Author Archives: Jeffrey Richey

About Jeffrey Richey

I'm a graduate student in the History department at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill. My field is Latin American history and my dissertation is about the popularization of football in Argentina during the 1910s and 1920s. I'm especially interested in football as a means of promoting inter-regional integration throughout Argentina during this period. Issues of region, nation and race are central to my study. In today's world of football, FC Barcelona and Rosario Central are my joy and my sorrow.

Bye-Bye Bielsa: The Governance of Soccer and Chile’s Forking Path

Recent news reports from South America indicate that the coach of Chile’s national team, Marcelo Bielsa, will be leaving his post with immediacy.  To the casual observer, this comes as a shock.  Bielsa has been credited with restoring discipline and professionalism to a national soccer association known more in recent years for scandal than for… Read More »

Argentine Soccer Politics: Fútbol Para Todos, Continued

Presidential interest in national soccer is nothing new to us.  With so much popular will and attention fixated on national teams, national soccer has long been mixed with executive politicking.  The recent World Cup has illustrated this phenomenon more clearly than ever, with notable presidential “arbitrations” occurring in the French, Nigerian, and North Korean football… Read More »