French football superstar Kylian Mbappe recently landed in trouble over a meme.
asserted
Mbappe → land → meme
Discussing an image that apparently superimposed his face on Mao Zedong’s, he referred to the late Chinese leader as someone he thought was a dictator, without naming Mao.
asserted
he → discuss → Mao
The offhand remark became an international controversy.
asserted
remark → become → ?
Chinese sponsors withdrew their support.
asserted
sponsors → withdraw → support
State television suspended La Liga broadcasts.
asserted
television → suspend → broadcasts
Apologies followed from Mbappe and his club, Real Madrid, while the league expressed regret over the offence caused.
asserted
league → follow → offence
Mbappe was riffing on one of the running jokes about his outsized influence over his clubs and teammates.
asserted
Mbappe → riff → clubs
He was not delivering a considered assessment of Chinese history.
asserted
He → deliver → history
Yet the response turned a passing remark into a test of respect for an entire nation.
asserted
response → turn → nation
Mbappe is not the first athlete to discover how quickly political sensitivities become instruments of discipline.
asserted
sensitivities → discover → discipline
A decade ago, American football star Colin Kaepernick knelt during the United States national anthem to protest systemic racism and police killings of Black people, and was effectively frozen out of the National Football League.
asserted
Kaepernick → kneel → League
In May, after Spanish footballer Lamine Yamal waved a Palestinian flag during Barcelona’s title celebrations, Israel’s defence minister, Israel Katz, accused him of inciting hatred and demanded that the club distance itself from the gesture.
uncertain
club → wave → gesture
Kaepernick and Yamal made deliberate statements.
asserted
Kaepernick → make → statements
Mbappe made a joke.
asserted
Mbappe → make → joke
Yet the distinction offered the latter little protection.
asserted
distinction → offer → protection
An athlete need not deliberately enter politics to discover how tightly his speech is policed.
asserted
speech → enter → politics
Mbappe’s extraordinary visibility gives him influence and makes him commercially valuable.
asserted
him → give → influence
But the commercial relationships that make him valuable also hand others the means to discipline him.
asserted
him → make → him
In ancient Greece, victorious athletes could receive substantial rewards from their cities, including money, meals at public expense and civic honours.
uncertain
athletes → receive → expense
Sporting success could open a path to political influence, and their achievements brought prestige to the communities that claimed them.
uncertain
that → open → them
But the claim could become possessive.
uncertain
claim → become → ?
According to the ancient Greek geographer and writer Pausanias, the runner Astylus, originally associated with Croton, later proclaimed himself a Syracusan when competing at the Olympic Games.
uncertain
himself → accord → Games
His former compatriots responded by pulling down his statue and converting his house into a prison.
asserted
compatriots → respond → prison
Today, sporting institutions make similar claims on the people whose achievements they celebrate.
uncertain
they → make → achievements
The athlete represents the nation, embodies the club, carries the sponsor’s values.
asserted
athlete → represent → values
Each relationship becomes a reason to keep an inconvenient thought to oneself.
asserted
relationship → become → oneself
As Real Madrid coach Jose Mourinho put it, “Often the best thing you can do is keep your mouth shut, because there’s danger in so many things you say or comment on.
asserted
you → put → things
When a single remark threatens access to a market, the club and the league acquire a financial interest in treating it as misconduct, and the pressure to recant can be extreme.
asserted
pressure → threaten → misconduct
When a state broadcaster suspends an entire league, it punishes thousands of players, staff and viewers who had nothing to do with the remark, effectively holding them hostage to one man’s apology.
asserted
who → suspend → apology
That is market power being used to enforce conformity.
asserted
power → use → conformity
This is where the contradictions of celebrity become especially apparent.
asserted
contradictions → become → celebrity
Sporting businesses sell courage, authenticity and individual character.
asserted
businesses → sport → courage
They encourage audiences to identify with the person behind the performance.
asserted
They → encourage → performance
But the expression of that character becomes a problem when it threatens another part of the business.
asserted
it → become → business
The athlete is invited to be themselves, subject to approval.
asserted
athlete → invite → approval
Further, audiences add their own pressure.
asserted
audiences → add → pressure
We increasingly expect sports stars to address moral and political questions, and we judge their silence as well as their speech.
asserted
we → expect → silence
Fame does carry obligations.
asserted
Fame → carry → obligations
But athletic excellence does not confer political wisdom, and prominence is not a qualification.
asserted
prominence → confer → wisdom
If we want courage from athletes, we must also confront the institutions that make courage professionally dangerous.
asserted
courage → want → institutions
…and 15 more, not listed.
The Aporia
