On August 29th, 2019, legendary French forward Eric Cantona stepped on stage at that year’s UEFA Champions League draw to accept the UEFA Presidents Award, given annually to a footballing personality who’s helped advance the game’s development and general success.
Upon receiving the award, he offered this bizarre speech:
"As flys to wanton boys, we are for the gods; they kill us for the sport.
Soon the science will not only be able to slow down the aging of the cells, soon the science will fix the cells to the state. And so, we will become eternal.
Only accidents, crimes and wars will kill us still. But unfortunately, crimes and wars will multiply.
I love football."
So, what the hell are we talking about here? Leave it to Cantona, a player with a flair for the theatrical on and off the pitch, to leave the audience feeling like this guy:
But, Eric was on to something here. Maybe at the time, and in the context of this being a Champions League draw, the point Cantona was trying to make was lost to an audience that was, understandably, just there to find out which bottom feeder Manchester City were going to draw.
But now in 2023, I think I’m starting to pick up what Eric was putting down on that uncomfortable night in Monaco a few years back. And, given the events of this past year, Cantona’s words feel more pertinent than ever.
Let’s break it down into bite sized pieces, starting from the top with the whole, “As flys to wanton boys” bit.
In his opener, Cantona is quoting King Lear, and old Shakespearean play. While the tragedy itself is longwinded and too confusing for my tiny brain to summarize, the “flys to wanton boys” part is pretty digestible.
In smooth-brain terms, Shakespeare is comparing our relationship with God to a fly’s relationship to a humans. You swat a fly without thinking about it. “The Gods”, the universe, or nature itself treats humans just the same; We’re God’s flys in Cantona’s borrowed metaphor.
Basically, in the grand scheme of things, humans are expendable, irrelevant, and small.
Uplifting, right?
Eric Cantona accepting the UEFA Presidents Award (Via Fox Sports)
That’s when Eric starts talking about science, so strap in. While exaggerated for dramatic effect, he’s suggesting that we’ve learned to defend ourselves as the “flys” of the universe. Things that used to kill us more frequently like nature, disease, or old age are less of a threat to us now.
We’re not literally “fixing cells to the state” and becoming eternal, but it feels like we’re closer to playing God these days than we are playing fly.
But, as Cantona suggests, while we’re escaping old threats, we’re creating newer, darker threats for ourselves every day. As he puts it, “Accidents, crimes and wars”, now pose the greater threat to humanity.
Today especially, the threat of these “accidents, crimes and wars” are there for all to see, and serve as a far uglier and more complicated threat than the original “fly to god” metaphor.
The Christmas Day Ceasefire match between England and Germany during WW2 (Via PBS)
But that’s where the punchline comes in: “I love football.”
In times of tragedy, It can be difficult to weigh how much time, energy and attention we should give to sport. While we all love the game, sometimes 22 flys kicking a ball around just feels irrelevant when there are “bigger than football” storylines unfolding off the pitch.
But, soccer offers a form of worldwide and individual catharsis that few other things do. What else serves as such a wonderful distraction from the real world? Maybe beer?
As backwards as it may seem, times like these are when sports feel the most important. Is soccer going to solve any of the very real problems we face in this world? Probably not. Especially not so for anyone directly effected by any such tragic events. But, for those afforded the luxury of physical safety, can soccer bring people together, distract, and provide joy in times of strife? Yes, that’s probably what football does best.
Eric Cantona (Via Forbes)
While not necessarily spoken with the particular issues of this year in mind, Cantona's legendary yet uncomfortable speech serves as an important viewpoint in today’s difficult times.
Life is hard, life is confusing, life is violent, and life is absurd, but soccer can offer an enjoyable escape from all of that.
I love football.
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