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THE WORLD CUP AT OUR THROATS, AGAIN

By: Bill Lee


Well, we will shortly have the Great Insane Boondoggle (aka the FIFA World Cup) upon us and at our throats. For one month and more the media will have non stop "coverage" and we will be inundated by over the top blather about the so called "Beautiful Game". I bet the publicity corporation that came up with that one made a bundle. The CBC I understand has won the booby prize of being the Canadian mouthpiece for the various games and its faithful listeners will be fed the usual codswallop that attends all the over -hyped zaniness. Beautiful game eh? It is not just that the game is slow and that players dive like Kingfishers at every opportunity that I object to. Indeed, I actually enjoyed watching my grandchildren play, it was good exercise too. But, the fact of the matter is, like many pro sports (but more so, much more so) soccer, and particularly the World Cup variety has millionaire players who play for teams owned by billionaires in front of people whose elites have been hoodwinked into putting the damn circus on. These are countries who have been extorted by FIFA, surely one of the most sleazy international sports organization on the planet (I realize that professionals cricket in India is supposed to be riddled with gambling problems and I know, the IOC is right up there in terms of its crooked process for awarding the games but I think it is safe to say that FIFA noses it out because the craziness of the games lasts for four weeks and thus the financial stakes are higher). FIFA's process of awarding the cup has been ever noted as a scam and a scandal wherein various members of the club pocket big bucks (under the table money of course). In return some poor country "wins" the opportunity to spend itself into penury for the pleasure of inconveniencing its citizens, not only for the time the games are on but for years prior, as all manner of grotesquely over-large stadiums are built along with the infrastructure to get the deluded fans to the venues. Of course the discomfort usually falls on the less well off people, particularly those at the very bottom of the social/economic ladder. Four years ago South Africa, drew the short straw and we are now hearing of how the huge new and unnecessary venues are hemorrhaging money at a huge rate. South Africa is clearly not a country that should have thought of, let alone been asked to put on this kind of crazy extravagance. This year we have the spectacle of Brazil, a huge country only recently pulling itself out of the economic doldrums putting its shoulder to the wheel. By all accounts its shoulders weren't sufficiently strong and many of the venues are not quite complete as opening day bears down. One hears that they will not even have been able to test out evacuation procedures necessary if something goes wrong at any of the stadiums. This is supposed to be a requirement, and it is obvious why it should be, but we can imagine that it will be given a pass by the mucky mucks at FIFA. There's money to be garnered after all. Speaking of money, lots was made by building new fluff in areas where heretofore poor people were living and there are many stories of brutal dispossession. One good piece of news I thought is that the public transportation union has refused to drink the Kool-Aid and has mounted a strike to achieve some badly needed raises. The next time the World Cup will be on offer it will be in a country that has plenty of cash, Qatar. By all accounts the bribes were flowing thick and fast in the process of awarding this pinnacle of athletic competition even more venial than ever before, and truly, that is saying something. Of course we are also hearing of the scandal of foreign workers as being pretty much treated as indentured servants or worse and that the working conditions are beyond dangers with a concomitant death rate. It will be interesting I suppose for the legions of fans who will be glued to their TV sets four years hence to watch as the millionaire players staggering around in the 50C heat. Some of that diving may be quite legitimate in the oven like stadiums. But me, I think I'll be taking a pass

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