Fiji soccer history 1980–1989: A philosophical and sociological analysis

We use theories from the philosophy of sport literature to contextualize and make conclusions in relation to two famous matches in Fiji’s soccer history: the 1982 Inter-District Championship Final between Ba and Nadi and the 1988 World Cup Qualifier between Australia and Fiji. In relation to the fir...

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Main Authors: Kieran James, Yogesh Nadan
Format: Article
Language:English
Published: Taylor & Francis Group 2019-01-01
Series:Cogent Arts & Humanities
Subjects:
Online Access:http://dx.doi.org/10.1080/23311983.2019.1627021
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author Kieran James
Yogesh Nadan
author_facet Kieran James
Yogesh Nadan
author_sort Kieran James
collection DOAJ
description We use theories from the philosophy of sport literature to contextualize and make conclusions in relation to two famous matches in Fiji’s soccer history: the 1982 Inter-District Championship Final between Ba and Nadi and the 1988 World Cup Qualifier between Australia and Fiji. In relation to the first game, Nadi and Ba officials made a gentlemen’s agreement not to accept Fiji Football Association’s decision to host the final replay in the neutral venue of Lautoka instead of the original venue of Nadi and then Ba reneged on that agreement. We conclude that, based on the philosophical treatment of fair play as equal to respect for the game, Fiji FA was within its rights to host the replay in Lautoka and Nadi should have turned up to play on the day. In the second game, we argue that Fiji was the better team on the day, in its 1–0 win over Australia, and so the victory was neither hollow nor undeserved. However, during that era, Australia was the better team overall as it won the majority of games played between the two nations.
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spelling doaj.art-33e20853110546fca1515c4727ecb47b2022-12-21T19:00:41ZengTaylor & Francis GroupCogent Arts & Humanities2331-19832019-01-016110.1080/23311983.2019.16270211627021Fiji soccer history 1980–1989: A philosophical and sociological analysisKieran James0Yogesh Nadan1University of the West of ScotlandFiji National UniversityWe use theories from the philosophy of sport literature to contextualize and make conclusions in relation to two famous matches in Fiji’s soccer history: the 1982 Inter-District Championship Final between Ba and Nadi and the 1988 World Cup Qualifier between Australia and Fiji. In relation to the first game, Nadi and Ba officials made a gentlemen’s agreement not to accept Fiji Football Association’s decision to host the final replay in the neutral venue of Lautoka instead of the original venue of Nadi and then Ba reneged on that agreement. We conclude that, based on the philosophical treatment of fair play as equal to respect for the game, Fiji FA was within its rights to host the replay in Lautoka and Nadi should have turned up to play on the day. In the second game, we argue that Fiji was the better team on the day, in its 1–0 win over Australia, and so the victory was neither hollow nor undeserved. However, during that era, Australia was the better team overall as it won the majority of games played between the two nations.http://dx.doi.org/10.1080/23311983.2019.1627021fiji-indiansfiji islandsfiji soccerfootball historypacific islandsphilosophy of sportsoccer history
spellingShingle Kieran James
Yogesh Nadan
Fiji soccer history 1980–1989: A philosophical and sociological analysis
Cogent Arts & Humanities
fiji-indians
fiji islands
fiji soccer
football history
pacific islands
philosophy of sport
soccer history
title Fiji soccer history 1980–1989: A philosophical and sociological analysis
title_full Fiji soccer history 1980–1989: A philosophical and sociological analysis
title_fullStr Fiji soccer history 1980–1989: A philosophical and sociological analysis
title_full_unstemmed Fiji soccer history 1980–1989: A philosophical and sociological analysis
title_short Fiji soccer history 1980–1989: A philosophical and sociological analysis
title_sort fiji soccer history 1980 1989 a philosophical and sociological analysis
topic fiji-indians
fiji islands
fiji soccer
football history
pacific islands
philosophy of sport
soccer history
url http://dx.doi.org/10.1080/23311983.2019.1627021
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