In the mixed zone, from which the Argentine players fled stealthily and treacherously after losing the final, demonstrating their nonexistent greatness in defeat, a Brazilian journalist summarized what was seen in the longest World Cup in history: “Finally, football won.”
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Another Brazilian journalist caused a stir at the massive Friday press conference when he asked Rodri, the Spanish captain, how Spain was going to defend itself against the underhanded play of the Argentines and the referees’ permissiveness towards their tricks. Rodri elegantly dodged the question, praising the opponent and their style of play, despite what was seen.
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It is obvious that the two South American rivals have issues with each other. But those two scenes, reinforced by experts who can be considered more impartial, highlight something that has left a scent of corruption due to the interested hand in the business of Gianni Infantino, the president of a FIFA that for many has lost the little respect it was once given by trying to influence not only the financial balance but also the outcome of the matches.
This is the worst legacy, but not the only one, left by this elitist World Cup, more focused on revenue than on the quality of the game. Game? And that’s why Shakira and Madonna came to star in the longest halftime in the history of this sport in the name of commercialism.
Or those hydration breaks, even though temperatures were not excessively high, to facilitate television advertising.
The big boss of FIFA, acting as a comrade of Trump, boasts that such attendance had never been achieved before, with 6.8 million spectators in the stadiums (there were also never so many teams, 48), with an average attendance of 65,490 people.
Thanks to dynamic ticket pricing, FIFA will earn 15 billion this year
Along these lines, the organization announced record revenues of 15 billion dollars this year, surpassing the 11 billion forecast. Part of this increase is due to the decision to implement dynamic pricing for tickets (meaning prices rose at will) and the fact that FIFA receives a percentage of ticket sales on the resale market. The average price of a ticket for the final reached a record $10,835, the most expensive sporting event ever recorded. Many ticket holders were embarrassed to talk about what they had paid. FIFA wins, fans insist.
Infantino, prostrated before President Trump, for whom he created a mock Nobel Peace Prize, comes out badly in public and popular opinion, as demonstrated by the loud booing he and Trump received when they came down from their golden cage on Sunday to present the championship awards.
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The biggest stain will forever be that call from Trump to Infantino to remove the red card from Folarin Balogun, a more than modest forward but who in the victorious U.S. propaganda narrative seemed a descendant of Pelé himself.
Trump credits Infantino for removing Balogun’s red card: “You made another great decision”
Conspiracy or not, suspicions of match-fixing arose even earlier. In Argentina’s debut, on June 16, in Kansas against Algeria, Messi scored a hat-trick. It might not have been so. Without bad intentions, the Masia star made a chilling tackle on an opponent. No card, although Fox commentators, so favorable to the number 10 Albiceleste for audience reasons, admitted it was a red card offense.
There were more cases of favoritism. Croatia paid dearly for attacking the Cristiano Ronaldo myth. Despite Trump saying that the United States is “a soccer nation,” that is not true. Most have no idea what this is about.
So the tournament was sold Hollywood-style. It wasn’t national teams playing, but big names. Everyone can choose good and evil, but the idea that emerges, according to many analysts, is that FIFA tried to protect the spectacle players.
MetLife was one of the worst venues for the final, but it is close to New York, the tourist attraction
And the final had to be played at MetLife, an obsolete, outdated, uncomfortable stadium in the middle of nowhere in East Rutherford (New Jersey), with lamentable grass that went against the quality of this sport. But yes, New York is just across the Hudson River and the name of the great global capital could be used as a tourist draw. What does football matter if a good profit is made.
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