{"305481":{"#nid":"305481","#data":{"type":"news","title":"World Cup 2014: Political Struggles Play Out on the Soccer Pitch","body":[{"value":"\u003Cp\u003EControversy, protests and negative press aside, Kirk Bowman, professor in the School of International Affairs, is fully indulging in the 2014 World Cup.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003E\u201cThis year\u2019s quality of play and drama, glory, and agony are the best in memory,\u201d he said.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003E\u003Ca href=\u0022http:\/\/www.iac.gatech.edu\/faculty-and-staff\/faculty\/bio\/bowman\u0022\u003EBowman\u003C\/a\u003E teaches a \u201cSoccer and Global Politics\u201d course, is working on a book by the same name, and views understanding soccer as a crucial element to understanding a number of other global issues. He leads a summer study abroad program in Spain and Portugal, which gave him and his students the chance to observe this year\u2019s event from the reigning world champion country.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003EThis year, Spain provided a fertile study space for explorations of political tensions playing out on the soccer pitch. The team has historically bounced between two different styles of soccer play: One, rooted in Barcelona, is known for being patient and orchestrated; the other, a more traditional national style, is known for being more aggressive. The former has been their recent style and won the team multiple championships, but got Spain ousted from this year\u2019s World Cup after only two games.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003EBowman makes the case that these conflicting approaches to soccer mirror the country\u2019s larger issues of conflicting identity.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003E\u201cThe contested identity of Spain as a unitary state led by Madrid, versus a federal state with multiple autonomous regions, will be an ongoing battle,\u201d he said, \u201cand that battle will largely take place in conversations about soccer and style.\u201d\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003EJuan Tovar, an industrial engineering major who participated in Bowman\u2019s study abroad, saw this first-hand in Spain.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003E\u201cWhen things go wrong with the team, people are quick to blame specific regions of the country and their players,\u201d he said. \u201cThat adds to the separation of cultures and politics.\u201d\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003EEven celebrations can be clues to a nation\u2019s political and cultural issues, as one student observed.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003E\u201cWhat I found interesting is that when the Spanish lost, there were actually a bunch of people in Barcelona celebrating,\u201d said Aditya Shah, an industrial engineering major. \u201cThey wanted independence from Spain and wanted their own Catalonia team to play in the World Cup. They did not identify with the Spanish side even though there were Catalonian players on the team.\u201d\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003EBowman has been able to further explore these kinds of issues with his students this summer, in addition to delving into issues of corruption, democracy, and how Brazil\u2019s electoral system influenced its preparation \u2014\u0026nbsp;or lack thereof \u2014\u0026nbsp;for the World Cup.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003ERegardless of the level of controversy or corruption, though, the event\u2019s global significance and entertainment value remain.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003E\u201cNo matter how poor the Brazilian preparations and how unsavory FIFA, soccer is the global game, and the World Cup is the greatest show on earth that will dazzle some 40 billion cumulative viewers,\u201d Bowman said.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003ESo far this year, Bowman has been particularly impressed with the performance of the Americas.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003E\u201cCosta Rica stunned Italy, the United States outplayed Portugal, Uruguay eliminated England, and Mexico trounced Croatia,\u201d he said. \u201cA European team has never won a World Cup played in the Americas, and the Central, North, and South American teams are all playing as if they are at home: comfortable, confident, and with enthusiastic crowds.\u201d\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003EThe U.S. Men\u2019s National Team may truly feel at home with the number of fans in attendance, as U.S. residents have bought the second-highest number of World Cup tickets this year, \u003Ca href=\u0022http:\/\/www.washingtonpost.com\/sports\/dcunited\/at-world-cup-us-soccer-fans-converge-by-the-thousands\/2014\/06\/21\/188e90e8-f8ca-11e3-a606-946fd632f9f1_story.html\u0022\u003Esecond only to Brazil\u003C\/a\u003E.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003EBack stateside, the Student Center will continue to show matches in Tech Rec through the end of the World Cup. A full schedule of matches and events is \u003Ca href=\u0022http:\/\/studentcenter.gatech.edu\/rec\/Documents\/World.Cup.2014.Schedule.pdf\u0022\u003Eavailable online\u003C\/a\u003E.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003E\u0026nbsp;\u003C\/p\u003E","summary":null,"format":"limited_html"}],"field_subtitle":[{"value":"Tech Students Watch from Around the World"}],"field_summary":[{"value":"\u003Cp\u003EKirk Bowman specializes in soccer and global politics. He and his students talk about their experience viewing the World Cup from Spain.\u003C\/p\u003E","format":"limited_html"}],"field_summary_sentence":[{"value":"Kirk Bowman specializes in soccer and global politics. He and his students talk about their experience viewing the World Cup from Spain."}],"uid":"27469","created_gmt":"2014-06-30 11:23:31","changed_gmt":"2016-10-08 03:16:41","author":"Kristen Bailey","boilerplate_text":"","field_publication":"","field_article_url":"","dateline":{"date":"2014-06-30T00:00:00-04:00","iso_date":"2014-06-30T00:00:00-04:00","tz":"America\/New_York"},"extras":[],"hg_media":{"305491":{"id":"305491","type":"image","title":"Kirk Bowman at White Elephant Leiria Stadium in Portugal","body":null,"created":"1449244637","gmt_created":"2015-12-04 15:57:17","changed":"1475895012","gmt_changed":"2016-10-08 02:50:12","alt":"Kirk Bowman at White Elephant Leiria Stadium in Portugal","file":{"fid":"199695","name":"dscn6176.jpeg","image_path":"\/sites\/default\/files\/images\/dscn6176_0.jpeg","image_full_path":"http:\/\/www.tlwarc.hg.gatech.edu\/\/sites\/default\/files\/images\/dscn6176_0.jpeg","mime":"image\/jpeg","size":352432,"path_740":"http:\/\/www.tlwarc.hg.gatech.edu\/sites\/default\/files\/styles\/740xx_scale\/public\/images\/dscn6176_0.jpeg?itok=ZPJjSJEu"}},"305431":{"id":"305431","type":"image","title":"Students Visit Camp Nou Stadium in Barcelona","body":null,"created":"1449244637","gmt_created":"2015-12-04 15:57:17","changed":"1475895012","gmt_changed":"2016-10-08 02:50:12","alt":"Students Visit Camp Nou Stadium in Barcelona","file":{"fid":"199692","name":"img_0934.jpeg","image_path":"\/sites\/default\/files\/images\/img_0934_0.jpeg","image_full_path":"http:\/\/www.tlwarc.hg.gatech.edu\/\/sites\/default\/files\/images\/img_0934_0.jpeg","mime":"image\/jpeg","size":611855,"path_740":"http:\/\/www.tlwarc.hg.gatech.edu\/sites\/default\/files\/styles\/740xx_scale\/public\/images\/img_0934_0.jpeg?itok=4w_S-j3b"}},"305941":{"id":"305941","type":"image","title":"Spain\/Portugal Study Abroad Group 2014","body":null,"created":"1449244668","gmt_created":"2015-12-04 15:57:48","changed":"1475895015","gmt_changed":"2016-10-08 02:50:15","alt":"Spain\/Portugal Study Abroad Group 2014","file":{"fid":"199724","name":"img_1572.jpeg","image_path":"\/sites\/default\/files\/images\/img_1572_0.jpeg","image_full_path":"http:\/\/www.tlwarc.hg.gatech.edu\/\/sites\/default\/files\/images\/img_1572_0.jpeg","mime":"image\/jpeg","size":334609,"path_740":"http:\/\/www.tlwarc.hg.gatech.edu\/sites\/default\/files\/styles\/740xx_scale\/public\/images\/img_1572_0.jpeg?itok=iUyw520t"}}},"media_ids":["305491","305431","305941"],"related_links":[{"url":"http:\/\/www.iac.gatech.edu\/faculty-and-staff\/faculty\/bio\/bowman","title":"About Kirk Bowman"},{"url":"http:\/\/spainportugal2014.weebly.com\/","title":"Spain\/Portugal Study Abroad Program"}],"groups":[{"id":"1214","name":"News Room"}],"categories":[{"id":"129","name":"Institute and Campus"},{"id":"134","name":"Student and Faculty"}],"keywords":[{"id":"96551","name":"global politics"},{"id":"1747","name":"Kirk Bowman"},{"id":"167723","name":"soccer"},{"id":"9851","name":"world cup"}],"core_research_areas":[],"news_room_topics":[{"id":"71871","name":"Campus and Community"}],"event_categories":[],"invited_audience":[],"affiliations":[],"classification":[],"areas_of_expertise":[],"news_and_recent_appearances":[],"phone":[],"contact":[{"value":"\u003Cp\u003E\u003Ca href=\u0022mailto:kristen.bailey@comm.gatech.edu\u0022\u003EKristen Bailey\u003C\/a\u003E\u003Cbr \/\u003EInstitute Communications\u003C\/p\u003E","format":"limited_html"}],"email":[],"slides":[],"orientation":[],"userdata":""}}}