it’s hard to predict if having, for example, an all-baptist team play an all-sunni team would have any negative consequences such as self-righteous hooliganism or holy vandalism. can anybody imagine an *un*friendly congratulatory handshake parade after the sunnis totally bury the baptists? the religious do pride themselves on their gracious acceptance of the will and whim of the creator.

myself, i couldn’t in good conscience support an atheist team. it’s not a belief after all.

kalkin,

Thanks for the info. You can do all that stuff and be a classy player, well educated, and productive person then. I don’t think Socrátes won a world cup, although he did captain Brazil in two competitions, and his brother won one.

As for the Palestine shirt, that was punished by the Spanish FA and the League, not by FIFA who don’t have jurisdiction, unlike over competitions such as the Confederations Cup. It was also judged to be a political, not a religious statement, which is more harshly punished, as it came immediately after something in Israel that I can’t remember – maybe the Lebanon war or something.

He avoids the nightlife, with the accompanying prostitution and drugs that go with it and that have ruined the careers of many good players.

Didn’t two time world cup winner and football great Garrincha love prostitutes and alcholol? He only lost one game with Brazil.

Virtually all of the countries good enough to go to big cup games are majority Christian.

It depends how you define Christians. Membership is sometimes compulsory for the majority of people in some Scandinavian countries, and majorities claim to be Christian according to censor data. However, other polls claim that nonbelief in a god is the majority view in the following countries: Sweden, Denmark, Norway, Finland, Japan, Czech Republic, France and South Korea. All have been involved in the World Cup, including one winner and one finalist. Some more recent polls suggest the same for Germany, England, and Switzerland, that’s two more winners.

Because only Christians avoid immoral and damaging behaviour. They have a copyright on it.

Say what you want about it. I know that religion is no stranger to hypocrisy and bad behavior. Plenty of players say their religious and do all sorts of nasty things. This guy seems actually sincere, and he backs his stated beliefs with action. He cost the team an absurd amount of money. If Jesus is what he needs to keep away from the strippers and cocaine, that’s fine by me.