Forget the players with their camouflage-coloured cars or the referees with their tell-all autobiographies. For the best example of excessiveness in modern day football, you must look to the gatekeepers of the beautiful game itself.
It is Fifa after all who, in May, held their 63rd Congress in the middle of the Indian Ocean on a sun-scorched rock called Mauritius.
And it is Fifa again who have gathered together to hold Friday’s draw for the World Cup finals at an opulent, isolated retreat in the host country Brazil’s rural north-east.
Costa do Sauipe, a collection of five resorts and five guesthouses with tennis courts and an 18-hole golf course, boasts sands as white as salt and an abundance of tall, arching palm trees. It is a picture-perfect honeymooners’ paradise. It is also a far cry from the poverty, violent crime, drugs and prostitution that pollute the streets of its more famous neighbour.
Salvador sits both 75 kilometres and a world away. While The New York Times recently reported the Bahian capital, population 2.9 million, to be the new murder capital of Brazil, the only apparent danger in sleepy Sauipe is that of falling, thudding coconuts.
Likewise, money can disappear quickly in both places, but only in Salvador do you risk having nothing but a quickened heart-rate to show for it.
If Fifa wanted to show itself to be immune to Brazilians’ recent protests that focused on poor living conditions and excessive, wasteful spending, Sauipe and today’s draw is the perfect vehicle to do so.
The host venue could not be further removed from much of the population’s reality, and costing in excess of US$11 million (Dh40.4m) for a 90-minute spectacle is exorbitant even by Fifa standards.
Today’s event, despite what a 9,000 square-metre temporary hangar and appearances by former international players and Brazilian musicians suggests, is ultimately about deciding the destiny of the 32 qualified teams. Everything else is entertainment, even if Sepp Blatter, the Fifa president, believes putting on “a big show” is nowadays an “integrated part”of the World Cup process.
It also offers a distraction from what has been a testing year for both football’s governing body as well as the host nation.
Fifa has been criticised heavily for its apparent inaction on several issues, including racism and the amount of money they are taking out of Brazil.
Many Brazilians have taken to the streets to protest against the increasing cost of hosting the six-week tournament, especially when collated against the country’s poor transport, education and health care services.
Luis Fernandes, the deputy sports minister of Brazil, confirmed that three of the six stadiums yet to be completed will not meet Fifa’s December 31 deadline, while the other three will only be inaugurated after the busy Christmas and New Year period.
Arenas in Porto Alegre and Curitiba will be finished by February, Fernandes said, while Blatter revealed yesterday that Sao Paulo’s stadium is not expected until mid-April after progress was delayed when an accident last week left two construction workers dead.
Ronaldo, Brazil’s two-time World Cup winner, dismissed concerns that his country will not be ready by the time the tournament is due to kick off on June 12.
“A month’s delay won’t jeopardise things,” he said. “There is no chance an arena won’t be ready. All will be ready for the World Cup.”
Cafu, Ronaldo’s former teammate in the national team, will assist in the draw and appeared yesterday having performed at a rehearsal the previous afternoon.
Brazil’s most capped player was joined by Fabio Cannavaro, the Al Ahli sporting director, as well as Zinedine Zidane, Fernando Hierro, Lothar Matthuas, Mario Kempes, Geoff Hurst and Uruguay’s hero of the 1950 World Cup Alcides Gigghia. The hosts were grouped with France, Australia and Italy.
The real draw starts today at 1pm local time – 8pm in the UAE – and will determine the realistic prospects of each team.
Fifa made a tweak to their own rules earlier this week, which adds an extra element to proceedings.
France, Europe’s lowest-ranked qualifier, were expected to be placed in a separate pot from their European neighbours, but they will now be placed alongside the other eight European clubs in a pre-draw “Pot X”, with the country selected then being put in “Pot 2” alongside the South American and African qualifiers.
“There were a few ideas,” the Fifa secretary general Jerome Valcke said. “There was a meeting and we decided that as it is a draw, it should be a draw.”
However, not only is the draw about which teams face off, but also in which city they will play. Roy Hodgson, the England manager, expressed his fears earlier this week of possibly playing in the humid, tropical climate of Manaus in the northern state of Amazonia.
Aside from that, there is also the potential for strenuous travel. Brazil’s first opponents will start their campaign against the hosts in Sao Paulo before travelling 4,000km to Manaus and then flying south-east toward the coastal city of Recife.
The coaches, at least, will be familiar with long travel around Brazil by then: after today’s draw, each of the 30 managers who have made the trip to Sauipe will embark on guided tours of the cities where their team will play.
gmeenaghan@thenational.ae
