IT’S TIME.
The inaugural game of World Cup 2022 starts in one hour. (And let me make this simple, it’s being broadcast on Fox, which means FUBOTV has it.)
This first game is not expected to be riveting. The host nation always kicks it off, and they’re also the only team that doesn’t have to actually qualify to get in, but then you never know. When the Russian’s hosted the Cup in 2018 —- , the world’s biggest sport tournament happens only every four years — the team was so doped up they shocked everyone with their winning play. It was bewildering to watch at the time and only later proved to be, in fact, impossible.
So what’s the big deal about World Cup anyway?
Like everything else Rory writes, his scathing critique of this year’s event is spot on. In case you’re living in a cave, the World Cup moves from country to country each time and this year it’s in Qatar. Yes, Qatar, where today’s temperature is expected to peak at 85 degrees, which makes jogging a challenge, let alone over 90 minutes of such an intense outdoor activity. And by the way, this is as good as it gets i Qatar. The World Cup is traditionally in June, a far better month for the entire world’s viewing audience to check out and tune it, but of course daily temps in Qatar that month fluctuated between 102 - 107 degrees. So, why Qatar?!
So, Rory, and everyone else with a pulse and a conscious, you’re right. The Qatar selection is indeed more evidence of the grotesque corruption of the international soccer world’s governing body, FIFA. You pay, you play. And the human rights atrocities that have taken place in erecting soccer stadiums and more in such an inhospitable environment cannot be ignored, and something should be done. At minimum, you could make it a teaching moment with your kids. Make them learn where Qatar is — most Americans apparently have no idea — and maybe even take the opportunity to point out the contradictions of capitalism. You can’t be a global citizen today without knowing it creates unprecedented wealth and development and equal parts exploitation and misery.
But one of the great beauties of the World Cup as a tournament is the choice to continue the tradition of requiring players to be from the nation they play for. It’s very old fashioned. In the so-called erasing of nation-states happening since the onset of globalization (or perhaps colonialism, which both built and destroyed political boundaries), the World Cup is a reminder of what we would lose if we tossed out nationalism entirely. Playing for your country is a feeling that no meta-virtual-commericialized-consumerized-post-modern-theorized master plan can manufacture — just ask Messi, the greatest of all time who will always feel defeated if he fails to take home the Cup — and it’s why the World Cup, despite perhaps not offering the highest level of play (thanks for reminding us, Rory), is the greatest sporting event on earth.
!Viva La Copa Mundial!
(And let’s go Argentina!!)