Scaremongers get it wrong as Russia dances to lively Latin beat
LATIN American countries have sprung a World Cup surprise by filling Russia’s 11 host cities with tens of thousands of fans from Mexico and Colombia to Peru and Argentina.
And some of the Europeans who did show up said their friends back home told them they were crazy to go.
The contrasting cast of supporters at the biggest event in sport, reflects Russia’s progressive creep away from Europe in the 18 years of President Vladimir Putin’s rule.
Moscow is now embracing new allies who happen to worship football and where damning – and often exaggerated – media stories about Russian hooligans and poisoning cases are rare.
This mix and the added ingredient of a more evenly spread-out global middle-class with the means to travel the world, has the streets of Russia dancing to a decidedly Latin beat.
“We didn’t expect it to be this beautiful and the people are amazing,” Mauricio Miranda said, as he waved a Colombian flag on the edge of Red Square in Moscow.
“We will definitely come back,” said the 30-year-old.
Belgian public relations consultant Jo De Munter does not necessarily disagree. It is his friends who do.
“I think Europeans are a bit afraid. In Belgium, everybody told me I was crazy to go to the football,” the 46-year-old said.
World Cups come in all shapes and sizes and comparing ticket sales rarely tells the whole tale.
Europeans and Latin Americans are naturally more inclined to attend World Cups held in their regions because of the easier travel arrangements and familiarity.
South Africa in 2010 may provide a better example because it was a frontier football country with specific security and logistical risks.
Yet Fifa figures showed almost 50% more Britons bought tickets for the African continent’s first World Cup than this maiden one in eastern
Europe.
Australians were in third place then but are just ninth in Russia.
Germany and England bought the fourth- and fifthmost number of tickets. France was ninth.
But France dropped out of the top 10 in Russia while Britain slipped down to last place. Germany remained fourth.
The United States has long led purchases among nonhosting countries because of its massive economy and large communities from footballmad Mexico and other Central American communities.
Taking the US out of the equation leaves Latin Americans accounting for twothirds of the top 10 countries that have bought tickets for Russia.
Fans banging Mexican drums and sporting red-andwhite bodypaint of the Peruvian flag on Moscow’s streets were almost all big city office workers.
Colombia’s Miranda is an urban planner with a new job in Canada.
Alexandro Grado is a former financial consultant with Mexico’s Citibanamex, who now owns a plastics recycling firm.
“Going to Russia is not expensive if you buy everything ahead of time,” said Grado.
Yet not all fans can afford to go bar hopping near the Kremlin and sociologists who study the sport say this is where Latin American football federations come in.
“There are national teams which have very strong organisational support behind them. Argentina in 2010 was one example,” said Ludovic Lestrelin of France’s Universite de Caen in Normandy.
Lestrelin said less well-off fans in Europe get far less travel and accommodation assistance from state agencies.
This means Europeans attending World Cups tend to be richer than the average football fan.
The Latin Americans are more likely to come from all types of backgrounds. —