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A week ago today, we witnessed incredible scenes around the world as the first black president was elected in the USA. Me and my colleague were strong supporters of Barack Obama, and naturally we were elated with his election. We see eye to eye with all the issues Obama has put forward, but then I thought to myself one day, what does this election mean for one of the issues I'm passionate about, but I have overlooked? I am of course talking about football. So what does Barack Obama mean for football? I decided to find out. I have been a strong critic of America and their lack of interest in 'real' sports in general. The two most popular sports, football and tennis, have a really low profile in the states, and I was hoping, for football in particular, that Obama could change this.
Obama is apparently a West Ham fan (soccernet.espn.go.com/news/story?id=589743&sec=england&cc=3436) . He went to a match some years ago, and this is the justification the media has used to make him a fan. This visit could have been meaningless, after all it was his British relatives that convinced him to go to the match, but its better than nothing. I don't see Bill Clinton or George W Bush going to premier league matches. Consequently West Ham have sent him a "open invite" to come to one of their matches. I get the feeling he might be too busy at the moment though!
Football fans will be glad that Obama has been elected. While the opposition party had Sarah Palin as the "hockey mom", Obama seems to be a "soccer dad" (blogs.abcnews.com/politicalradar/2008/07/barack-obamasoc.html). His nine year old daughter plays football, and Obama has been seen to watch some of her games. Great to see young girls getting into the spirit of football and yet another indicator of the President's interest in the greatest game in the world.
More about Obama:
* Obama has a team named after him in his country of ancestry, Kenya.
* He is the American team's choice
* Many believe that due to his popularity and liking for football, the US have a better chance of hosting the 2018 or 2022 World Cups. This is the only thing I'm not happy about, as I am supporting the Australian bid for 2018.
Overall, Obama is looking good for the world game in general.
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