Alcohol Use and Everyday Resistance in the World of Fiji Soccer, 1980-2000

James, Kieran E. and Tanzil, Sheikh A. and Henry, Dyer (2025) Alcohol Use and Everyday Resistance in the World of Fiji Soccer, 1980-2000. Alcohol Use and Everyday Resistance in the World of Fiji Soccer, 1980-2000, 15 (9). pp. 883-906. ISSN 2165-4328

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Abstract

This article, part of a broader investigation into Fiji soccer history, focuses on alcohol and everyday resistance among players in the context of the Fiji Prem-
ier League and the Fiji national team. It highlights the role of alcohol as being
a way of forging collective memories and as sometimes a tool that expresses
frustration and resistance towards control by Fiji Indian team managements.
Their wealth and lifestyle opportunities loom large as a spectre in the minds of
Indigenous Fijians. Apart from soccer and after soccer, most Indigenous ex-
players stay as subsistence farmers in the villages and find it hard to move into
paid employment in soccer or in related positions outside the game such as in
media. They lack capital to start businesses, as ex-players in Global North coun-
tries can, because of the amateur nature of the sport, even at Fiji Premier League
level, back in the 1980s. This contrasts too with the money earned by Indige-
nous Fijian rugby players overseas today. This creates not resentment, but mel-
ancholy and wistfulness as ex-players see the huge disparities in wealth between
rugby stars of today that make it overseas and even the most talented soccer
players of the 1980s.

Item Type:	Journal Article
Subjects:	G Geography. Anthropology. Recreation > GN Anthropology
Divisions:	Faculty of Business and Economics (FBE) > School of Accounting and Finance
Depositing User:	Sheik Tanzil
Date Deposited:	14 Dec 2025 23:28
Last Modified:	14 Dec 2025 23:28
URI:	https://repository.usp.ac.fj/id/eprint/15184

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