The Soccer Buffoons, Christian Authier

Once the preserve of rednecks, football has become trendy. While players go clubbing with their sponsors, politicians and thinkers of all stripes are taking over the ball and inviting themselves onto the pitch. Offside! As a result, we no longer laugh in the stadiums. Sometimes, we even get slapped around. Right, Les Bleus? After Foot-business (Hachette-Littératures, 2001), Christian Authier tackles "foot people", this new football jet set, in the name of a passion: "Football is a passion for monomaniacal kids who haven't really grown up and who, for many, have never gotten over not having scored a goal against German Schumacher in Seville in 1982. In short, it's not very serious and, dare I say it, it's a bit stupid. Yes, football is stupid. It's stupid and it's good. It's useless, but it feels good. Everything else is just show-off and money."