sponsorship fiasco coupled with the team’s inability to maintain a simplistic environment of professionalism as per league rules has left FC New York looking at best dim-witted and ignorant and at worst disrespectful and contemptuous. A cynical person would perhaps say that this is exactly why FC New York decided to break a cardinal rule of football in the first place.
RJ Pooch, AFC Cleveland supporter and member of the 6th City Syndicate
The man who paid for it claiming to just want to support the sport and a candidate should pick one thing at a time. If he really cared about the team, club, or sport he would have refrained from intentionally putting something so polarizing on the front of a jersey. The club should have known better than to have accepted the money. While turning money down in a league like this seems unthinkable, they too should recognize the potential for alienating not only their fan base, but potentially the players themselves.
The league has to be aware that the potential for something like this to happen exists. There should have been a policy in place preventing this type of sponsorship from ever having the opportunity to be possible.
Most supporters would probably have a problem with it every second short of the 90 minutes that their team is actually playing. For those 90 minutes there are no politics, no religion, nothing other than the enemy we face on the field.
