‘Fascism and Football’ – a BBC Documentary

by Laura Lai/ Review

With four Premiere League football teams in the upcoming two football Cup Finals, I thought to look for a documentary on football. This is the way I came across the BBC documentary on ‘Fascism and Football’, which is a research on the politics behind the World Cups of the 1930s, during the fascist regimes in Italy, Germany and Spain.

The 1930s dictators – Mussolini, Hitler and Franco – understood football as an ambassador of their countries on the world stage. And each of them, in its way, exploited football for the same political means: fascism.

Mussolini, for example, did not even like or play football, but he was fascinated by the full stadiums at football games, and they all needed such a sport of masses, in order to manipulate masses and get a largely support for their governments.

Franco used the antagonism between Real Madrid – the image of Spain – and FC Barcelona – a symbol of Catalan identity – for his own political advantage. It is said that Franco was too sly and too manipulative even for Hitler. If Franco is known for having manipulated the passions of Spanish football supporters, Mussolini is known for having corrupted referees, in order to favor the Italian football team. And so was Hitler, who also intimidated, threatened and even killed footballers.

Hitler made from mass manipulation an art and football was one of his instruments. For example, in 1933 Hitler took Germany out of the League of Nations, which was a strong political signal for war preparations. A football game with the British team was a perfect mass disguise for his real war intentions and preparations.

Although the British football team was the strongest and the German one was among the weak ones, it is Austria – Hitler’s beloved country of origin – who had a ‘wunderteam’.  After the annexation of Austria to Germany in 1938, Hitler thought to improve the quality of the German football team by including Austria’s ‘wunderteam’ and in particular Sindelar (Sindi).

Mathhias Sindelar (1903 – 1939) had been playing for Austria Wien since 1924 and had no sympathy for the Nazi. He was known as despising the Nazi government for their ‘superior race’ policy and for the annexation of Austria – his homeland. After the annexation, though, the two German countries – Austria and Germany – had to play a last friendship game. It was Sindi’s last game for Austria and he constantly refused to play for Germany afterwards. The match is said to have been manipulated, so that Germany could win, but Sindi could not leave this happen. In minute 70, Sindelar scored for Austria and Germany faced another public humiliation, this time just before the 1938 World Cup. Sindelar’s public defiance of the Nazi might have costed him his life. A few months later he was found dead: intoxication with a poisonous gas. His death was declared an accident so that he could have state funerals. And 15,000 people attended the funeral of their Mozart of football and a symbol of the Austrian resistance.

In this BBC Documentary ‘Fascism and Football’ appears also Uber Garella (goalkeeper of Lazio 1939-1948), Gary Lineker, David Beckham, friends of Sindelar, historians, and others. I wondered what Hitler might have thought when he heard that 15,000 of his Austrian co-nationals attended the funerals of somebody opposing the Nazi ideology of his government. The name – Sindelar – reminded me of Schindler from the movie ‘Schindler’s List’ – the story of an oasis of humanity during the 1930s dictatorship and their inhuman policy.