Very few English fans have so far been arrested during the World Cup. This will be a surprise to soccer fans world wide. But then, having only played one game, England have not yet lost a game.
Some time in the early 20th century, soccer replaced Religion in most of Britain. The church of England's Sunday gatherings withered while huge public stadiums became packed with fans every weekend. Any Saturday up to 100,000 soccer fans attend soccer games in London alone. This is true of several countries: imperialist and former-Colonial countries alike.
One country falling behind this trend is Somalia.
This week 14 teenagers were arrested in Afgoye, 19 miles west of Mogadishu. Their crime: watching the Germany-Australia game (a good game too, but not worth getting arrested for.) They were arrested by fundamentalists in the struggle to save their religion. While this must have been a very anxious experience for the teenagers, and for anyone living under fundamentalists, the crime they were accused of was quite mad: "time-wasting." Western Capitalists are smart enough to not introduce a law against that.
And surely half the joy of soccer is time-wasting.
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