Diary of an athlete in prison

Diaries are not modern literature, nor literature specific to one nation or culture and not to others, but it is literature with historical roots, written by people from different social strata; There are diaries of writers, scholars and artists, diaries of revolutionaries, diaries of soldiers, diaries of politicians and leaders, diaries of priests, etc.

In the modern age, the diaries of a number of famous writers and artists in the world became known, such as: “The Diary of Tolstoy”, “The Diary of a Madman” by Gogol, “Anton Chekhov: Secret Notebooks”, “The Diary and Memoirs of Alexander Pushkin”, “The Diary of Virginia Woolf”. And “The Diary of Kafka”, “The Diary of Rembrandt”, “The Diary of Fernando Pessoa”, “The Diary of Frida Kahlo”, “The Tramp” Between Paris and London” by George Orwell, “The Diary of a Thief” by Jean Genet and “The Diary of Anaïs Nin” .

Let’s also mention “The Diary of Maryam Wattenburg”, which, from the point of view of its author, reveals the details of the life of a student during her stay in the Jewish camps during the Holocaust. We also can’t help but look back at “Diary of a Wimpy Kid”.

As for the Arab level, we will not exaggerate if we say that the most famous diaries of all are the novel of the great writer Tawfiq al-Hakim “Diary of a Deputy in the Village” in which he sheds light on the days of his work in the State Prosecutor’s Office at the beginning of his life, in the village of Gornji Egypt. We also do not fail to refer to other works of other writers, such as “Diary of a General Manager”, “Diary of Mafraws Wife”, “Diary of an Egyptian Woman”, “Diary of a Worker” and “Diary of a Pensioner”.

With regard to the diaries of prisoners during the period of deprivation of liberty, what has been called “prison literature” appeared, which is a literary genre that describes literature written when the writer is restrained somewhere against his will, for example in a prison or house arrest, and literature can be about prison, or about the stage in front of it, or written during the writer’s stay in prison. Prison literature can be in the form of memoirs or stories and novels, and it can also be pure fiction that does not reflect the writer’s real experience.

In this regard, it should be noted many immortal works, both at the world and Arab level, where some prisoners recorded their diaries behind the walls, as is the case in the novel Sharaf (Sonallah Ibrahim), Eastern Mediterranean (Abdul Rahman Munif) , Birds of Darkness (Majid Suleiman), That Shining Darkness (Taher Ben Jelloun), My Experience in a Women’s Prison (Nawal El Saadawi), The Humpbacked Bird (Muhammad al-Maghout), The Shell (Mustafa Khalifa), 300 Days in Israel (Khairy al -Dhahabi), the Rescuers (Yassin al-Haj Saleh) and the narrator of Prince of Shadows: The Engineer on the Road (Abdullah al-Barghouti).

As far as sports affairs are concerned, the issue of corruption in the International Federation of Football Associations (FIFA) was the reason for the creation of what we can call the “Diary of an Athlete in Prison”.

In early 2015, corruption cases attributed to former FIFA president Joseph Blatter and several presidents of continental confederations and members of the FIFA Executive Committee became public.

Among them was the aging former Brazilian politician Jose Maria Marin, who was president of the Brazilian Football Confederation (CBF) from March 2012 to April 2015.

After spending more than thirty days in a prison in Switzerland, Jose Maria Marin, the former president of the Brazilian Football Association, kept a diary in his cell.

Some have mentioned the story, citing people who visited him in a Zurich prison, where they revealed to him the conditions and how he lived, from the day he was arrested at the luxury hotel Bauer-au-Lac in the city where FIFA is headquartered. e.

On the morning of May 27, 2015, Marin was approached in his room by agents of the Swiss police, the FBI and a translator.

After his arrest, Marin was subjected to interrogation, during which he quickly confessed to the charges against him.

At the time of his arrest, his wife Nosa was in the same room, and before going to prison, she asked her husband to take a shower and shave.

The officers waited for the former president of the Brazilian Football Association to finish showering, while Noosa packed a small bag of clothes.

Meanwhile, the policeman warned Marin’s wife to pack a bigger suitcase for a longer period of time, without explaining how long her husband would be detained.

After leaving the bathroom, Marin went to the prison, a small building in Zurich. He was detained with 15 other people, none of whom were football officials.

According to the stories of those who saw Marin in prison, he is very emotional, crying and wondering why this happened to him.

During his imprisonment, the former president of the Brazilian Football Association lost eight kilograms.

At the age of 83, he had no serious health problems.

He regularly took medication for high blood pressure and abdominal pain. Doctors in a Swiss prison constantly check his blood pressure.

Marin, a former athlete who is very careful about his body shape, was allowed an hour of sunbathing every day throughout his imprisonment.

He used almost the entire period to quickly cross the detention yard.

During this time outside the cell, Marín would also be able to buy food at a kiosk, where he could spend CHF 70 (about $74) to buy, among other things, cereal bars.

His lawyer takes the money. Likewise, Marin did not wear the official uniform provided by the Swiss government, preferring to wear polo shirts and tracksuits brought by his lawyers.

In the 23 hours he spent in the cell, Marin watched television and wrote, because he had a folder and kept a diary.

He has already sent two letters from prison, one to his wife and one to a lawyer in Brazil, both of which have been reviewed by the Swiss authorities.

In return, Marin received 49 letters from family and friends.

Not speaking English, the former president of the Brazilian Football Confederation (CBF) has grown close to his friend from prison and speaks daily with his Spanish-speaking Dutch neighbor.

The mentioned story is obviously related to one of the sports administrators.

On the other hand, as far as we know, there are no memoirs or diaries for one of the players who went through the prison experience in their prime and while they were shining on football fields. At the beginning of the nineteenth decade of the last century, Italian football star Paolo Rossi was convicted of match-fixing.

It was widely reported that the famous Italian striker went to prison because of this incident, and some claim that he was only suspended from football for three years, which was later reduced to just two years. Also, French soccer star Eric Cantona was subjected to the experience of being sentenced to community service as a result of his conviction for punching a Crystal Palace fan.

On the 25th of January 1995, during Manchester United’s game against Crystal Palace, Cantona lost his temper after a Crystal Palace fan insulted him and Manchester United, and immediately flew into the air and kicked him in the chest. .

With that in mind, the referee ruled out “Canton”. Also, the English football league suspended Eric Cantona from playing for seven months, and the fan was banned from attending matches for a full year. And one of the consequences and effects of stopping Cantona was that Manchester United lost the league title, and Blackburn won it.

At the press conference, which was held later, “Cantona” said his most famous quote.

As reporters gathered to hear him speak, Cantona entered the room and sat down, then spoke thoughtfully and calmly in an English accent: “When seagulls chase fishing boats, it’s because they think sardines are going to be thrown into the sea. .”

After that, Cantona got up from his seat and left the press conference hall, leaving the gathered crowd. Cantona has never apologized for the incident, but has repeatedly confirmed that he regrets the weak blow he gave the fan.

“Cantona” said of the incident: “The fan made a mistake against me and Manchester United. I never hesitated to kick him, but I regret it because the kick was weak.” to a fine of twenty thousand pounds sterling.

After this verdict was appealed, the sentence was reduced and replaced with a community service sentence of 120 hours, where he taught some children soccer skills.

There were many expectations that Eric Cantona would leave English football, after the period of conviction against him ended, but his coach, Sir Alex Ferguson, convinced him to stay at Manchester United. The media paid a lot of attention to the criminal acts committed by Paolo Rossi and Eric Cantona, and there was no mention of the diaries of each of them while serving the sentence to which they were sentenced.

As a result, many questions remain unanswered about how prisons treat their inmates by athletes and whether they are allowed to exercise more than their inmate peers.

Likewise, it may be questioned whether it is appropriate to allow them to attend training sessions and play matches with their clubs and then return to a penal institution and spend the night there.

In other words, it might be appropriate to implement an open prison system for them, allowing them to go out during the day or during their clubs’ training and matches, and then return to prison afterwards, in order to preserve their fitness and match sensitivity. , and that the punishment is not a reason for the judiciary. They completely depend on their football future, all the more so since the life span of athletes in stadiums is short, and often ends in their thirties or a few years later.