Why the Croatian president’s appearance at the World Cup mattered so much
Source: Quartz at Work
Croatia’s second-place finish at the 2018 FIFA World Cup brought global attention to the Balkan nation and its president, Kolinda Grabar-Kitarović. The world’s media (Quartz included) was taken with the image of a leader cheering her team’s successes from the cheap seats and consoling them in the rain after a heartbreaking loss.
But as analysts of the region have pointed out, behind the photos of Grabar-Kitarović celebrating in the team’s distinctive red-and-white-checked jersey is a far more intricate story of gender and power that might ring familiar to many high-ranking women in traditionally male-dominated spaces.
Politicians in Croatia have latched onto football as a unifying symbol since the nation’s independence in 1991, and especially since its third-place finish at the 1998 World Cup. With elections looming next year, the president’s embrace of a winning national team is the kind of standard, voter-friendly move that few politicians would pass up.
But as the nation’s first female head of state (the head of government is prime minister Andrej Plenković) her public appearances typically prompt an additional layer of scrutiny, and the World Cup was no exception.
Click here to read the full article published by Quartz at Work on 17 July 2018.
Croatia’s second-place finish at the 2018 FIFA World Cup brought global attention to the Balkan nation and its president, Kolinda Grabar-Kitarović. The world’s media (Quartz included) was taken with the image of a leader cheering her team’s successes from the cheap seats and consoling them in the rain after a heartbreaking loss.
But as analysts of the region have pointed out, behind the photos of Grabar-Kitarović celebrating in the team’s distinctive red-and-white-checked jersey is a far more intricate story of gender and power that might ring familiar to many high-ranking women in traditionally male-dominated spaces.
Politicians in Croatia have latched onto football as a unifying symbol since the nation’s independence in 1991, and especially since its third-place finish at the 1998 World Cup. With elections looming next year, the president’s embrace of a winning national team is the kind of standard, voter-friendly move that few politicians would pass up.
But as the nation’s first female head of state (the head of government is prime minister Andrej Plenković) her public appearances typically prompt an additional layer of scrutiny, and the World Cup was no exception.
Click here to read the full article published by Quartz at Work on 17 July 2018.
