Zohran Mamdani - why he loves Arsenal and hates hydration breaks

0:00Thank you.

0:30come from? Yeah, I think I have to credit my uncle. You know, he introduced me to the game, especially to Arsenal. You know, I was born in Uganda and East Africa and late 90s, early 2000s, Arsene Wenger, incredible African talent on the team. And through that, I saw the city that I had called home, the country that I was born in and the world that I wanted to be a part of. Well, I'm sorry it was Arsenal. I won't say what I think it's happening. No, you best not. You best not. You'll leave it there. Big signings you guys have had this summer. Tartan have gone for it. Where's the money coming from?

1:02Well, I think they've just finally decided to spend a bit of it. It's like 170 million. They've got to compete with Arsenal at some point because it's just getting too out of hand. Especially, you must have been delighted. I mean, what a couple of months it's been for you. The Knicks. I was here in New York for that. It was my goodness. Incredible. It meant everything. It was 53 years of wait, of heartbreak, of hope, of near misses. we hadn't even been in the finals since 1999. And it was this beautiful moment where the last time we were in the finals, we were defeated by the same team, the Spurs.

1:38And Rick Brunson was on that team. And now, 26 years later, his son was the captain of the team that vanquished that same opponent. And I think what was so beautiful is that it felt like the entire city was living as if on a different clock. Everyone's day, no matter what it was that they did or where they lived, It came to an end to watch the game. It was incredible in the town. I mean, I was filming that night. We had a show. There was no, you couldn't get a car in here. It was impossible. And it's like, that's about one and a half mile walk to my hotel, which I've done a few times, about half an hour.

2:10Took me two hours. It was incredible, the scenes out there. Everybody that lived in New York seemed to be out there. It was like one o 'clock in the morning or something. I mean, and you saw that with the parade. We had maybe two million people who came out. And I think this team, they created a new civic fabric for the city. you know, it's a city where sometimes it can feel easy. It can be easy to feel alone in the city of eight and a half million people. And they gave us a way to relate to each other where New Yorkers who would previously put their head down and keep walking would look at each other for any excuse to talk about the Knicks.

2:43You see orange and blue and you ask, what do you think about Captain Clutch? You know, you see somebody with a fitted hat that has the Knicks on it and you're talking about the game. And I think that in many ways, it's not so different from the World Cup. It gives you a language where previously you had none. Your speech, I thought the Knicks speech after was absolutely fabulous. That oratory skill, it was almost like you were doing a team talk for you. You could be a coach, couldn't you? You know, coaches do that every day. When I see glimpses of what these coaches do, they find that on a daily basis.

3:19This was a moment the city had waited for for generations. And we're still basking in the glow of it. It's amazing, isn't it? The two teams you follow, both after very, very long waits. 53 and 22 years. Yeah, exactly. So who were your favorite players at Arsenal when you were growing up? You know, Thierry is the answer that comes quickest to the mind. But I think there was this period where it really felt like we were forever of the next generation. Jack Wilshere Fabregas but I even remember the teams we used to put out in the League Cup or the Carling Cup I don't even know what we call it now Carabao Cup I apologize I can't keep up with the sponsorships Just say League Cup and everyone will know what I'll do But those games where Wenger would field a team of average age of 20 years old I would look at those players and I would just be I would be lost just watching Carlos Vela chip Sheffield United goalkeeper for 5-0 and now to be able to see a team that doesn't just have promise but can last the whole season what's it like being a soccer fan here because you know it's it's not a you know it's not a priority sport here that's for sure is are there times where you miss you you can't have a conversation about your team when you really want one you'd be surprised how much people follow the game and i think that's the other part of this we are the world city we're a city of eight and a million people more than three million were born outside of this country and so even when you're here watching the world cup it feels like you can go to a different neighborhood and feel as if the entire neighborhood is pouring in for one team and so to me you know now when i walk the streets of new york city i would probably say at least once every day somebody yells at me about arsenal and that to me is reflective of the fact that this is this is a soccer city now i think i get the same do you call it soccer or football it's okay to call it soccer by the way no it's do you know where the word soccer comes from no i'll tell you because we invented it english the english invented the word so i'm gonna say tottenham no definitely it's nothing to do with tottenham no it's nothing to do with tottenham before before the second world war the two sports that were vying together were was rugby football and association football so they both sports wanted to call themselves football.

5:40So what happened for a brief time is that they decided that association football would be shortened to soccer. So it's basically an abbreviation of association. And rugby football was turned to rugger. So we invented it. Wow. It's always the British's fault. Yeah, everything is. We'll take full responsibility for many things. It's a short form of association? Yes. Wow. Which is, yeah. Well, the thing I found funny is that here we grow up knowing it as soccer. I also grew up knowing it as football because I was born outside of the country. But if you ever play table soccer, it's called foosball.

6:19Foosball, that's right. It's German. There you go. I had no idea that was the case. That's the German form. Fussball. Fußballspieler. German player. The World Cup. You know, you've got the final in this city as well. Another big, big thing for you. There were a lot of fears, I think, going into the World Cup, weren't there? I've seen you voice them as well. Ticket pricing. We've got hydration breaks. We've had more serious issues like referee not being allowed in because they didn't let him in because of his visa. Players being searched, stuff like that. So where are you on what's happening in this World Cup?

6:58Pros and cons. I think the pros, it has been incredible to see not only on the field, but also what it's meant off the field. I'll be honest with you, I was a skeptic about the expanded format, and I've been won over. Yeah, same actually. You see these games, and it's incredible. I mean, I got to catch a glimpse of DR Congo playing England, and it was amazing. And some of this does not happen if you're in the old standard format. And even just seeing this team where a player from the second league in Spain is terrorizing the best English players, and then to win to hold the game DR Congo brings on a guy from the championship it's like this beautiful moment where feels as if there's a parody in a world without any I also think the ref cam has been good that makes his opinion you remember those old Nike ads where there's like the POV yeah the free kick makes me feel a little bit nauseous sometimes good nausea yes what about what about the Americanization of our sport and the fact that we're now playing four quarters the hydration breaks I'm not a fan of me it's it It doesn't make sense if you have an air-conditioned stadium that you'd have a hydration break.

8:06The temperatures are serious, but sometimes it doesn't feel like it has a relationship to the temperatures. I saw someone say that if you're going to have hydration breaks in some games, you have to have them at all for consistency. I guess I can hear that. I think on the other hand, the thing that I feel very clear about is this is supposed to be a celebration of the world's game and the actions of the federal administration to deny visas, whether to a referee, to journalists, to photographers, to coaches, the way that the Iranian team was treated in terms of having to come into the country and then leave the country in the same day, it feels as if a betrayal of what the tournament is supposed to be about.

8:45And I think if you see some of the most beautiful moments of this tournament, even in the city, is the celebration of the world in spite of those kinds of actions. I think what's been really beautiful is the way that fans from all different countries, all over the world, different religions, different colors, have come together and seen these scenes in, whether it's Times Square or wherever in the country. It's just wonderful, isn't it? It is. Football might save the world. That's what I think. If we spent more time talking about it, we'd be in a better place. I think it feels like a shared first language.

9:24It feels like when you speak about the game, when you play the game, that you see the fullness of the person across from you. And oftentimes that's lost in today. And I think that you go across the city, it feels like every day there is someone for whom this means everything. Egypt's going to be playing. If you want to go to Steinway Street in Astoria, you're going to see years of weight and excitement around that. Ecuador versus Mexico. There are these beautiful photos of a neighborhood in Queens. in Elmhurst where you have people draped in the flags of each nation sitting across from each other.

10:00I think it's to your point, it feels like a distillation of why we love the game. The World Cup, it gives a lot, doesn't it? It gives a lot to so many people, so much hope around the world. It's so international. When we've seen people come over from all parts of the world, my, I think, major concern has been the ticket pricing. because I don't think it's right that someone should have to sell their car or remortgage their house to try and get a ticket for a while. And I know you've tried to do something here in New York. You know, I share the same view, that football at its core is a working person's game.

10:36You know, even Arsenal, the story of Arsenal, is munitions workers putting six pence aside and founding this club. And yet the ticket prices that we see, it's as you say, you'd have to give up something that is near and dear to your life to have a chance at these prices because we're not just talking about hundreds of dollars, we're talking about thousands of dollars and the commodification of the game. And so, yes, we were very proud to secure 1 ,000 tickets at$50 because I made very clear that one of the good historical practices in World Cups has been reduced price tickets for residents of the host cities.

11:14and I was able to go watch a game with some of those winners and I sat next to a woman who works for our city government. She happened to win in this raffle, 300 ,000 New Yorkers applied, and she pulled up her phone and showed me a Facebook status. She posted when the U.S. won the right to host, describing going to a game as a bucket list. And that's what it should be. Working people should be able to be a part of it. Instead, it feels like with so much of the sport that we love, it's just a mortgage being repurposed for a ticket. Absolutely. Let me ask you a couple of questions before we finish.

11:49Please. On how do you think the US have done so far? They've done pretty good, haven't they? They've done pretty well. It's good for the sport here as well, isn't it? Great for the sport. Because people will get behind it. And the further you go in the tournament, the more hype you're in. And they see themselves in it. And that, I think, is incredible for the future of the game because we want in 20 years, when we look back and are celebrating a new player on the US men's national team, We asked where did their journey begin and it was this World Cup. Who's going to win this World Cup? You know, I went with the heart and I did say Morocco.

12:19I did see that. You changed your mind? They've actually been very good. I mean, look, the team that looks best, the French. Yeah, definitely, for the moment. I mean, it's like to have Mbappe and Dembele on the same team. I mean, it's just like, it doesn't seem fair. And at the same time, the beauty of this tournament is that it's not a league. It's a tournament. and anything can happen over 90-odd minutes. You'll be at the final, presumably, as it's in New York, New Jersey. That'll be special, won't it? To be the mayor of the city that hosts the World Cup final. It will be very special. And I think it will be special because it will also be the crowning moment of a tournament that we've wanted to mean more than just the memories on the pitch.

13:01We've wanted it to be a celebration of the city. And so whether it's New Yorkers who've experienced it through a fan fest, whether they've watched it for free on a kiosk we put up around the city whether they used it as an excuse to go to a restaurant for a$26 meal deal that day will be the end of what has been an incredible more than a month but hopefully the beginning of our soccer or our football journey What a lovely way to finish May I thank you very much indeed Pleasure's all mine