World Cup 2006

I was in Taichung City, Taiwan recently as speaker in the commencement exercises of the Executive Master of Business Administration (EMBA) Program of the Feng Chai University (FCU) and as guest of the National Chin-Yi Institute of Technology (NCIT).

To my surprise my hosts and I spent quite a bit of time on the forthcoming FIFA World Cup 2006. Sports was, in fact, one of the main items in the agenda as my FCU hosts, who knew of my passion for sports development, brought me to their huge, five-storey sports center built two years ago.

The structure looks like a flying saucer from a distance and as I got into the center what caught my attention was the outdoor Olympic-size pool and the air conditioned multi-purpose arena in the ground floor. On the second floor were the aerobics and ballroom dancing halls, two squash courts, separate fitness rooms for ordinary students and faculty and school athletes.

On the third floor were more playing areas while on the fourth storey was the air-conditioned auditorium which could accommodate basketball, volleyball, badminton and other sports. Above the auditorium was a cafeteria good for 300 people. Beside the center is a hostel with about 20 rooms.

Certainly, the economic situation of a country does determine the amount of funds it can invest in structures that are needed to sustain development. FCU, which is about two hours by land from Taipei (pretty much the time needed to go Tarlac or Tagaytay), is an example of what can be done if resources were not too scarce. The lesson to be derived here is, because our resources are scarce, we need to be more methodical in the way we plan and do things.

Like other football-crazy communities, Taiwan is agog over this forthcoming football fiesta held every four years. Sports pages of Taiwan’s English and Chinese language papers are already peppered with stories and pictures of the event.

The 2006 FIFA World Cup (officially called 2006 FIFA World Cup Germany), sometimes called Football World Cup or simply World Cup, starts on June 9 and ends on July 9. In the Philippines, where the world’s most popular sport is not all that popular, the World Cup will have to compete with Manny Pacquiao’s bout against Oscar Larios of Mexico on July 2. Right now, the NBA finals and the French Open are the international events using up a lot of the newsprint and ink of local dailies.

A total of 12 German cities will host the World Cup final tournament that has 32 competing teams. The 2006 finals are the 18th to be contested.

The FIFA states that starting with the 2006 Cup, the winner of the previous World Cup (Brazil in 2002) had to qualify for the finals. Only the host nation is given an automatic berth.

The 32 teams are bracketed as follows: Group A — Germany, Costa Rica, Poland and Ecuador; B — England, Paraguay, Trinidad and Tobago and Sweden; C — Argentina, Cote d’Ivoire, Serbia and Montenegro and Netherlands; D — Mexico, Iran, Angola and Portugal; E — Italy, Ghana, United States and Czech Republic; F — Brazil, Croatia, Australia and Japan; G — France, Switzerland, South Korea and Togo; and H — Spain, Ukraine, Tunisia and Saudi Arabia.

* * *

More on the World Cup and its commercial aspects next week. Don’t fail to watch the matches on Solar Sports.

* * *

NOTES: I received an email from a certain Eloisa Ramos who commented on the World Bank project, Panibagong Paraan and how sports could benefit from it. Ms. Ramos stated she was "equally fascinated when I visited the exhibit of innovative projects." (She) noticed how a lot of sectors had one or two inspiring ideas being showcased but there was nothing on sports.

Ms. Ramos ends her short note by saying that athletes, "given the opportunity and little help just like that in Panibagong Paraan, hold the key to a more sustainable development in (sports)."

We thank Ms. Ramos for the comment. Unfortunately, a great number of so-called sports stakeholders (people whom we expect to love and know sports) fail to see it the way she does and even think that such a project will not bring any benefits to sports. What a frustrating situation!

* * *

ADDITIONAL NOTES: I was intrigued by remarks purportedly made by Philippine Sports Commission (PSC) Chairman Butch Ramirez regarding a possible revamp in the PSC. He said that at any time the commissioners can be removed by the President and "that’s the way it goes here in the PSC where you don’t have a fixed term. We all serve the President on a day-to-day basis."

I pity Ramirez and the PSC commissioners (and all other presidential appointees) if, as Ramirez alleges, they work on a day-to-day basis. Such an arrangement and frame of mind will make good governance and planning even for the very short term extremely difficult.

Meaningful development in any area or for any activity, whether for profit or for pure public service, requires rigorous planning and all that comes with it such as objective and goal setting, strategy and action plan formulation and monitoring. If people like Ramirez will have the very short term perspective because of political factors, then the sports sector will forever be doomed to just reacting and improvising.

There has to be some continuity and stability if we want to move forward. The constant changing of people will do very little good unless such a change has a sound objective behind it. There will be very little improvement and in fact such a change could be a giant leap backward unless the people to be appointed are truly competent, capable of thinking strategically and willing to think differently and learn new ways of doing things. They must be dedicated and industrious public servants who are willing to go the extra mile.