Langley Times, Canada
June 9 2006

Globe drops warfare for soccer Three-quarters of population will
watch World Cup

By johngordon
Jun 09 2006

As you read this column, the World Cup host nation Germany will have
made schnitzel of underdogs Costa Rica. In the other opening game,
Poland will have polished off Ecuador in the first round.

>From villagers in Kenya huddling around a single TV set, to farmers
in Iran, executives in Japan and fishermen in Peru, the World Cup
audience is a truly global one. How global?

In 1978, I found myself in Istanbul, Turkey. Arriving in the city
centre from the international airport, I found the streets completely
deserted. There was a very eerie silence. Suddenly, a huge roar
erupted from a nearby restaurant.

Inside fanatical Turk and Armenian soccer fans were watching a game
on a 12-inch black and white TV set. At the time, Armenians and Turks
seldom socialized, unless of course there was a soccer game to be
watched.

Starting today (June 9) through to July 9, the top 32 teams from
around the world will compete for arguably the world’s greatest
sporting prize, the Federation International de Football Association
(FIFA) World Cup.

An estimated three-quarters of the earth’s population will tune in to
one or more of the 64 games being played. More astounding though, is
that the interest in the games will halt, for at least the duration
of the tournament, a number of simmering civil wars and tribal
in-fighting, something that the United Nations has been unable to do.

One of this year’s World Cup contestants in Germany is the Ivory
Coast. At present the country is calm, anticipating their team’s
first game against Argentina on Saturday morning.

In the years leading up to the World Cup, civil war has been rampant,
taking needless lives as tribal hostilities fester. Sadly, after the
World Cup is over, the civil war will most probably break out again
and even more lives will be needlessly lost.

For Canadians, whose national team failed to make this year’s
tournament, all 64 games will televised live on Sportsnet,TSN and
CTV.

Canada did go to the World Cup once, in 1986, bowing out in the first
round without scoring a goal. Despite our lack of national team
representation, Canada’s unique mosaic or `Culture of Cultures’ will
ensure a World Cup party that will be both colourful and exciting.

As Canadians, we can all enjoy the World Cup, using the occasion to
bond and perhaps forget for a short time at least the simmering
maelstrom that unfolded with the arrest of 17 terrorists in Toronto
last week.

And how about the World Cup trophy itself?

Prior to England’s win in the 1966 tournament, the diminutive Jules
Rime trophy, barely 12 inches high, was stolen. It was found just
prior to the tournament’s opening.

The thief, perhaps finding it impossible to sell, threw it over a
wall into a suburban garden where the owner’s dog found it wrapped in
newspaper. Meanwhile, the English FA had a replica made just in case
the original was never found. It is rumoured that the cup presented
to eventual winners, England, was switched for the facsimile right
after the presentation.