Beautiful Game or Game of ….

By Siddhartha Dua

As a football fan and sports connoisseur, I just couldn’t keep myself away from football fever which has gripped the entire world. There are umpteen sports which are played around the world but nothing comes close to football which has delirious fan following across the world. It is the most revered sport and treated like a religion across half of the globe. Even though India has never qualified for the world cup finals but the fanaticism and passion with which the game is followed by a billion people is second to no other country. Pele and Diego Maradona, the prima donas of the game, have enjoyed the God like status in India which is only reserved for superstar cricketers. The emotions, the exhilaration, the exuberance, the sheer intensity this game generates is unparalleled. It’s a stupendous sport which brings about so much emotion.

The best part about football is the mass hysteria it generates and its uncanny ability to turn players into overnight celebrities. No other reward can match the sheer ecstasy of lifting the world cup trophy arguably the most coveted and envious possession on the planet.

It is said that football is a game of equals and transcends all boundaries, it is clichéd that on football field everyone is equal but this is just a myth which is broken by a cursory glance at the statistics.

If you look at the statistics out of twenty World Cup tournaments only eight teams have laid their hands on the coveted trophy. Brazil have won five times, followed by Germany and Italy who have won it four times. Argentina and urugay have lifted the prestigious trophy twice. Spain, England, France ahave also laid their hands on prized possession. Out of a total of 79 teams which have been part of the world cup football, only 12 countries had the honor of playing finals. This clearly means that out of a total of 79 countries playing only 12 had the real short at the most coveted trophy. Now this is a revelation for many isn’t it?

FIFA raves about the global outlook and the mass appeal the game has and how football is the only sport which binds nation together but has FIFA been really successful in spreading the game thru out the world or is it confined to only European and Latin American countries. Teams from two of the most populous continents i.e. Asia and Africa enter only to make up the numbers. There is no real chance of any team from Africa or Asia actually lifting the trophy. Leave alone lifting the trophy even making it to the finals seems like a dream too farfetched and a mountain which is difficult to scale.

It is often said that statistics are like a bikini what they reveal is suggestive but what they hide is essential. But the hard fact remains that countries from Asia and Africa shall eternally struggle to make it to the knock out rounds. For any sports body main aim is to popularize the game wherever it can generate maximum revenues from and realistically speaking even USA doesn’t have any chance of going beyond second round at least in near future.

But yes there is something significant which FIFA has done by promoting the game in Asia, Europe and America, it is making billions of dollars. They have developed new markets for the existing product and filled in their coffers.

Asian and African teams have only been used by FIFA to rake in billions of dollars in advertisements without actually worrying about improving the standards of the game

Looking thru the time glass, I am sticking my neck out and making a prognosis that Asian team are going to be in incubator for a long time to come. The new rules which will be introduced will be to the advantage of European and Latin Americans teams. New comers from Asian and Africa are always going to struggle but there is a caveat, game might face stiff competition from entrenched sport.

FIFA is well aware that biggest economy in the world is USA followed by China and they have both been part of the world cups. Now the fastest growing major economy which is going to be a $ 5 Trillion economy is India so focus of FIFA is to make sure that India also becomes the part of 48 team extravaganza which is going to be hosted in 2026 but Jury is still out whether such a tournament can be successful.

More teams means more broad casting rights and more money to FIFA. So how does this Zurich-based multi-million-pound organization make its money and what does it spend it on? If you look at the total revenue for the period 2015-2018 revenues for FIFA stood at USD 5.65 B and broadcasting rights alone were sold for USD $ 3 Billion, and outlook for the years 2018-2022 looks even better. Revenue is likely to touch $ 6.5 Billion. This rise can be mainly attributed to increase in broadcasting rights and marketing rights from the newer markets.

In the overall scenarios FIFA which has a net cash reserves of $ one billion is going to be the winner. There is a huge disparity between prize money awarded to the winner who take a cheque of USD 38 million whereas the participating nations who fail to make it beyond the group stages get only USD 8 million.

Just a small figure in the end, despite earning a revenue of USD 734 million for the year ending December 2017, FIFA posted a loss of USD 189 million dollars before taxes. But there is an important figure, FIFA incurred a whopping expenditure of USD 129 million towards employee benefit cost.

Now you know where the money is going, to the development of the game or to the administrators who are laughing all the way to bank.

Disclaimer: views expressed are personal.

Caveat: If you are a football fan. Don’t get agitated.

Image source Google images.