My PCQ deals with the notion of unity in World football. The reading starts off by saying;

“The desire to unite the nation culturally and politically promoted the regime’s restructuring of Calcio, 1926, after which it symbolized Fascism’s new-found confidence and desire to spread its new identity among the masses.” (51).

This shows the ability of soccer to unite a nation, something that countless rulers around the world have cashed in on. Italy is not the only nation to have this problem. A close family friend is a huge Benfica fan and his brother in law is a rival Sporting Lisbon fan. The brother in law always makes fun of him because supposedly the Portugese leader in the 1960’s and 70’s rigged the league so Benfica (the countries most supported team) would win. The reason behind this would be to keep the citizens content. Suddenly low wages and high food prices don’t matter when a nation is celebrating victory.