Tabi Tales: 300 and Some Odd Days or So....

There are three hundred and twenty one days that remain until the kick off of the next World Cup in Brasilia on June 12, 2014. A few years back, a friend of mine from São Paulo shook her head while commenting that the 2014 World cup would pull the veil off the darling emerging market economy to expose what’s really going on. So far her predictions seem to be true as there have been widespread protests throughout the country in response to, amongst other things, tax money being spent on stadiums at a time when hospitals and schools remain underfunded. There have been reports of disadvantaged residents in Rio living in close proximity to Estádio do Maracanã being displaced from their homes due to stadium developments. During the 2010 World Cup, I encountered several locals in South Africa who referred to FIFA, the international governing body of football, as “Thiefa.” There were even rumors of threats to remove accreditation from reporters who were critical of the organization. Some locals suggested that FIFA was a mafia of sorts due to the strict brand regulations on the food and beverages that could be sold (and who were allowed to sell them) within a specified radius of each stadium.

It seemed that I was so absorbed into soccer that I almost lost the fact that I was going to South Africa or to the African continent for the first time for that matter. During the flight from Frankfurt to Johannesburg, I was slumbering in my FC Barcelona #10 Messi jersey against my window seat when I was awakened by my spouse. “Look at the flight map……we’re going to Africa,” he said. As I looked at the flight map, I saw the image of our plane flying straight down the middle of this gorgeous continent with the southern tip as our destination. Soccer aside, it was quite an amazing learning experience to visit a country so complex and rich in diversity with a constitution that recognizes 11 official languages. We would end up travelling by every imaginable mode of transportation from Johannesburg to Durban to Port Elizabeth to Cape Town in pursuit of the beautiful game.

I haven’t decided if I will attend the World Cup in 2014, given some of the controversies. My heart resides with the people of Brasil. However I do feel it’s important for the world to see how a host country is impacted by the staging of a large event like the World Cup. Certainly there are many positive and negative impacts of the relationships between FIFA and a host country. If you’re a fútbol junkie like me, be conscientious. If you do attend World Cup 2014, talk to the people about their experiences as citizens of a host country and be sure to share their responses with everyone you know.

With 321 days to go, today I find myself going through pictures and reflecting on 2010 and the beauty that is South Africa.