Putting The Boot In

The virtuoso football on display at the Fifa World Cup distracts attention from the sport’s seedy side.

- Paul Thomas

The Olympic Games may be the greatest show on Earth, but the Fédération Internationale de Football Association (Fifa) World Cup is the premier sporting event.

The Games offer more variety and are more of a spectacle. They’re also more uplifting. The camaraderie created by living cheek by jowl in the Olympic village makes for less cut-throat competition. Combine that with an ethos that places a high value on participation and the Games somehow manage to transcend controversy, jingoism, medal tallies and the inevitable logistical and financial dramas to be a celebration of the human spirit.

Pregame handclasps notwithstanding, there are no friendlies at the World Cup. The competition is fierce and sometimes spiteful; churlish and triumphalist gestures abound. There are tiresome aspects, for instance the post-goal human pyramids formed by some teams that might qualify as homoerotic if they weren’t so infantile. And there’s the deflating cynicism of players feigning agony after low-level body contact to con the referee into an overreaction, perhaps to the point of issuing an unwarranted red card.