State sport, silent streets: Unusually quiet countdown to football World Cup in Goa

Panaji: The billboards and flex boards have come up. Cut outs have been placed. Some have even termed it as one last dance.

While the world starts the countdown to watch Messi, Ronaldo, and Neymar in their country’s jerseys probably for one last time at football’s greatest spectacle, back home in Goa where the love for the sport transcends age and background, there is neither an excitement nor the buzz of the FIFA World Cup.

If you look around anywhere, you’ll hardly be able to tell that the biggest sporting spectacle on earth is kicking off in less than three days in North America. There’s little or no evidence of it on Goa’s streets. Nobody is discussing Portugal or Brazil’s chances over a drink in taverns, and businesses don’t seem to look at this once-in-four-year global event as an opportunity for a spike in sales.

The lack of buzz is surprising for a state where football has been declared as a state sport.

“Maybe the excitement will pick up once the tournament kicks off,” said Atish Angley, proprietor of Angleys Sports, the oldest sports goods shop in the state. “Everyone seems to be busy right now with admissions, school uniforms, textbooks and other stuff. I’ve heard more people talk about aamdar chashak (MLA trophy) across Goa than the World Cup. It’s strange.”

The lack of buzz is surprising for a state where the love for the sport transcends age and background. It’s also the only state in India where football has been declared as a state sport.

But this is also not your usual World Cup.

For the first time, the World Cup has been expanded to accommodate 48 teams and will be played across three countries, United States, Mexico, and Canada. The build up to the tournament has also been marred by US and Israel’s war against Iran; fans and officials being denied entry despite valid visas, exorbitant ticket prices, high cost of local transport, and travel distances between stadiums.

For India, the World Cup in north America kicks off at odd timings. Different time zones mean only 14 of the 104 games will begin before midnight for fans in the country, a sharp contrast to the 98% matches at the 2018 World Cup starting before midnight, and 82% at the last edition in Qatar.

“The World Cup this year is at unfriendly television times in India,” said Jonathan de Sousa, vice-president of the Goa Football Association (GFA). “This was evident when the broadcaster was finalised barely two weeks before the tournament. This has contributed to a lack of hype around the sporting spectacle. Also, with the World Cup now expanding to 48 teams, there will probably be some matches with minimal following.”

While Goa’s interest in the World Cup is low, fans in Kerala, West Bengal, and some states in northeast are showing their true colours. The streets are painted, cutouts of iconic footballers have emerged, and fans are sporting jerseys of their adopted countries.

Nowhere is this obsession more evident than in Kerala, where the state is eternally split by the rivalry between Brazil and Argentina supporters. Now, many fans are paying more attention to giving Lionel Messi, Cristiano Ronaldo, and Neymar a big send-off. Flex boards and billboards with slogans ‘The last dance’ featuring the trio are becoming increasingly common in the state.

Last week, the Malappuram municipality began its celebrations by putting up a huge football-leg sculpture, made fully of plastic bottles. Kerala Tourism has also jumped on the bandwagon telling the world how “no one brings the World Cup home quite like Kerala.”

In Bengal, the typical manic build-up to the world football’s biggest month-long extravaganza in Kolkata and other parts of the state appears to be a bit subdued this time around. The usual street-wide flag displays and murals by local clubs are yet to decorate the city, known as the Mecca of football.

“You can see Kerala’s enthusiasm from the videos that are doing the rounds on social media, but the obsession is nowhere close to 2022,” said Conrad Barreto, founder of The Football Dug Out. “The news about ill-treatment of teams/officials, poor pitch facilities, shootings, have led to people calling it the worst World Cup, even before the first game has kicked off. Hardly anyone is travelling because of the strict requirements for visa. Some who applied after obtaining World Cup tickets saw their applications for visa being rejected.”

Barreto is actively involved in screening of matches across Goa during big football events. This time around, only two venues—one each in Colva and Panaji—have been confirmed, with matches kicking off till 12.30am being screened.

“This World Cup could be remembered for the wrong reasons, but I hope once the tournament kicks off, football reignites the fire,” said Barreto.

(With inputs from Rayson Tennyson in Kochi and Nilesh Bhattacharya in Kolkata)