Scoring a political goal

Now,about 20 million Argentines—half the population—watch top matches,more than four times as many as last season.

“When I saw the news on TV,I knew what it meant—football was coming into my home,” said Bres,37,whose small cinder-block house is blocks from where Diego Maradona,coach of the Argentine national team and once one of the country’s greatest stars,grew up. “Politically,it was very intelligent. She’s going to get our vote.”

The deal with the Argentine Football Association gave a lift to a government whose popularity had plummeted since 2008,as Argentines turned against Fernandez de Kirchner’s economic policies. In June,her ruling coalition lost its majority in congressional elections. Her husband,Nestor Kirchner,who preceded her as President and still exerts immense influence over government policy,was trounced in his bid for a seat in the lower house.

The couple felt that their 2011 Presidential ambitions were in jeopardy. But soccer,long intertwined with politics here,presented them with an opportunity,said Carlos Fara,a Buenos Aires pollster.

By sealing the broadcast deal,Fara said,Fernandez de Kirchner hoped not just to recoup some of her popularity but also to strike a blow against the Clarin Group newspaper and cable TV company,which held the broadcasting rights until the soccer season opened in August. The Clarin newspaper has reported aggressively on government corruption; the Kirchners accuse it of bias and say its coverage contributed to their electoral losses.

A poll that Fara’s firm conducted in September in metropolitan Buenos Aires showed that 54 per cent of respondents approved of the broadcast deal,with 40 per cent disapproving. Fara,though,says the President’s approval rating stayed around 30 per cent.

The state is paying the soccer association $155 million a year to televise the games,giving the sport a much-needed infusion of cash. Many soccer teams here are near bankruptcy,and most depend on young players and ageing veterans because the most talented stars play in Europe,said Victor Hugo Morales,a prominent radio soccer commentator.

Fernandez de Kirchner has cast the deal as a “giant step in the democratisation of Argentine society”. In a nationally televised speech in August,she likened the Clarin Group to the military junta that ruled Argentina until 1983. “Only those who paid could watch a game of soccer,because they kidnapped the goals,” she said of the group. “I do not want any more kidnappings. I want a free society.” The rhetoric drew editorial rebukes from the capital’s major dailies. Pundits also said that with poverty climbing,the soccer deal amounted to government misspending.

Critics also question the Government’s motives in cobbling together a media reform law,approved by the Congress in October,that requires firms such as the Clarin Group to sell or restructure their interests in cable,TV and radio. Fernandez de Kirchner has said repeatedly that the law breaks up monopolies and ensures freedom of expression.

On a recent Saturday,as venerable teams Racing Club and Argentinos Juniors played,few seemed happier with the new arrangement than the residents of the barrio of Villa Fiorito,with its dusty cinder-block houses,concrete patios where children play soccer and,of course,Maradona’s dilapidated childhood home.

Six days a week,Bres scavenges recyclables from garbage. On this day,though,he had loaded his rickety dinner table with beer,cheese and salami,and had turned up the TV. “I’m going to be thankful for this all my life,” he said,“because football has been brought into my home and the homes of my neighbours.”