FIFA World Cup 2014 courts controversies too
With the world's largest sporting event having kicked off in Brazil, speculation is already rife about how the World Cup 2014 football tournament will play out over the next four weeks. The final match is scheduled for July 14, but fans and experts are already talking about which team will lift the cup. Some have even analysed huge swathes of data that includes performance statistics of each team and each individual player, compared them with the winning trends and numbers from previous tournaments, and predicted which team will win. But while the intense debates and discussions about the World Cup are only to be expected, perhaps it is now time to just sit back and enjoy the games. Feel the momentum build up, cheer loudly when someone hits a goal, take note of your favourite player's antics on and off the field, amuse yourself with the little quirks of the game and also allow yourself to be immersed in this global collective experience. After all, few other events bring together almost the entire world in the manner in which the football World Cup does, even though the tournament itself pits one country against another. Of course, people from the 32 nations represented at the World Cup will follow the games closely, but so will millions of other fans, including in India where devotion to cricket has not diminished the love for football. Similarly, star players like lionel Messi and Cristiano Ronaldo, who captain the Argentinian and Portuguese teams respectively, have huge fan followings outside of their respective nations. And then, there is Brazil's own boy prince, Neymar da Silva Santos Júnior. Will he emerge as the next king of footballIJ This is the big question.
On the flip side, this tournament, like almost every other mega sporting event in recent years, also has its share of controversy. The Brazilian Government's enormous expenditure on the World Cup, in the backdrop of widespread corruption and rising costs of living, has stoked discontent at home. Protests and strikes have been a routine affair in Brazilian cities throughout this past year, and they are expected to continue during the World Cup as well. Add to this, reports of unpreparedness at some of the sporting facilities, and the authorities have another reason to worry. The Fédération Internationale de Football Association, the global governing body for football. has also come under the scanner for its many allegedly dubious dealings, thereby further complicating matters.