LAND OF SNAKE CHARMERS
that would be buzzing with people around midnight on Fridays. By the time the World Cup ended, letting the cold waters of the Atlantic run on your feet below Rio’s Sugarloaf Mountain at 2 am didn’t seem an outrageous idea at all.
Be it a road trip from Sao Paulo to Rio or adding air miles within the country, travel too wasn’t a problem. You asked for a seat by the ‘janela’ (window) and usually got it on the Azul Linhas domestic airline where, at 30,000 feet, you could see the World Cup live. Some of the terminals would be a little bigger than supermarkets in Indian metros but baggage usually arrived within 10 minutes of deplaning and taxis were always at hand.
What will happen to some of the football temples Brazil built is conjectural but for one month they were a riot of colours: amphitheatres that heaved with emotion before and after soul-stirring rendition of national anthems. And though the Japanese took it to another level by clearing their own garbage, the crowd, almost as a rule, did not litter.
On the pitch, we saw a vibrant World Cup. One which made heroes out of goalkeepers but at 171 equalled the maximum number of goals ever scored in the competition since it became a 32-team affair; some of them jaw-droppingly spectacular.
Off the pitch, we saw the essentially sunny disposition of Brazilians, people who were apologetic because they didn’t know English, people who went out of their way to help with directions, a waiter in Porto Alegre who asked if we had ordered beef by mistake and another in Belo Horizonte who inquired about Bollywood and refused a tip. He also had a question that perhaps showed how half-truths alter our perception of reality. “Is it true that rape is India’s biggest problem now,” he asked. WHITE ELEPHANTS
It’s the biggest complaint of all developing nations: Won’t the billions being spent on building new stadiums and upgrading existing ones be better used to develop public infrastructure? Waste of public money is an issue that always hogs the headlines, as do the associated protests, most notably in Brazil during the 2013 Confederations Cup, one year before the World Cup.
IT’S NOT SAFE
The prospect of mugging made headlines ahead of South Africa 2010. British tourists were advised by media back home to be careful with their possessions and to keep valuables out of sight and in hand luggage. Football fans were also advised to be wary of sexual assault, with reports clubbing rapes with the high incidence of HIV/AIDS in the country. GOING NOWHERE
In 2010, Delhi Metro’s Airport Express wasn’t completed before the Games. Cut to Brazil, and the sometimes rickety existing metro systems in Sao Paulo and Rio de Janeiro held up. The roads all over were often clogged but that’s an issue everywhere, even Glasgow – the city currently hosting the Commonwealth Games has been forced to enforce dedicated lanes, much like Delhi.
THE GREAT FALL
Chronic delays, accidents and worker deaths marred the build-up to Delhi 2010, most notably, the collapse of a foot over-bridge just days prior to the start of the event. Ditto was the case with the construction of Brazil’s 12 World Cup venues, all but one of which missed Fifa’s deadline. Somehow, they managed – Sao Paulo, with an incomplete roof and temporary seating. In 2010, Delhi was made out to be more of a zoo and less of a national capital. Langurs were brought in to deal with the monkey menace. Snakes were sighted at the Games Village and the tennis venue. Stray dogs reportedly defecated on the athletes’ beds.
WHAT PROTESTS?
It wasn’t just Brazil where people taking to the streets, contrary to expectations, never really hogged the headlines once the football began. In South Africa four summers ago, fears of the event being disrupted due to violent housing protests proved to be largely unfounded, as were predictions of mass planned violence against migrants once the tournament ended.
RIGHTS AND WRONGS
Ahead of Beijing 2008, it was the issue of Tibetan independence and media censorship that had human rights groups up in arms. Sochi 2014 had its own set of problems, most notably Russia’s myriad conflicts with its neighbours in the Caucasian region, including the 2008 war with Georgia and the ethnic cleansing of Circassians. Related issues, specifically the ongoing conflict with Ukraine, are set to cast a shadow over the 2018 World Cup.