Matt Syed is most definitely becoming a positive force in sports journalism. From right in the belly of the beast, Syed is regularly producing thought provoking editorials which, along with the long established excellence of Simon Barnes, now makes The Times the most thoughtful sports pages on offer. This is a painful admission given my hostility to all things emanating from the Murdoch empire, but does create an interesting anomaly, even something approaching a paradox. In an empire dedicated to its own capitalist expansion, Murdoch has allowed a dissenting voice.

Perhaps the boldest piece so far from Syed appeared on the 30th December at the very death knell of the decade. Entitled, ‘How sport’s soul was replaced by a logo’, Syed proceeded to produce an excellent critique on the ugly commercialisation of sport, a critique in the same vein as Naomi Klein’s groundbreaking text, ‘No Logo’. The piece ended with a sobering conclusion that left little doubt as to where Syed’s sympathies lay. Syed writes, ‘What is certain is that, notwithstanding the spectacular controversy surrounding Woods, the alliance between sport and giant corporations is here to stay. For many this will be perceived as a blessing, providing unrivalled entertainment in magnificent new stadiums and dramatic moments on television. Others will be left wondering whether sport has finally sold what is left of its soul.

Well said Matt, but you ought to remember the old adage: never bite the hand that feeds you. Syed works for the biggest media corporation on the planet, one that owns The Times and dozens of other newspapers on every continent, and of course, pays the wages of its journalists. Under the banner of Sky Sports, Rupert Murdoch, Syed’s boss, has created a vice like grip on professional sport across the globe not least our own English Premier League but of course Syed dare not mention this. His boss even tried to buy Manchester United but was halted at the last hurdle. We can’t watch English test cricket without taking out a subscription to Murdoch’s ubiquitous Sky empire but we can read all about it in his News International empire the following day. And if we temporarily tire of all things sporting, we can always take some light relief by tuning in to one of Murdoch’s mushrooming movie channels. But if it is world news that takes our fancy, Murdoch is right on hand to provide 24 hour news service that will give us exactly the right slant on world affairs that is most conducive to his world business interests.

Yes, Syed is absolutely right to warn his readers of the pernicious effects of corporate control over every aspect of sport; the competitions, the clubs and the sportsmen and women themselves, but he should never forget that he himself has been ensnared into the corporate web. Long may his instincts of journalist independence last. One very curious word appears in Syed’s otherwise excellent piece and that is the word, ‘curious’. Consider this passage…

“But, more than anything else in the past ten years, we have seen sport continuing a curious and unheralded metamorphosis.”

Why did Syed choose to use the word ‘curious’?’ There is absolutely nothing curious about what has happened to sport. Like all things under the current epoch of global capitalism, everything becomes a commodity; things, relationships, people. Our culture merely reflects our economic reality. Capitalism produces commodities for profit and against our best instincts, we in turn become a commodity, ‘to be bought and sold to the highest bidder. Tiger Woods is just a spectacular example of what is happening to all of us. We cannot even enjoy the mid winter Christmas holiday without rushing off to the shopping malls on a two month shopping frenzy to buy yet more useless commodities.

What has happened to our sporting institutions is not curious at all, but inevitable, and it will likely get worse before it gets better. ‘Are there any heroes in this ongoing saga. Yes there are, and they are emerging in the most unlikely places. They go under the name of ‘The Fans United’ and are springing up all over the country as football fans take the first tentative steps in taking back what were once community football clubs. The most advanced in this respect is FC United of Manchester, who have won three promotions in the past four years and are only three promotions away from the Football League itself. They have set themselves up as a supporter-owned and run cooperative where each of the 2,300 members has one share and one vote. The counter metamorphosis has begun.