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Today Sydney FC will unveil one of the most recognisable players in Asian football. A household name in two of the biggest cities in the world, the proven goal scorer is regularly mobbed by fans.
I’m talking of course about Joel Griffiths, the former Beijing Guoan and Shanghai Shenhua striker who became a massive hit with supporters during his three years in the Chinese Super League.
Such was Griffiths’ impact in China, where supposedly he was as well-known as Nicole Kidman, his name was mentioned by Trade Minister Craig Emerson at a recent Lowy Institute conference as a driver of links between Australia and Asia.
It’s a good thing players like Griffiths are being recognised for their impact in Asia, but it’s a little belated.
After all, Australia joined the Asian Football Confederation in 2006 and by now everyone connected to the sport has had ample opportunities to engage with the Asian game.
Yet, often when the topic of Asian football comes up – particularly online – there’s a prickliness to the discussion which hints at our general unease with the subject.
A few years ago I wrote a piece for The World Game website in which I suggested most Australians would struggle to tell the difference between Shunsuke Nakamura and Kengo Nakamura.
What I meant was that as the pair shares the same surname, those with a limited knowledge of Japanese football would struggle to differentiate between the two.
Yet I was instantly and repeatedly called a racist.
Some of those who complained made references to hair colour and eye shape as they accused me of being racist, despite my only ‘crime’ consisting of highlighting the fact the pair have the same surname.
Though it’s frustrating to be misconstrued, I think a bigger problem is the habit of branding those who want to talk about Asian football as ‘racist’ at the drop of a hat, because it serves to shut down legitimate discussions of a topic most Australians should be interested in.
And I suspect that some fans – though I should stress I’m talking about a minority here – find the concept of talking about Asian football so alien that their first and only response is to mention hair colour or physical size and move on.
Of course, I felt compelled to think about this after some readers took offence to my suggestion certain fans didn’t rate Shinji Ono because he’s Asian.
Though I’m not particularly enamoured with his J. League team of choice, I was grateful to regular reader Nelson for pointing out that I wasn’t accusing anyone of racism, but rather highlighting the fact Australians generally don’t rate Asian football.
And they don’t. To wit, here’s one fan’s justification of why Ono shouldn’t be considered a marquee player.
On a broader level, is there any topic which gets fans more riled up than the issue of Australian players moving to the Gulf States? Qatar hosting the 2022 World Cup, perhaps.
The most obvious reason I can think of for our struggle to understand football in Asia is a linguistic one.
As English speakers, we’re not accustomed to learning foreign languages and it goes without saying that the AFC is full of those.
And when the scripts of those languages in no way resemble the Roman alphabet, it’s not surprising Asian leagues are largely ignored in Australia.
Not everyone ignores Asian football though, as Paul Williams’ outstanding Asian Football Feast attests.
SBS correspondent Scott McIntyre is even in the process of writing a book about Asian football, and I’m sure Paul and I won’t be the only folks keen to read it.
But I’m just as sure that for all the intelligent discussion which takes place on The Roar, there’ll be criticism of this topic.
It seems to be a reflex to shut down or simply ignore discussions about Asian football, something which needs to change if Australia is to genuinely host a successful Asian Cup.