Tag: Benito Mussolini

It is famously said of Italian dictator Benito Mussolini that at least while he was dragging his country into a war in which over half a million of his citizens died, he was also making sure the trains ran on time. The murdering fascist wasn’t all bad: he did sort out Italy’s railways. Popular beliefs to the contrary are all just part of the fascist myth that he built up around himself to validate his governance. It’s fake news, but the widely believed claim strikes to the core of a bigger issue: politicians hijacking transport as an easy way to connect with voters. Like Mussolini before him, this is something Donald Trump has recognised. Trump was fed up that other countries “look at our infrastructure as being sad”. As someone who has tried to use Amtrak, the US domestic rail service, I’ve got to say I agree with him. On this side of the pond, we have a similar problem: Boris Johnson. Aborted suggestions include the Garden Bridge Project, which managed to waste another £46m in public money without even being built, and the Thames Estuary Airport. Unfortunately, they have nothing to do with infrastructure.

This carried over into FIFA when it was established in 1904, sought to take control of the Olympic football competition and then organised its own professional World Cup. As one of the most politically charged World Cups gets set to kick off in Moscow, we look back at five other moments in history when politics did mix with football internationally. After Uruguay hosted and won the first World Cup in 1930, Mussolini was determined that Italy would do the same four years later. Argentina was denuded of star players who were “persuaded” to play for Italy, while Italy’s own players were threatened with immediate conscription into the army if they failed to win. Hungary fails to show, Soviets claim gold At the height of the Cold War in the 1950s and ‘60s, the Soviet Union was determined to make its mark through the game as well. If the Chileans could win the second leg at home, they would go to West Germany. The second match was never played. Argentina ended up beating the Netherlands in the final to become the fifth host to win the World Cup at home. (He was still trying to win the prize right up to his dismissal from the organisation.) His non-vote ended up sending the World Cup to Germany, but Blatter got his prized South Africa World Cup four years later.