Eurocentric globalization of football. Coloniality, consumption, social distinction and identities of transnational fans in Latin America

Abstract

ABSTRACT This paper examines the Eurocentric Globalization of Football (EGF), that is, the concentration of capital, broadcasts, players and coaches from around the world in the most powerful football leagues in Europe. It presents a historical analysis based on statistics and an ethnographic approach to three groups of fans of European clubs in Mexico, Brazil and Colombia. It is concluded that EGF is defined by an unequal international division of labour that mainly benefits the European clubs and contribute to the reproduction of a kind of (neo)colonial world system. In Latin America, transnational fans are often seen as mere imitators of the so-called ‘first world’ lifestyles and traitors of the national culture. On the contrary, transnational fans conceive the EGF as an opportunity to transit freely through different cultural references, distinguish themselves socially, and build trans-scale identities that creatively challenge traditional ways of building identity in the globalized world.