Politics, resistance and patronage: the African boycott of the 1966 World Cup and its ramifications

ABSTRACT

The 1966 World Cup Finals are remembered primarily for on-field events, not least the host’s capture of the Jules Rimet trophy, the performances of the minnows of North Korea in reaching the quarter-finals and the Eusebio-inspired exploits of the tournament’s other debutants, Portugal. What is less prominent in this history but more significant in impacting the longer-term trajectory of the World Cup and the global game, are events off the field of play, specifically the decision of African nations to boycott the qualifying rounds of the tournament. This paper assesses the circumstances behind this boycott, both within FIFA and in the highly charged political climate that characterized the immediate post-colonial era. Particular attention is paid to the role of Ghana as the boycott's chief architect. Thereafter, I explore some of the intended and unintended consequences of the boycott, including its contribution to an ongoing transformation in the global governance of football.

Disclosure statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the author.

Notes

1. CAF, Circular Letter, August 21, 1964.

2. Darby, Africa, FIFA and Football.

3. Sugden and Tomlinson, FIFA and the Contest for the World Game.

4. Alegi, African Soccerscapes; Boer, ‘Football, Mobilisation and Protest’; Darby, ‘Let Us Rally Around the Flag’; Darby, ‘Football and Identity Politics in Ghana; Fair, ‘Kickin’ It’; Fates, ‘Football in Algeria’; Hawkey, Feet of the Chameleon; Lema, ‘Sport in Zaire’; Martin, ‘Colonialism, Youth and Football’; Ndee, ‘Sport, Culture and Society’; Rosbook-Thompson and Armstrong, ‘Fields and Visions’; and Versi, Football in Africa.

5. Stuart, ‘Lion’s Stir’, 34.

6. Alegi, African Soccerscapes.

7. Darby, Africa, FIFA and Football.

8. Rofe and Tomlinson, ‘The untold story of FIFA’s diplomacy’.

9. Darby, ‘Africa and the World Cup’.

10. G. Weiderkehr, cited in Official Bulletin of UEFA, 14. Weiderkehr’s successor, Artemio Franchi, maintained his predecessors stance well into the 1970s, articulating his consternation that FIFA’s statutes did ‘nothing to stop these emerging football countries from joining the enlarged FIFA family’, and describing this state of affairs as ‘the uncomfortable truth’ (author’s italics). Franchi, ‘Europe and World Football’, 21.

11. Bangerter, ‘UEFA Past and Present’.

12. UEFA, Minutes of the Executive Committee Meeting, February 13, 1964.

13. Spain defeated Morocco to leave Africa without a representative at the 1962 World Cup.

14. Olaosebikan, ‘Kwame Nkrumah’.

15. Nkrumah, ‘Africa Must Unite’.

16. Birmingham, ‘Kwame Nkrumah’.

17. Boer, ‘Football, mobilization and protest’.

18. Darby, ‘Let Us Rally Around the Flag’; Birmingham, Kwame Nkrumah.

19. Kwateng, Asante Kotoko Football Club.

20. Quansah, ‘The Fall of a Soccer Empire’, 37.

21. Obeng, Selected Speeches of Kwame Nkrumah, 29–30.

22. Goldblatt, The Ball is Round; Versi, Football in Africa; and Obeng, ‘The Sporting Youth’.

23. Evening News, April 4, 1960.

24. Cited in The Ghanaian Times, November 25, 1963.

25. Cited in BBC News, ‘How Africa Boycotted the 1966 World Cup’. July 11, 2016. http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-africa-36763036 (accessed May 4, 2018).

26. Ibid.

27. Rofe and Tomlinson, ‘The untold story’.

28. CAF, Circular Letter, August 21, 1964.

29. FIFA Minutes of the XXXIVth Ordinary Congress, Tokyo, October 8, 1964.

30. Djan cited in Katimia, ‘The Fight For Recognition’, 54.

31. Oliver, World Soccer, 24.

32. M. Fahmy, Personal communication to Dr Helmut Kaeser, August 16, 1965.

33. Cited in Ibid.

34. Quansah, ‘The cup to surpass’, 27; and Rofe and Tomlinson, ‘The untold story’.

35. UEFA, Official Bulletin, April 1961.

36. Goldman, ‘My life and times in world football, 12.

37. Darby, ‘Stanley Rous’s ‘Own Goal’.

38. Sugden and Tomlinson, FIFA and the Contest for World Football; Darby, Africa, Football and FIFA; Darby, ‘Stanley Rous’s ‘Own Goal’; Darby, ‘Africa, the FIFA Presidency; and Tomlinson, ‘FIFA and the Men Who Made It’.

39. Ali, In the Big League, 10.

40. Conn, The Fall of the House of FIFA; Jennings, Foul!; Sugden and Tomlinson, Football, Corruption and Lies; and Yallop, How They Stole the Game.

41. Tomlinson, ‘FIFA and the Men Who Made It’.

42. Conn, The Fall of the House of FIFA; Jennings, Foul!; Sugden and Tomlinson, Football, Corruption and Lies; and Yallop, How They Stole the Game.

43. UEFA, Report of the General Secretary, 33.

44. Ibid.

45. Fahmy, ‘The UEFA/CAF Co-operation’.

46. Bairner and Darby, ‘The Swedish Model and International Sport’.

47. Collett, ‘FIFA Presidential Election’.

48. Prior to the election, Blatter wrote to every FIFA affiliated association offering them a down payment of $50,000 on the $250,000 annual subsidy that they were to receive from FIFA as part of their share of the revenue from the television and marketing rights of the 1998 World Cup. Africa was clearly to the forefront of Blatter’s mind when the offer was made. Yallop, How FIFA Stole the Game.

49. Bayle, and Rayner, ‘Sociology of a Scandal’.

50. Darby, Africa, Football and FIFA.

51. FIFA.com. ‘FIFA President Infantino unveils “FIFA 2.0: The Vision for the Future”’. https://www.fifa.com/about-fifa/news/y=2016/m=10/news=fifa-president-infantino-unveils-fifa-2-0-the-vision-for-the-future-2843428.html (accessed June 20, 2018).

52. Cited in BBC Sport. ‘World Cup: Fifa to expand competition to 48 teams after vote’, January 10, 2017. https://www.bbc.co.uk/sport/football/38565246.