When the Circus Comes to Town (Part 2)
You know that when Paris Hilton travels all the way to Africa, there is something wrong.
?
World Cup is no longer about the game but about the theatrics that surround it.
?
FIFA boss Blatter is the master ring-leader, the players the actors (lead by Arjen Robben), the managers the cheerleaders,?while the referees are?made into?clowns (the ones we love to blame & throw to the lions). Meantime most of the drama is played out in the media. Occassionally?an actor may drop his?lines and a match actually breaks out.
?
And have you noticed the fans are now part of the act? If it wasn’t for their performances, most games would be revealed as being uneventful as they usually are.
?
And every four years if you want to pitch?the FIFA circus tent in a town near you, all you need is a piece of flat ground. Just pony up $1billion?plus open-cheque expenses. ?
?
It is now a two tier system: the ticket haves and the ticket have-nots. The haves are largely the FIFA elite and their loyal sponsors and media. Some fans are welcome but expected to provide the real entertainment?and pay the bill for the others.
?
Having endured unnecessarily?complicated FIFA obstacle courses to aquire tickets, travel long distances, find digs, and trudge long distances to stadiums (while VIP limos & buses smoke by), these ‘successful’ fans are exposed offerings of Coca-Cola and Bud and?sponsor-food devoid of any local flavour. Action replays are?a thing of the past as?huge multi-million dollar high-definition screens?in the stadium lay dormant or show cute FIFA characters while the folks back home gourge on playbacks from every angle.
?
Having said that, FIFA has done a splendid job bringing its circus to it’s?’common people’. Fan festivals have become a huge success, in some ways bigger than the stadium itself.? Germany showed the way in the last World Cup. However this spectacle is also becoming a business model and likely a paid ticket event in the future.
?
There aren’t many dictatorships who can tell leaders of nations like France and Nigeria to piss off. Well there are, but this time, these nations will listen. It has the power, like Hollywood, to bring fame and success to the chosen few ‘actors’ and the power to transcend borders of Rascism and Fair Play although it has yet to prove it.
?
The FIFA Circus?is a working commercial formula that is opening in great new markets across the world, expecially in?Asia and the US. And now in Africa. Although?most?Africans didnt realize it costs money to play the game.
?
We are talking about soccer right?
?
P.S. For more updates on ‘CSLI at the World Cup’ directly to your Facebook home page, visit the following page and ‘Like’ it:
