Soccer Politics Pages

Soccer Politics Class Projects from Spring 2020

The projects below were produced by the students in the Spring 2020 edition of “Soccer Politics” at Duke University. They cover a wide range of topics. Each of these is its own WordPress site, to which you will be directed by clicking on the links below. Enjoy!

English Language Projects

Guide to the UEFA Euro 2020

By: David Kohler, TJ Ewool, Chris Suh, Jake Mann, Andrew Donohue

This is our guide to the 2020 UEFA European Football Championship (now postponed to 2021). On our site, readers will find information about the history, international context, and structure of the competition, as well as information about some of the individual teams and players to watch out for. Our goal is to help readers understand and know what to expect for the Euro 2020.

https://sites.duke.edu/mlsvscls/

A Match of Leagues: MLS vs. CSL

By: Will von Guionneau, Emir Ozsuer, Tony Davis

This is our comparison of the Chinese Super League and the Major League Soccer. On our site you will find a brief history of the two leagues, an economic analysis of their respective financial structures and an assesment of how successful the leagues have been to date as a result of their economic approaches. Our goal is to shed some light on how soccer leagues are formed and how a country can develop the popularity of the sport. Thank you for visiting!

The Role of Agents in World Football

By: Evan Neel, Kyung-Min Roh, Sebastian Hoyt, Richard Huang

Here you will find a comprehensive breakdown of what it is that agents actually do for players and the sport as a whole. Not much is made public about these figures because of the desire of all parties involved in negotiations to maintain a certain level of privacy, but it is our belief that this will, if nothing else, shed some light on an under appreciated aspect of world football.

The Soccer Analytics Revolution

By: Nathan Luzum and Michael Model

As technology advances and more teams begin harnessing the power of data and metrics to gain a competitive edge, soccer clubs have not been exempt from the pattern. Using this site, we hope to trace soccer analytics from their beginnings in the form of scribbled pitch diagrams by an Englishman to their current state, providing information on technologies and metrics that are changing the way teams think about soccer.

A Match of Leagues – MLS v CSL

By: Emma Parker

Although the United States and China are the world’s two biggest economic engines, Major League Soccer and the Chinese Super League are still only on the margins of global soccer. This website attempts to decipher the corporate structures of MLS and the CSL and understand how different business model affects growth. Specifically, this website will examine revenue and expenditure flow, expansion fees, salary cap policy, and state investment.

The Agency of Managers

By: Suniel Veerakone and Tess Boade

A manager is often the most overlooked player on a team. We explore the true agency that a manager possesses and how each manager found success. On our website, you will find profiles of four managers who have all greatly influenced the game of football: Pep Guardiola, Jürgen Klopp, Diego Simeone, and Sam Allardyce. As we profiled each individual, we analyzed them using five pillars: early life influences, tactics, financials, history of the club, and lastly the fans.

Financial Fair Play: Is it really fair?

By: Connor Ghazaleh and Eric Werbel

Financial Fair Play (FFP) was introduced as a measure to improve the financial stability of professional soccer clubs in Europe. On our website we explore how FFP affects the way clubs earn and spend money. We analyze the role FFP plays in curbing competitive advantages gained through unequal club incomes and how it ultimately impacts a team’s performance in its league.

Community in Youth Soccer: The Guide for Your Family

By: David Frisch and Max Labaton

In any country, and especially in democratic nations, freedom and effective government depend on strong communities. We explore the state of community in American life and politics then examine the ability of different youth leagues to cultivate a sense of community amongst players, coaches, and parents. Finding the right fit for your family can be overwhelming. This site helps families to sort out some of the main types of youth soccer and how each might cultivate a sense of belonging and responsibility towards others.

Exposing Pay-to-Play in Youth Soccer

By: Becca Kuperschmid, Rachel Simpson, and Pelham Van Cooten III

Our site provides insight into the pay-to-play structure in the United States. Our site discusses the ways in which pay-to-play affects the development of soccer players in the United States. It also details the costs of playing soccer in the United States and explains how it serves as a barrier to people of lower socioeconomic statuses, while suggesting alternatives for the system.

Analyzing the Value of Transfers

By: Alex Paulenich, Camden Vassallo, and Trevor Stevenson

This project analyzes the transfer market, looking at what statistical metrics correlate with high transfer fees. We also explore the fundamental aspects of the transfer market and a few case studies of notable recent transfers. The project attempts to answer the question of what makes a transfer valuable, and wether it may be a better value to acquire stars through transfer or to go after rising stars from youth academies.

Spanish Language Projects

Entre droga, futbol y corrupción en Colombia, Italia y México

Escrito en el 2020 por: Angel Garza Reyna, Patrick Aoun, y Karsten Monteverde

Resumen: Este proyecto se enfoca en la relación del fútbol con estos grupos delictivos, enfocándose en tres países: México, Colombia, e Italia. Se explorará cómo la droga y la corrupción han impactado el mundo del fútbol en estos países.

Estadios Históricos

Escrito en el 2020 por: Juan Bermudez, Daniel Castro y Roberto Miselem

Resumen: En nuestro sitio podrán encontrar información sobre algunos de los estadios de fútbol más trascendentales e históricos del mundo. La tabla en nuestro homepage les permite filtrar y ordenar nuestro “once titular” de estadios que hemos estudiado por nombre, capacidad y ubicación de cada uno de estos estadios. En cada página, analizamos la historia, arquitectura e impacto económico de cada uno de estos teatros futbolísticos. ¡Que lo disfruten!

Los Dioses de Diez

Escrito en el 2020 por: Brooke Erickson, Ana Martinez, y Guillermo Hevia

Este proyecto se enfoca en los mejores jugadores de fútbol quien usaron el número 10 en su carrera. Incluye explicación del significado del número 10, el cuento de origen, y biografías de los dioses de diez, incluyendo a Pelé, Maradona, Zidane, Messi, Mané, y Marta. También hay discusión de otros jugadores quien no estuvo a la altura del honor de traer este número especial.

Las Academias Españolas y Sus Jugadores

Escrito por: Justin Wu, Barbara Lynn Weaver, y Andrew Hua

Resumen: Nuestro proyecto trata de las academias españolas más famosas como La Masia del Barcelona y La Fábrica del Real Madrid, y los jugadores que han salido de estas academias españolas. Incluye descripciones de estas academias y las razones por qué son tan productivas, perfiles de jugadores que han hecho un impacto tanto en España como en el extranjero, y las razones por qué siguen siendo las destinaciones ideales para varios niños a pesar de las bajas probabilidades de tener éxito y convertirse en un jugador estrella.

French Language Projects

Fiers d’être Bleus, Fiers d’être Africains

Écrit par: Maria Espinosa, Tara Pal, et Ella Harris

Résumé: Si la France a remporté le trophée de la Coupe du monde en 2018, pourquoi les gens appellent-ils Les Bleus la première équipe « africaine » à gagner la Coupe du monde ? Dans ce projet, nous explorons l’idée complexe de la « francité » telle qu’elle s’applique à l’équipe nationale française. En chemin, nous visons à démêler l’idéal romancé de la réalité hypocrite et raciste.

Photo prise de Vegas Slots Online.

Une Chronologie Politique des Coupes du Monde

Écrit par : Maya Iskandarani, Keegan O’Reilly, Suomo (Naa) Ammah

Résumé : Ici nous vous présentons trois chronologies : en Argentine, au Brésil et en Uruguay. Nous voulons répondre a la question : qu’est-ce qu’étaient les contextes politiques des résultats des Coupes du Monde les plus importants dans ces trois pays ?

Célébrant la victoire de la Coupe du monde de football à Shanghai

Croissance du football de 2018 à 2020: tendances et prévisions dans la décennie

Ecrit par Nicolas Walter et Nima Mohammadi

Ici nous explorons les effets de la situation d’un pays sur son succès au foot. Et puis, nous regardons l’avenir de plusieurs pays. Nous regardons la Somalie, l’Iran, l’Israël, l’Egypt, et la Chine.

Soccer Politics Pages Produced by Students at Duke University in the Fall of 2009 and the Fall of 2013

The pages below (also viewable via the drop-down menu above) were originally written by students in Duke’s “World Cup and World Politics” class taught by Professor Laurent Dubois during the Fall term of 2009. The students all initially wrote individual research papers, and based on these papers we formed groups around the topics below. They then collectively produced these web pages.In 2013, the students in the Duke class “Soccer Politics,” taught by Laurent Dubois and Achille Mbembe, edited and updated these pages.

Please do not quote or draw from these essays without proper citation. The authors for each web page are noted at the beginning of the main page for each topic. To access the sites click on the page descriptions below or the links to the right.