Sports fans feast on World Cup, NBA playoffs

The 2014 FIFA World Cup took off with the expected flying start in  12 host cities in Brazil last week. Next to the Summer Olympics, the World Cup of football is the one sports extravaganza that enjoys the highest international TV viewership.

For one month, up to July 14 (in the Philippines), football lovers across five continents will be treated to the highest quality of football. The 32 participating nations represent some of the world’s most populous and economically advanced societies such as Brazil, Japan, South Korea, Nigeria, Ghana, Mexico, the United States of America, Argentina, Italy, Russia, England, France, Germany and Spain. With the 11-hour time difference between Brazil and the Philippines, viewing of live matches in the country starts as early as 12 midnight (1PM, the day before in Brazil) and up to 11AM (10PM, a day earlier in Brazil).

We were fortunate to have watched a number of World Cup eliminations and final matches in other parts of the world where people take football very seriously. In 1978, when Argentina hosted the World Cup, we were in Lagos, Nigeria, in the company of friends from the United Kingdom, Italy, and Germany when we watched the finals on TV between the host nation and Netherlands. The Argentines won, 3-1, in extra time before more than 70,000fans inside the Estadio Monumental in Buenos Aires.

Nigeria and Ghana are the dominant football countries in West Africa. The two are intense rivals in West African football and are joined by Algeria, Cameroon and the Ivory Coast for supremacy in the African Continent. It was not surprising therefore that Lagos, then the political capital of Nigeria, was practically at a standstill that evening the Argentines and the Dutch played for the championship.

Over the past few days we were able to see the Dutch overcome an early 0-1 deficit to pull the rug from under Spain, the defending champions, 5-1. Japan, representing Asia, together with Australia, Iran, and South Korea, ran into Ivory Coast and lost, 1-0. Featured also was the match between Greece (one of 13 countries representing Europe) and Columbia which represents South America together with Argentina, Chile, Columbia, Equador, Uruguay, and Brazil.

As we were writing this column, tiny Costa Rica pulled off an upset in humid Hortaleza in the northeastern part of Brazil, 3-1. Uruguay won its first and last World Cup in 1950 against Brazil when the latter hosted the Cup for the first time. The Uruguayans are not expected to repeat that feat this time simply because the opposition is too formidable, at a higher level than their tormentors, Costa Rica.

Even on television, one can feel the excitement and the energy not just of the players, but also the crowd. It’s as if, watching the crowd is another spectacular experience quite apart and distinct from the action in the pitch. One can see and hear the mix of colors, cultures and non-stop cheering and drum-beating.

The show put together by Brazil has had its share of controversy. Not all in Brazil which, despite its hosting the World Cup and eventually the Summer Olympics in 2016, has its own problem of bridging the proverbial huge gap between the rich and the poor. Those opposed to the administration of President Dilma Rousseff, do not all agree that the US$11.5 billion (P517.5 billion) spent by the government was necessary in the light of the country’s other urgent concerns. World Cup protesters in various Brazilian cities were dispersed by police using tear gas. It is worth noting that our own Conditional Cash Transfer (CCT) social amelioration program has its roots in Brazil’s and Peru’s own anti-poverty programs.

The anti-World Cup activists probably felt that hosting the football festival at this time could be likened to Nero fiddling while Rome burned. To be sure, pro-government and World Cup supporters have figures to show that, at the end of the day, Brazil benefitted from the investment of hosting the month-long event through the multiplier effects of infrastructure construction and rehabilitation and the influx of tourists from all over the world.

For FIFA, the world body governing soccer and owner of the World Cup, the football championships will be another mega success. FIFA is the most financially endowed international sports federation followed by track and field’s IAAF. Even a cursory look at the event’s major sports and benefactors, who now enjoy  the prestige of being associated with the event, clearly demonstrates the wisdom of their investment.

According to reports, the prize money at stake, courtesy of FIFA, amounts to US$576 million (P25.9 billion) with US$35 million (P1.6 billion) going to the winner. The runner up won’t do too badly either, crying its way to the bank with US$25 million (P1.13 million). The “consolation prize” of US$8 million (P360 million) goes to each team eliminated after the group matches or to those who don’t make it to the round of 16. Those eliminated in the round of 16, in the quarter finals and the third and fourth-placed teams will also receive prize money ranging from US$ 9 million (P405 million) to US$22 million (P990 million).

Halfway around the world, the NBA playoffs are competing for attention. Fans are being treated to a smorgasbord of sports.