I wrote this post out and then nearly deleted it last night- well, most of it, I'd have left the music in, two tracks at the bottom of the post, both named World Cup Theme. It seemed unnecessarily gloomy and a bit of a rant. What's the point in moaning about an international sporting tournament? If you don't like it, don't watch it, I told myself. I barely watched any of the last one, a one- man boycott that had no impact on anyone but me.
The World Cup starts today, Mexico playing South Africa in Mexico City at 8pm our time. I'm struggling to find much enthusiasm for it. Once upon a time the World Cup seemed to have a magic of its own, players you'd never see on the TV, exotic sounding Brazilian players with one word names (Zico, Eder, Socrates), world class players appearing on our televisions in kits you only saw in photos in magazines- the specific blue of the Italy shirt, Brazil's dusty yellow, Argentina's blue and white stripes with black short and socks, Peru with a sash across the front of the shirt, Belgium, Denmark and the Netherlands. Foreign players and national sides were a rarity, a once every few years treat. By the time of the USA '94 tournament we might have seen the top Italian sides play on Channel 4 on a Sunday afternoon but there was a scarcity to the World Cup that gave it a lustre, an experience no other sporting tournament offered.
That special nature and a sort of vague purity that the World Cup had- no transfers, no money splashed buying the best players, sides made up of just those players who happen to have been born in the same nation state at around the same time- has been completely sullied by modern day FIFA. The 2018 World Cup was in Putin's Russia (he'd already annexed Crimea by this point). The last one was in Qatar, stadia constructed using modern day slave labour. This one is in Trump's USA as well as Canada and Mexico. The 2034 one is in Saudi Arabia. It's seems like FIFA are deliberately awarding the World Cup to authoritarian states. I look forward to China and North Korea co- hosting in 2038.
FIFA's man in charge is Gianni Infantino, the man who gave Trump a specially created, just- for- him, FIFA peace prize to make up for those nasty people at Nobel not giving him theirs. Not long after he started bombing Iran. He's still at it, no closer to peace than he was in February. Sepp Blatter was a truly awful FIFA president but at least his only fault was he was on the make, taking backhanders for votes. Infantino makes Blatter look like a model leader.
The ticket prices in the US are sky high, reflecting apparently the dynamic pricing model of the US sports market. They're having a half time show in the final. They've prevented some members of the Iranian squad and a Somali referee from entering the country. ICE will be present at the matches. They've expanded the tournament to forty eight teams which looks likely to increase the number of meaningless group stage matches, Infantino labouring under the illusion that more is better, that bigger is better. Cristiano Ronaldo had a red card rescinded so he can appear in the group stage games for Portugal- a decision made for commercial and television reasons, not sporting ones.
I could go on. It all seems depressingly gaudy and corrupt, a TV show about a sport, an empty vessel celebrating the worst of the 21st century, late stage capitalism and authoritarian regimes.
Maybe I'll get drawn in once it starts.
In the meantime, good luck Mexico! I hope you go all the way, meeting Iran in the final. The thought of thousands of Mexican and Iranian fans celebrating on US soil makes me smile. Highly unlikely of course- underdogs never win the World Cup it's always won by one of the top two or three sides. That counts both England and Scotland out too I think.
A few weeks ago my friend Pandit Pam Pam, an ambient/ electronic artist from Sao Paulo, Brazil, put out a track titled World Cup Theme (Goalkeeper)- a lovely, spritely slice of instrumental synth music. You can listen to it here.
It reminds me of this from 1986, Colourbox's Official World Cup Theme, one that like Pandit Pam Pam's was released to coincide with a World Cup held in Mexico.
2 comments:
Agree with just about every word there Adam.
Infantino and Trump two cheeks of the same arse.
I agree with everything you've written there Adam. Football is a grim shit show these days.
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