The FIFA World Cup in Brazil is in full flow . It has been by far the most exciting one for a lot of fans and neutrals alike. It has been filled with lots of goal, cards, surprises just to name a few but this does not hide the fact that the World Cup is not of World Standard as we have to come to expect. It has been dogged with certain issues that threaten to take the joy out the World Cup as we know it.
Top of the list has to be the protests that are taking place in Brazil. A poll taken shortly before the World Cup started showed about 60% of the population would pass up the opportunity to host the global showpiece in favor of using the funds to beef up Brazil's deteriorating infrastructure and public services. This need was made evident after heavy rains hit Natal this week. These protests seem to be affecting the World Cup as attendances have not been impressive. The various arenas have not been filled to capacity. It's up to FIFA and other stakeholders to take measures needed to fill the stadia while giving the people what they want.
Also threatening to unmake this World Cup is the role of the referees. The referees are supposed to be the custodians of the game. They are supposed to ensure this through the use of their decisions on the field of play. This has sadly not been the case in the tournament so far. The beautiful game has been dogged with debatable and dubious refereeing decisions, some of which have totally disrupted the flow of the games in terms of momentum among many others. The blame does not lie entirely on the referees themselves but on FIFA! I do not doubt that these are the best in the business as we speak but with these decisions, the business is about to go bad. I would suggest a major beefing up in the criteria used to select referees for major tournaments. Also a major training and retraining workshop must be organised to effectively equip referees with the skills needed to handle games on the big stage.
The isolated issue of the PA systems failing to play the national anthems during the France-Honduras game is a minor issue. National Anthems are a big thing during major tournaments. These go a long way to inspire players before a game. Its absence may deprive the game off the passion among many other ingredients. Though minor, must be rectified in order not to reoccur in future games.
FIFA must move quickly to address this issue now to prevent re occurrences in future and make the beautiful game even more enticing and exciting. Also with the FIFA presidential elections fast gaining on us, it will be expedient if the candidates address this issue among the many others that dog FIFA in order to allow the beautiful game, remain a beautiful game.
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