The football mad tyrant

Over the last few weeks Muammar Gaddafi’s face has been all over the papers, news broadcasts and online news sites. While the media has focused on NATO’s bombardment of his country and lavish fees paid to American entertainers, news of Gaddafi’s ties to European football have been marginalized, saving European football clubs another round of embarrassment on the world stage.

Loves his football: Gaddafi.

Artists like Mariah Carey, Beyonce, Usher and 50 cent have been spotlighted  because they had received money to perform at one of the private parties that were financed by the Gaddafi family’s money. (Well, if you thought that tyrants and their children had redeeming sides like great taste in art and music you are horribly mistaken). Their fees were paid from monies taken from Libya’s massive oil revenues that has been spread around the entire world on off-shore accounts, at Swiss banks etc.

The Gaddafi’s store 8 billion dollars of their fortune in the Libyan capital of Tripoli alone according to former central bank governor Farhat Bengdara, while common Libyans suffer daily in poverty.  While the entertainers have been exposed, Gaddafi’s links with big European clubs in Italy and Germany haven’t been discussed in the international media during NATO’s and the revolutionaries struggle against the tyrant.

King Lear, Bundesliga edition

Shakespeare’s King Lear is about a king who loses his mind, and the characters around him do nothing to stop him. These days Bundesliga fans can watch a somewhat similar situation emerge at Werder Bremen, where the long serving king Thomas has lost his grip.

The league’s longest serving coach (11 years) has had a tough year so far. In the beginning of the season the club lost its star midfielder, Mesut Özil, and their star defender Naldo has been out for the entire season. Schaaf has throughout the whole season tried to make a brave face, and stated that the situation at some point had to turn around. The board of directors and the fans at Bremen have so far believed the most beloved coach in the Bundesliga.