USA Africa Dialogue Series - THE EPL AND THE MISUSE OF LANGUAGE

I take it that language is like an axe (if not an art) to be wielded or performed with great care.  When used carefully language, like an axe in a peasant’s toolbox,  can advance great purposes. But, when wielded in a fashion closer to cavalier,  language, like an unhinged axe, can  harm and even disfigure.

As the “transfer window” approaches, many soccer players in the EPL (English Premier League)  will  be put on the “transfer market.”  Some will be “sold” to other teams. Others will be “bought”;  “transferred” ;   “loaned”  or “traded” to other struggling teams at the bottom of the league table. Teams at the top of the table will “purchase” and/or “acquire” other players, within and outside of England, to boost their chances of winning the league title or  participating in next year’s Champions League competition. I hear that some African players “will be sold”  to other teams in Europe and others “transferred” elsewhere.  Some European, Asian and Latin American players could also be put on the “market” and “sold” to other teams.  The Italian Club AC Milan  has, reportedly,  negotiated with Manchester City for “a full price” on Carlos Tevez following City’s refusal to  “loan”  Tevez   to Milan on a temporary contract.  Now, the Italian club has agreed to “buy” the Argentine player.  There are many such “transactions” taking place prior to the opening of the “transfer window.”  I pray that none of these human beings who kick ball for a living will be “auctioned off the block” when they become “available” on the January “transfer market.” 

When a discourse on a particular human activity descends into one in which the human agents are seen as  transactable commodities,  it reminds me of an accursed era in our human past when human beings were “bought”; “sold” ; “traded” and/or “acquired”  as merchandise. I thought this commerce,  and the words, idioms and phrases that developed around it,  ended in the 19^th Century.  In  a 21^st Century world where thoughtful users of language seek replacement words for “mankind”, because of its injurious connotation,  and talk about God in “Her” multiple and infinite gender,  what I have observed about the careless use of language in the EPL is NOT another  “Much Ado About Nothing.” It is, indeed, “Much Concern About Something.”  That “Something” is simple: the users of the English language can do better to rid their soccer conversation of words, terms and phrases about the commercialization of humans. 

So, as we move to January when some players will end their employment contracts with their current teams and sign new contracts to play for others, let us see who will be moving from one team to another. Michael Essien could remain at Chelsea and not  be encouraged to join or play for Inter.  Carlos Tevez could finally end his playing career with City and move to Italy to play for AC Milan. Even if  Emmanuel Adebayo’s contract with City is not renewed and/or extended, he should not be “sold” and/or “bought” permanently by Tottenham  but could agree  to play for Spurs on mutually-agreed terms.

While the EPL struggles to rid soccer of racism, it should care enough to also rid its discourse of  the language of  transaction and commodification. The Crocodile may be different from the Alligator, but they sure look alike.

Just A Thought ,

Edward Kissi