Do we just want to watch or play the game well?

When Manchester United landed in the Kingdom a few days ago, the team’s players and staff “felt like the Beatles”. Meanwhile in Vietnam a local fan ran for five kilometres alongside Arsenal’s team bus – until sympathetic team officials allowed him board. Liverpool players, who will be visiting Thailand soon, are certain to be embraced with the same level of craze reserved for top European soccer players. In their previous visits here, Liverpool personnel described the experience as wonderfully indescribable. 

Hero worship is not necessarily bad, but we are left wondering what could happen if some of the “energy” seen during such high-profile friendly visits could be channelled into genuine sports development in this country. Although the stars of Thailand’s Premier League beat Manchester United 1-0 in their friendly match last weekend, our country’s soccer standard remains far below that of the world’s top sides. For a country so crazy about the sport, it’s puzzling why we are ranked by Fifa below the United States, many of whose citizens still think the World Cup is a yacht race.

There has been criticism of the huge costs involved in bringing famous European teams to play here. Maybe the critics are misfiring a bit. While some frown on spending hundreds of millions of baht so that Thais can watch European stars play half-heartedly against a local squad, it’s entirely up to the organisers to decide how they spend their money. Sports development requires not only money but also political will and a collective attitude on the part of society. Sports stardom can only follow afterwards.

Everyone wants Wayne Rooney’s autograph, but how many are inspired to imitate his hard work or training discipline? It says a lot that the likes of Japan and South Korea have pulled away from Thailand in terms of soccer development. If the sponsors of the exhibition tours by Manchester United, Chelsea, Liverpool and Barcelona should be criticised, they are guilty of allowing the craze to dictate their business decisions too much. We are grateful to be able to see world soccer stars in the flesh, but showbiz hype is not the long-term way to create our own great national athletes.

The sponsors are just an element in the big picture. Thai children in general are raised to chase photo opportunities with sporting celebrities rather than try to emulate like them through hard work and good ethics. We are becoming a nation famous for screaming fans, not for sporting excellence.

Society as a whole should pause to reconsider. While local fans shriek at the mere sight of Michael Carrick – a capable player, but not exactly a superstar –Thai national player Teeratep Winothai was booed throughout the game against Manchester United, reportedly because he has always been regarded as a show-off. The incident might be an indicator of how things have gone wrong in Thailand’s sports development. If Teeratep is disliked because of the way he has behaved, it should be noted that some European stars visiting Thailand have been involved in shocking scandals.

We can continue to treat football exhibition games like Lady Gaga concerts, or we can start putting more effort into long-term development. There are soccer camps here that need constant care and support. Until we do them justice, we will remain no more than a nation that makes foreign athletes feel like the Beatles.