World Cup

Countries have just finished up their qualifying for the World Cup and it has started to bring up a lot of issues. As many people know, apartheid was a huge issue in South Africa, the site of the long-anticipated 2010 World Cup. Thierry Henry, a star French player who is also black, expressed some trepidation in an interview about playing in a country with such a long-standing reputation for violent racism. He talked about some of the things he has dealt with playing in England and he worries that it might be worse in Johannesburg next summer. A few other minority players have questioned the selection and it was interesting to me because it shows the contrast in sports internationally versus here in the U.S. Here players get heckled. In some countries, like South Africa, players are killed literally for own goals and the like. It is startling.