The Power Struggle: European Football and the Caste System

Leicester city have won the English Premier League beating odds of 5000 to 1. Yet while the rest of the world celebrates their victory, there is a serious cause for concern. Newcomers like Leicester and Tottenham have upset the elite clubs by qualifying for the Champions League. By establishing an exclusive European league, the sporting giants aim to cement their power structure - a major blow to the principles of competition. This kind of power grab is not new to the Indian subcontinent, where it continues to operate under the 'Caste System'.   

Leicester City F.C., Premier League Champions 2016

In March the Jats of Haryana took the state by storm. Their long standing agitation for OBC (Other Backward Classes) status turned violent and claimed hundreds of lives. The age old  'Caste System' is a power-structure  to ensure people were 'kept in their places'. The Jats formed the middle class of this virtually unshakable system.

However, the Green Revolution, brought power and public influence to the land-owning Jats. Similarly, in the late 20th and 21st centuries, technological and legislative changes pushed the backward castes up the socio-economic ladder. The best example of this is the current Chief Minister of the state, who is the first non-Jat in almost two decades. The recent riots are representative of a desperate effort to maintain, this volatile power structure.

Upper caste Brahmin performing a ceremony

In the world of football, sponsorships are to elite clubs, what land is to the Jats. And Leicester's entry into the Champions League draws a football parallel of untouchability. Historically the clubs that gave the best wages attracted the best talents, in turn emerging at the top of their domestic competitions. Those who best managed their finances, remained at the top of their game, increasing their corporate value, and their worldwide fanbase; creating a cycle of perpetual domination.

An underdog, Leicester City broke this cycle by winning the domestic competition this year. The elite would consider this to be a transgression into the sanctimonious space of the Champions League. With qualification based on merit and performance, other clubs like Tottenham Hotspur, are also forcing their way up the table. The president of Real Madrid, Florentino Perez, hinted at a European competition, that does away with the performance based qualification process. The 'Super League' will be a competition between the elite clubs of Europe, Perez's idea to "guarantee that the best always play against the best", notwithstanding who the best is.

Leicester's success mirrors the socio-economic progress, of the non-Jats of Haryana. They have both overcome incalculable odds through their skill and hard work.

Arguably, professional football is as much a business as it is a sport. Thus sustainability relies equally on business acumen as it does on skill. The 'Super League', with its own rules of entry based on perceived status, will erode the core foundation of football, that of open competition.