Juergen Teller's World Cup Final Video Explored in Artpress Olympic Series

The fifth installment of artpress magazine's 'Art & Sport' alphabet series, curated by Marc Donnadieu for the Paris 2024 Olympics, examines the letter 'T' for television. The piece contrasts the astronomical salary of male footballer Kylian Mbappé (€6 million monthly at PSG) with that of female player Marie-Antoinette Katoto (€58,000), attributing the disparity to low TV viewership of women's football. It notes the German Football Association (DFB) ending its 70-year partnership with Adidas for Nike, citing Nike's commitment to amateur sports and women's football, alongside a new deal with TikTok. The article highlights Juergen Teller's video 'World Cup Final, Germany 0 Brazil 2, London, 2002,' a 94-minute fixed-camera recording of the artist watching the match, revealing his raw reactions. Teller describes it as 'the most disconcerting spectacle.' The work was shown at his retrospective at the Triennale di Milano. The text critiques the commercial dominance of televised football, where fans become both spectators and spectacle, and questions the future of the Olympics under its 'higher, faster, stronger' motto.