“Of course, he loved luxury; being born to privilege he expected nothing less than the grand lifestyle he saw in the other courts of Europe…Carol liked to present an impressive and populist persona to the public, wearing garish military uniforms adorned with medals, and to be the benefactor of every philanthropic endeavour in the land. He loved parades and grandiose festivals and watched them closely, but he was not taken in by these events as more than shows of his power”
Buccur, Marie: Carol II; Fischer, Bernd Jurgen (ed.): Balkan Strongmen: Dictators and Authoritarian Rulers of South Eastern Europe, (Purdue, 2007), p.91
Football administration in the 1930s can be seen in two ways. The more positive view would suggest that the organisation of both FIFA and national football associations has now moved on from the years of aristocratic influence over meritocracy and moved with the times in line with current social and political views. On the other hand one only has to look into comments made by the English FA’s Martin Glenn earlier this year to see that some of the game’s leading administrators might not have moved that far from the age of totalitarianism. What is certain is that the very first FIFA World Cup held in Uruguay in 1930 bore very little resemblance to the modern day tournament.
For starters there was no qualification tournament, and Instead, FIFA invited all of its member nations to apply for entry into the tournament by the deadline of February 28th 1930. There was a strong response from the Americas but, due to the length of the sea voyage required to reach Uruguay, there was little interest among European nations. Additionally the ‘Home Nations’ of England, Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland had all recently resigned from FIFA and, despite the best efforts of the game’s governing body, their self-imposed exile from the World Cup competition lasted until 1950. The personal intervention of FIFA’s President and Vice-President, Jules Rimet and Rodolphe Seedrayers, eventually persuaded their native France and Belgium respectively to enter this tournament alongside Yugoslavia and Romania – two teams who had only played their first international matches in the early 1920s.
But Romania were not just in the tournament because of an absence of leading European teams. A coup d’état at the start of June 1930 had led to the replacement of the Romanian King Michael I with his father, Carol II, who had renounced his claim to the throne only five years earlier to pursue his extramarital affair with Magda Lupescu. In a bid to further establish his, and Romania’s, presence on the international stage he insisted on the nation’s football team’s entrance into the inaugural FIFA World Cup and, on June 21st 1930, the Romanian team boarded the SS Conte Verde in Genoa bound for Uruguay. The ship went on to collect the French, Belgian and Brazilian teams en route as well as the trophy, a number of FIFA officials and the tournament’s three European referees.
However, Carol II’s role in Romania’s participation in the 1930 FIFA World Cup is believed to have gone beyond securing them a place in the tournament. In order to ensure the services of the country’s most able players he issued a decree allowing them three months’ absence from work to allow for travel to and from Uruguay as well as their competition in the tournament itself. Furthermore he personally guaranteed resumption of employment to the team’s players upon their return to Romania. This is almost certainly true but speculation remains about the make-up of the squad itself. Although coached and managed by Constantin Rădulescu, who also served as an assistant referee in two of the games in Uruguay, the longstanding belief is that Carol II, rather than Rădulescu, allegedly handpicked the Romanian squad.
This level of involvement in team affairs was certainly in step with Carol’s approach to his reign. His reputation as a playboy had started during his time in the Romanian army in the First World War where he deserted in order to marry the daughter of one of his generals. It progressed following the annulment of his first marriage when he married Princess Helen of Greece and Denmark before abandoning both her and his claim to the throne to elope with Magda Lupescu. Consequently, in a desperate bid to shed this image on his ascension to the Romanian throne, he set about establishing a personality cult where he was portrayed as a messianic figure set to deliver his people ‘an eternal Romania’. In reality his government shifted towards the far-right and adopted increasingly anti-Semitic policies as it aligned with Nazi Germany; this paved the way for his eventual abdication and the wartime military dictatorship of Ion Antonescu. Although Carol II appeared to be actively involved in the governance of his country during his reign it is highly unlikely that he was involved in the selection of the Romanian squad for the World Cup in Uruguay. Not so much because it would be out of character for the egotistical monarch but more because of the lack of time he had spent in Romania prior to his ascension to the throne on June 8th 1930: a mere two weeks before the team set off for Uruguay.
Regardless of who was responsible for team selection Romania beat Peru 3-1 in their first match of the group stage with Adalbert Deşu scoring within fifty seconds of the kick-off. They were soundly beaten 4-0 by the hosts and eventual winners, Uruguay, in their next game and therefore exited the tournament. The Romanian team, under the management of Constantin Rădulescu, qualified for the next two tournaments, in Italy in 1934 and France in 1938, where they were eliminated in the first round by Czechoslovakia and Cuba respectively.
Although Carol II is unlikely to have picked the squad for the inaugural FIFA World Cup in Uruguay his insistence in their participation set a precedent for the involvement of heads of state in the affairs of their national teams. In subsequent tournaments Italy, under the fascist dictatorship of Benito Mussolini, won back to back trophies amid displays of fervent nationalism particularly when they hosted the tournament finals in 1934. And while Carol II’s Romania were not as successful on the pitch, the playboy monarch paved the way for the World Cup to be used as a platform for the promotion of a leader and a nation in the tournaments that followed.
Shaqiri, Shaqiri: You may have missed Friday's game between Serbia and Switzerland (I have to admit I did) and even those of you who tuned in may have missed Granit Xhaka and Xherdan Shaqiri's celebrations after two very nicely taken goals. Both players made the sign of the Albanian eagle, partly to celebrate their Kosovan heritage and partly to wind up their opponents, and have subsequently been hit with a fine from the bastion of morality known as FIFA. Yesterday a crowdfunding campaign was set up to pay these fines for the players and I doubt that we have heard the last of this incident. In the meantime feel free to enjoy a picture of Xherdan Shaqiri which should serve as an inspiration to all aspiring footballers.
Moving forward: If you're enjoying this blog (or just enduring it) and want to get involved please feel free. I'm more than happy to look into any suggestions you may have for topics or, better still, share your work if you fancy writing a post about a particular team, tournament or match with a political backdrop. Drop me a note below if you're keen or contact me on Twitter @mannyhawks.
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