Racism and homophobia in stadiums, ever more excessive proliferation of money, extreme individualization of players… Did you think football couldn’t sink any lower? Now Elon Musk is showing up. The American businessman, as eccentric as he is dangerous, would be « interested » with the idea of buying Liverpool, according to his father, Errol, and thus ready to conquer the world of soccer in which he has never before been so closely interested. The current owners have, for the moment, no ambition to sell the club, but have they ever faced a suitor who is as excessive as he is? In the summer of 2022, the American had already made the move about Manchester United, before backpedaling by mentioning « a joke ». His jokes no longer make people laugh at all because the world too quickly discovered the striking power of the man who became the richest man in history with 348 billion dollars.
Newly appointed Minister of Government Efficiency of the United States, a position created tailor-made after having contributed to the electoral victory of Donald Trump during the American presidential election, Elon Musk is moving dangerously closer to Europe. Emmanuel Macron accused the billionaire of interference after the latter notably targeted the British Prime Minister, Keir Starmer, and the German Chancellor Olaf Scholz, while openly supporting the AfD, a far-right party across the Rhine, and preparing to sign an agreement with Giorgia Meloni, leader of the same side on the Italian side. Can the master of the new capitalism, close to the world’s greatest conservatives and reactionaries, use football to carry out his societal projects?
« We are committed to Liverpool »
For now, he seems to have a real connection to Liverpool. On X, the social network he bought, he claimed to have a grandmother who lived on the banks of the Mersey and whom she represented « a significant part » of his childhood. On Tuesday, his father put a coin back into the machine, speaking to Times Radio: « We had family in Liverpool, and we were lucky enough to know quite a bit about the Beatles because they grew up with some of my family. […] So we’re committed to Liverpool, you know. » It’s hard to take his word for it, but his boundless ambition suggests that it’s not just nostalgia and rock music that push him to look at what’s happening among the Reds. Already asked by Jim Ratcliffe, along with Jeff Bezos, to invest in Manchester United, he had declined, but, according to the British press, remained close to the boss of Ineos and learned about the sports economy.
We were lucky enough to know quite a bit about The Beatles because they grew up with some of my family members.
Although he doesn’t really have an athletic body, Elon Musk knows a little about sport. Finally, he is mainly interested in a political approach. He is particularly close to Dana White and Joe Rogan, respectively president of the UFC and MMA commentator, while being faithful Trumpists. During the 2024 Olympic Games, the boss of SpaceX did not fall in love with the Lebrun brothers, Simone Biles or Armand Duplantis, but preferred to attack Philippe Katerine, whose costume he judged during the ceremony. opening « disrespectful to Christians »as well as Imane Khelif, an Algerian gold medalist boxer, whom he willingly cyberharassed because of her hyperandrogenism. On the football side, he provides unwavering support to Tommy Robinson, former Luton Town hooligan and far-right activist at the heart of the summer riots in England (lire So Foot #222).
Liverpool, a club unlike Musk
The direction towards which Musk would take this sport is therefore cause for concern. Some prefer not to participate, like Red Star, Sankt Pauli and Werder Bremen who left X, as did American athletes LeBron James and Carl Lewis. « The radicalization of the platform is encouraged by Elon Musk and his publications, including widespread transphobic, anti-Semitic and conspiracy narratives. Werder Bremen takes a clear stance against hatred and agitation, discrimination and exclusion »the German club justified itself. Not enough to shake the owner who proclaims to his 200 million subscribers that they are « the media »From now on. On the social network, some football followers are having fun, and the freedom left by the moderators gives free rein to exacerbated violence. If supporters did not wait to tweet before engaging in aggressive practices, both verbally and physically, X offers a particularly effective sounding board for their ideas.
Despite the family home and the Beatles soundtrack, the businessman has nothing in common with Liverpool FC. The history of Scousers is closely linked to the proletariat and the serious financial difficulties often mocked by the country’s supporters. Hatred of Margaret Thatcher has been elevated to the level of art, just as anti-Brexit positions and support for the LGBT community have been widely heard in the Kop in recent years. In short, the port city is everything that Elon Musk rejects. He is more into mass dismissals, like when he fired 80% of Twitter employees in a few days after his takeover, libertarian politics without worrying about labor rights and massive attacks on transsexual people. So let him walk alone, and as long as possible away from football.
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