One of the biggest sporting events will be the World Cup Football tournament to be held this year. It is probably in league with the Olympics given the scale of participation of nations, and scores over cricket, which is restricted to a handful of teams. Just what goes on behind the scenes is something one would like to know; and this is where Simon Kuper of the Financial Times does well in both narrative and style.
The book, World Cup Fever, is described quite differently. The author has followed the tournaments since 1990, not having missed a single one. He covers this period of 32 years by talking of individual matches he attended. Quite clearly, he has been maintaining a diary on what has transpired in these matches as the descriptions are vivid. He also talks of the towns and cities he visited in this process, adding glimpses of the cultures of the countries where the world cup was played.
Curiously the first five tournaments were played in the developed world while the ones that followed did not follow any such pattern and included countries like Brazil, South Africa, Qatar and Russia. And this in a way was a case of multinational capitalism invading the Global South. Or one can say there has been democratisation of the sport.
Anyone who has followed the sport will find these narratives refreshing as one can identify with some of these matches. Now, what comes as a revelation to the reader will be the politics and money that go behind these games. It is a prestige to hold the tournament irrespective of whether the country is a soccer-playing nation or not. There is huge pressure on FIFA and there is big money involved. Large sums are transacted in the bidding process so that the clubs involved will vote for the winner. Therefore, things are not simple. Kuper takes us through all these machinations while covering individual tournaments sequentially.
Another point that emerges is the hypocrisy involved when this process is on. Countries like Russia and Qatar are known for being autocratic and regressive. Russia got the 2018 bid even after the invasion of Crimea. Such a nation should ideally have been boycotted. Russia as well as Qatar are not really soccer-playing countries but have used these world cups as a means to ‘sportswash’ their images. One did read about the labour conditions when the tournament was staged in Qatar.
Labour is virtually indentured and several people died. Yet, holding the tournament was a desperate measure used to change the country’s image. Significantly several players who had decided to wear black bands as a signal of protest before the tournament changed their minds and made it look like all was okay. The same was seen in Russia where even the public were least interested in the game, including the matches played by Russia. It was more a show of power and comradeship by President Putin. There were few signs on the roads that a big tournament was on.
Kuper also reveals that with a lot of jingoism setting in, audiences everywhere are only interested in their teams playing and winning. Hence even in a country like Brazil, people were attending matches only where their team was playing. This is a problem that has permeated all sports in the world where nationalism prevails. This is witnessed with the national anthems being played, which adds to the parochialism.
Kuper also highlights the tournament in South Africa in 2010 where despite the so-called withdrawal of apartheid, there was clear segregation of the coloured and white population. This was not just in the social circles but also in stadiums and team compositions.
The author points an interesting aspect of the World Cup. The winner of the tournament normally has to play just seven matches and be lucky. Often the team wins by a solitary goal margin, or more often these days on penalties. Is it a fair way of adjudication on the best team playing or is it just fluke?
High Cost of a Growing Football Economy
Further, a tournament that started off with 16 teams in the Seventies increased to 32 in 1998 and will now be 48 in 2026. For 2030, the number is likely to touch 64. All this means that there are more matches with more sponsorships and more ticket sales. Add to this the telecast and broadcasting rights, and there is lots of money involved with various brands making their bids to various title sponsors.
Therefore, the World Cup is a big economy that starts at the bidding process. The country which gets this opportunity would be spending a lot on infrastructure which typically would be helping the country to grow. But the costs involved, as has been seen in countries like Brazil, have been quite high with environment and labour issues being the prime casualties. In fact, the author highlights how the world cup “became a symbol of the state’s corrupt incompetence”.
The book is enjoyable to read even for a non-soccer fan as it takes one through the various tournaments over the past three decades. One can also catch up with the Zidane incident of headbutting in the finals and what supposedly led to the rather rash impetuous action. The 2026 tournament will be in the USA and it can be a big publicity event for President Donald Trump as it would involve a number of countries in the neighbourhood participating after being at the receiving end of his economic doctrines. The author believes that world cups hence do not change the world, but only illuminate it—these words come from a diehard fan of the sport.
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