Football world cup; climax time now!
One more exciting phase of football world cup matches held in Russia has come to an end. Of the 32 teams that have participated and played, 24 have been defeated at various phases now. Eight teams will fight to stay afloat in the quarter finals and the winners among them will go to semi finals. July 15, when the peak of weekend dawns in on Sunday, two teams will fight to clinch the world championship title.
There are hardly any apt metaphors to describe the popularity and emotions that these world cup football matches pack for the fans of this game. Right from ‘football fever’ to ‘the weed of the world’ to the ‘most popular game on the face of earth’; several adjectives are used to convey the excitement this game packs. And yet, the words have, more often than not, failed to pack the punch.
And no one would even dispute the popularity of this game. It’s simply insane to the extent of being most followed game by almost all nations, the ones that participate and the ones that just watch the games being played.
The game has huge economy running to keep it alive. This time around, the overall projection of costs involving the games is said to be about Rs one lakh crore. The sale of tickets, hospitality industry that is a big part of this, tourism, air travel, merchandise, sale of football branded clothes, phones and television sets that get sold around this time are simply massive. Along with this, there is betting, visitors flocking pubs and bars to watch, media sales and advertisements all those put together, the game would easily help the world transact more than Rs 5 lakh crore when it is held once every four years.
Even with all this, one can never describe all the action that football carries on its shoulders. Over a 100 crore people are watching this game world over. In Brazil of the South America, timings of factories, offices and other industries have been changed to fit the schedule of football matches so that the employees can enjoy the game without being distracted. If this is not done, invariably the productivity would fall and people usually do not turn up for work during the time matches are being held. Hence, this is a win win situation for the industries and the managements too.
Many churches in Europe have set restrictions to the devotees against watching football during the mass or prayer hours.
They have also requested people to participate in weddings with full interest instead of being distracted by football. Many banks in Europe are running contests to guess the world champions of football, thus attempting to add impetus to their transactions.
The people of England and Russia have long forgotten the conventional enmity that existed between their nations. Columbia has expressed its displeasure and complained against the ‘GO KANE!’ headline carried by a very popular newspaper in England. The diplomats have said this headline indicates the ‘druggy’ image of Columbia which is a hotbed of narcotics sale. There are thousands of such incidents that take place around football involving countries, people, game etc.
Economists have said on an average, about 15 human days are spent around this football and this would cost dearly to the level of overall productivity. But then, on the other hand, social scientists claim if people are allowed to watch this game that packs passion and emotions, they are sure to contribute to productivity much better than they would, if they are restricted from watching it.
Such excitement around football is enough to show the popularity of this game as a true world champion. And quite unlike all other events, world cup is truly unparalleled in its popularity among sports surpassing nations, and races.
Much like all other sports, football is also a bag of unexpected events. Germany, Argentina, Spain, Belgium -- teams that were considered as hot favourites – were defeated squarely and are out of the game now. Superstars such as Lionel Messi of Argentina, Cristiano Ronaldo of Portugal have been set aside as mere spectacles now. Now Russia’s Denis Cheryshev, Neymar of Brazil, Kylian Mbappe’ of France, Harry Kane of England are the new heroes of the order. The youngest among these players hasn’t even crossed his teen. This time around, the games have picked up a lot more pace than earlier. And rough play has also increased by many folds. The fact that about 189 yellow cards were shown to players in the duration of games so far, in quarter level matches. This is a matter of concern for FIFA which has witnessed some very dirty rough play and tactics being employed by players against their opponents.
India too has its share of football fans who are willing to kill themselves if Argentina loses. This game is hugely popular among some regions in India. A state like Kerala which isn’t too interested in Cricket, shows festive fervor during the time of football world cup. And when compared to cricket, football has a lot more life in it than cricket, and this game suits Indian mentality much better than the other game.
Despite this, India has not even made any efforts to even build a team of good football players. Our leaders have not shown any conviction in creating a team that can participate in world cup league of football matches. One cannot imagine the amount of passion that would be whipped up if India had its own team playing in world cup football matches. Today we stand in a sorry state of enjoying the game of a player from Argentina or some other nation, instead of our own talents.
The game will be watched by crores of people world over. Whatever the result may be, the world will enjoy the game for its spirit and excitement if nothing else. Then, it’s a wait of four years till this excitement to come around again.
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'Engineered narratives': West Bengal guv on alleged molestation charges against him
Kolkata, May 2: West Bengal Governor C V Ananda Bose on Thursday said he will not be cowed down by “engineered narratives” and the "truth shall triumph” after TMC leaders claimed that a woman working at Raj Bhavan levelled allegations of molestation against him.
In a statement, the Governor said, “Truth shall triumph. I refuse to be cowed down by engineered narratives. If anybody wants some election benefits by maligning me, God bless them. But they cannot stop my fight against corruption and violence in Bengal,”
To the Raj Bhavan staff "who expressed solidarity with him following some derogatory narratives that were circulated by two disgruntled employees as agents of political parties," a communication by Raj Bhawan said.
The Governor’s statement came after senior TMC leaders claimed this evening in a series of social media posts that the woman, who had levelled the allegations, has been taken to a police station to complain against Bose.
Though police sources said they received a verbal complaint, there was no official word on whether a formal complaint had been registered.
“BIG. Bengal governor CV Ananda Bose was accused of molesting a woman. How utterly appalling and Horrifying. Ahead of @narendramodi visit to Kolkata who is supposed to stay overnight at Raj Bhavan, a woman has alleged that she was molested while she went to meet the Governor at Raj Bhavan today. The complainant has been taken to the Hare Street police station for filing a complaint. The woman has accused the Governor of molesting her. Shocking and disgraceful,” TMC Rajya Sabha MP Sagarika Ghose said in a post on X.
Fellow TMC MP Saket Gokhale also posted on his X account regarding the issue.
West Bengal Women and Child Development Minister Shashi Panja said it is “shameful” that the Governor has maligned his post and has used it to “torture a woman”.
“It is appalling and shocking to see such an incident. This is the same Governor who had reached out to Sandeshkhali to talk about women’s rights and Nari Shakti. This is shameful that the Governor sought undue advantages in the pretext of giving her a permanent job. We want Prime Minister Narendra Modi who will be addressing rallies in Bengal tomorrow to react on this issue,” she said.
According to sources in the Governor's House, the "woman employee with the help of her alleged boyfriend who is also an employee of the Raj Bhavan was blocking complaints (from people) being sent to the Election Commission of India.
"When she was reprimanded for that, she went outside and alleged molestation. She is in the habit of throwing tantrums against her colleagues because of some disease," a Raj Bhavan official said.
The West Bengal Governor and the TMC government have shared an acrimonious relationship since he assumed office in November 2022 and had several run-ins on various issues.
The BJP said it has to be seen whether this a “conspiracy by the TMC” or has an “iota of truth in it”.
“We all know that the TMC is politically cornered on the issue of SSC scam and is looking for a breathing space. So this needs to be seen whether this is a conspiracy by the TMC or it has any iota of truth in it,” BJP leader Suvendu Adhikari said.
BIG. Bengal governor CV Ananda Bose accused of molesting a woman. How utterly APPALLING and HORRIFYING. Ahead of @narendramodi visit to Kolkata who is supposed to stay overnight at Raj Bhavan, a woman has alleged that she was molested while she went to meet the Governor at Raj…
— Sagarika Ghose (@sagarikaghose) May 2, 2024
Shameful that a constitutional office holder should try to prejudice an impartial investigation by attacking the motive of the complainant. We have seen this happen in that infamous Saturday Hearing of the Supreme Court. Respect women! https://t.co/E6eJLQvFXO
— sanjoy ghose (@advsanjoy) May 2, 2024
