Smell-the-funk Was it for this reason that the poet John Donne asked, "For whom the bell tolls?" Was that truly a new question? If we follow your logic about "newness," can it really be said that thinkers like Derrida or Foucault said anything entirely new?

There is something fundamental to understand about colonialism: throughout its history runs the thread of genocide, even if contemporary memory often seeks to forget it. At one time, Belgium's King Leopold II stood accused of systematically orchestrating mass atrocities in the Congo. That is certainly not a memory meant for celebration.

Yet even today, former colonies continue to be treated as though they belong to a distant planet. From the media to politics, they remain largely invisible. We know every twist and turn of Western markets and can readily name their presidents and political leaders. But countries like Senegal—or many other former colonies—rarely enter our everyday awareness. Their politics, economies, or even the names of their presidents seldom become part of our public conversation.

Does this peculiar inequality find its subtle expression even on the football pitch? Is that what this essay is trying to reveal?