You thought the English tabloids were bad…
Many of us moan about the standard of football reporting in this country, and the standard especially of the tabloid press. And no one has moaned about it more than me. Nothing encapsulates the shoddy professionalism of some of those in “fleet street” though than a story that was broken by Alan Nixon at The Mirror on the 6th March.
Alan reported on a new player on Harry Redknapp’s radar. The astonishing thing was the level of detail in the report – how he preferred to come to the Premier League, how he is known as the “new Messi”, how his family were furious over contract deals, and so on. There was only one problem. All this was for a person that doesn’t seem to exist.
Sam Kelly on the In Bed With Maradona site wrote about it last week.
The first I heard about Juan José Vea Murguia was when I got asked about him on Twitter a few days ago. ‘Do you know anything about this kid at River, or will we get to see him at the South American Under 17s?’ was the question, more or less. I was confused. A quick Google search made me even more so. Even journalists in England seemed to know about this hot young talent. He’d been linked with a move to Tottenham Hotspur, and one rumour site I found even went as far as to say that his work permit for the EU had been granted. Given that I’m not only living in Buenos Aires, but also a supporter of the club whose youth ranks he’s in, how could I have missed him?
Something didn’t seem right, so I decided to delve a little deeper. And I really don’t mean delving very deep. I switched my search to Google Argentina, and all became clear. One of the most prominent results was from Olé, the country’s only sports daily, who in mocking tones were reporting that the Daily Mirror, who they somewhat amusingly (or perhaps worryingly) called ‘one of the most prominent newspapers in the United Kingdom’ had come up with a transfer story about a player who appeared not to exist – Read the full article at ‘In Bed With Maradona’ by clicking here
But despite the British media making up transfer stories and now seemingly inventing players too, they have nothing on the Spanish newspapers, that are often nothing more than mouthpieces for a particular club.
Sid Lowe recently wrote on the subject. He commented:
“There are four main daily sports newspapers, all of which claim varying degrees of objectivity. None of which should claim any at all. El Mundo Deportivo and Sport are openly pro-Barcelona. Marca and AS, while projecting an image of national papers, are increasingly pro-Madrid. They support their teams and campaign on behalf of them. They are fanatical and manipulative. They like to see themselves as an arm of their clubs — part of the fabric. They have become propaganda outlets, not newspapers. And, they think, being that way works. In that, sadly, they are right. One editor claims that every Madrid win is an extra 10,000 in sales; one editor of a Catalan radio station, pandering to the most fanatical Barcelona agenda, publicly applauds the recent decision to cheer Madrid’s opponents as an “ingenious” way of getting closer to the supporters. Never mind getting closer to the truth.
They have created, or tapped into, a kind of footballing fundamentalism. Many supporters are so used to a virulent, agenda-driven media, one that sucks up to their side and seeks to sink their rivals, that those who are remotely critical of Madrid or Barcelona are now dismissed as anti-Madrid or anti-Barcelona. You’re obviously a Madridista or obviously a culé, a Barcelona fan. You’re not allowed to be neutral. You’re not allowed to not care one way or the other. “
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Don’t ask Alex Ferguson about Marca either – he has been involved in an ongoing feud with the paper, quite feasibly alleging that the paper is “a vehicle to unsettle players” on behalf of Real Madrid, a reference to the alleged tapping-up of Christiano Ronaldo. And it was another recent incident that shows the length papers will go to to project a certain stance and opinion that Sid Lowe commented on.
David Villa gave Barcelona a 1-0 lead against Athletic Bilbao the other weekend, but he shouldn’t have. Or so said AS. Alves, who made the telling pass to Villa, was miles offside. Definitive “proof” came in AS the following morning — a photographic reproduction of the move, showing Alves a good few yards ahead of the last defender. There was just one problem. AS had gone and deleted a player from its picture. Athletic Bilbao’s Koikili had mysteriously vanished, seemingly airbrushed from the face of the earth. By doing so, Alves looked far more offside than he actually was. The newspaper were forced to apologise, blaming it on a computer glitch, but the whole affair goes to show just how far the newspapers will go to besmirch the “other” team. And the ridiculous thing in all this was that Alves was offside anyway.
This was extreme, but nothing that new – lines have been placed curved on still images to try and show players to be offside when they weren’t. Individuals have had smear campaigns against them by editors who disliked them, such as Pellegrini at Real, or particular players that weren’t purchased by the current president. This is how quality player slike Sneijder end up slipping away for appreciation elsewhere. Of course the British tabloids are perfectly capable of this, as seen by the Sun’s continual hatchet job on Capello, highlighted this week by their pathetic overreaction and fake disgust at his rumoured change to the captaincy of our national team (as if anyone cares). And where we talk about flat-track bullies to try and lessen the achievements of high scoring forwards who we don’t want to admit are good, in Spain the papers talk of Benzema’s “ghost goals” against lesser teams, suggesting they don’t really count. Then there’s the photoshopping that our own newspapers are prone to, a favourite being putting shirts on players that the newspaper would like Real/Barca to sign, as if it had somehow already happened.
Back to Manuel Pellegrini, who is a pleasant man who avoids controversy at all costs. Or “politically correct,” as Marca called him, in yet another in a long line of disparaging remarks aimed at the former Madrid manager in a year-long personal vendetta from the paper’s director, Eduardo Inda. Not everyone accepts this bias. Many Madrid fans have set up opposition to Inda’s bias and campaigns, with the obligatory Facebook page of course. And the campaign against Pellegrini was one that appeared to backfire. So vicious was the vitriol from Marca, so keen were they to ignore facts, twist stories and just plain lie, that Pellegrini actually garnered extra support as a result.
But everyone in Spain seems to have a preference regarding Madrid or Barcelona – they dominate the sporting landscape, and even supporters of other teams still have a leaning towards one of the two. And yet the likes of Marca portray themselves as national newspapers, whilst concentrating almost solely on one thing only. But like any newspaper, they are there to sell copies, and to make money, and they know how to do it.
But when these papers look to set their agenda, to twist the stories to suit their needs, there is only one place to go. As Sid Lowe explained:
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“Bias is reflected in all aspects of football, but perhaps mostly clearly when it comes to referees. In Spain, a country where fouls are blown more readily and cards come out quicker than anywhere else in Europe, being a referee is a nightmare. Some believe every single contact is a foul. Most appear never to have actually read the rules at all. Diving is just another highly polished skill. And every decision is pawed over by “experts,” tapes rewound and replayed over and over again. Every decision is “obvious.” And serious, match defining. It doesn’t matter if a team wins 10-0; if there is a questionable penalty, that will be front-page news the next day. Writers at papers on both sides of the divide are told to look for controversy when they report on their rivals’ matches…. – Continue reading Sid Lowe’s full article at Sports Illustrated by clicking here
And that’s then thing with agendas – they are easy to follow when you cherry-pick statistics and ignore all the evidence that doesn’t support your argument. We’ve all done it when defending/attacking a team or player, but the Spanish newspapers take this many steps further down the road to oblivion. As someone once commented on a football message board, with the kind of ‘friendship’ Marca provides, who needs enemies?
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