Sky Arts has announced the commission of “Gods of the Game: A Football Opera,” a new opera dealing with corruption in European Football/Soccer.

This new work will coincide with the 2022 World Cup, and will be presented to live audiences in the Theatre in the Woods at Grange Park Opera, Surrey in October 2022; shortly after, it will air on Sky Arts, NOW, and Freeview. The opera will include the first “Footy Fan Chorus” comprised of everyday fan, given a crash-course on opera, and performing a specially-composed choral piece which will be filmed and projected as part of the performance.

The opera will be directed by Kwame Kwei-Armah, Artistic Director of the Young Vic, with music composed by a team comprised of Julian Philips, Aran O’Grady, Abel M.G.E., Blasio Kavuma, and Lucy Armstrong; libretto is by Phil Porter. Casting will be announced in the upcoming months.

“One of our aims at Sky Arts is to move beyond TV from time to time and help create work that lives in the real world, so we’re really excited to bring this brilliant idea to the stage with Grange Park Opera, Surrey, Factory Films and Kwame Kwei-Armah,” Director of Sky Arts and Entertainment Phl Edgar-Jones said in an official statement. “Football is laced with all the drama you need for operatic treatment – heroes, villains, rivalry, joy, despair; it’s all there and beautifully captured in Gods of the Game: a football opera.”