Why i don’t watch football anymore#

Don’t get me wrong i’ve been a football fan since I was 6 years old. I started by watching matches from our local league in morocco as well as games of our national team. I was obsessed with the sport: team histories, player’s names, and famous figures in the league.

As I got older, I began following international leagues such as la liga in spain and the Premier league in UK, along with major international competitions like the world cup and the African Cup.

I was a huge Real madrid fan for many years. i was deeply obsessed with the team and it’s players. Back then, i didn’t have access to watch every match, so i made sure to watch all the big game. I’m sharing this to make one thing clear, that i’m a genuinly passionate about this sport. if i wasn’t studying or working, you most probably find me either playing football or watching something related to it.

Based on this background, i will clarify my arguments for why you might consider stopping watching football or other popular sports.

Before starting, I want to clarify that I’m not trying to convince you to quit football. I’m simply sharing my perspective. You may agree or disagree and that’s perfectly fine.

Distraction#

As you know Football (or soccer you can call it whatever you want), is the most popular sport in the world, or even in the human history.

There’s an Arabic quote that’s said: “Football is Opium of Populations.”

This fact makes the game easily accessible for everyone more mainstream, so everyone talks about football and competitions. There are matches each week in different leagues, which makes it unrealistic not to be distracted at all. Even if you say that you only watch your favorite team, after each game you go to the social media to see what people said about the games, watch the press conference, and maybe enjoy some memes created by fans of your team or their rivals (as is often the case between Real Madrid & Barcelona).

In an Age dominated by AI and rapid technological progress, it’s easy to be overwhelemed by constant distractions. Today, cognitive skills matter far more than physical labor, which is increasingly being handed over to automation. In this new economy of knowledge, value is created by knowledge workers who can think clearly, learn fast and adapt.

One of the most critical skills to survive and thrive in this era is the ability to focus deeply and uninterrupted for extended periods of time. The more focused you are, the more valuable our output becomes, and the more the economy rewards you for the value you produce.

The more distracted you are, the poorer your focus becomes, which leads to lower cognitive value being produced.

So if Football is a source of distraction for you, you might need some reflections on that.

Bread and Circuses#

Let’s say you very disciplined person who can manage to watch and follow football and sports, but in a reasonable way without being distracted by it. In that case, the first reason might not catch. Unfortunately i have another reason that might change your opinion.

Whether you are fan of history or not, you have most likely heard of the Roman Empire, one of the largest and greatest empire in the History.

During difficult periods, when people starting questioning the social and the economical conditions, the rules provide them with grain and created circuses to distracted them with fascinating shows Involving Gladiators, Lions and Bulls. So people will have fun in the circuses and were distracted from the real problems that the country is facing in at the time.

more on Bread and Circuses :

This method of manipulation has been used by countries all over the world. By the way, I am one of the people who have been manipulated 😅😅.

The sad truth about this is in the first-world countries, most things are decently developed,

Systems are managed reltively efficiently, democratic institutions are stronger, corruption levels are lower, and there is often a well-educated elite class that thinks long term and works toward a brighter future for the country.

In contrast, In the third-world countries suffer from high corruption, with an elite class prioritizing their own interests over those of the nation. this leads to short-term decision-making that does not move the country toward.

Circuses or in modern times, sports, concerts, and large entertainments events gather crowds around an illusion, distracting them from the real issues that truly matter.

This effect is even more damaging in developing countries that lack the basic pillars of a healthy state.

If you Complain about your country’s problems while still allowing yourself to be constantly distracted by this nonsense, then sorry to say it’s not the state’s problem it’s yours. Take responsibility and focus on your priorities as a citizen.

Don’t Get me Wrong i’m not against football, as i said i’m Huge fan myself, but i can’t let myself being delusional, i limited my relationship with football to just playing it, which has great both physical and mental health benefits.

Thank you for your time.