Vol. 27 No. 293 (2022)

Soccer, party, passion and business
Once again, like every four years, a World Cup is celebrated and for the first time, in an Arab country. Beyond criticism and questioning, it is a month where events keep us on edge, emotions on the surface and expectations at their maximum intensity.
It would be naive to imagine that in Qatar ancient traditions are going to be changed in exchange for organizing a sporting event, and furthermore FIFA already organized World Cups in the context of authoritarian governments in the '30s and '70s of the last century and never expressed some self-criticism about it, nor will it. In this context, the associations of participating countries and FIFA obtain millionaire income, derived from the enormous popularity that soccer reached worldwide and from the sponsoring companies that benefit from the event to promote their products and services.
At a time when events of this magnitude exceed what is played on the courts, conflictive issues are put on pause, and there is also an evident interest of the political power to associate itself with sporting success, if this happens. Undoubtedly, the World Cup will bring enormous happiness to the members of the triumphant team and to an entire colorful and noisy nation that accompanies them, without distinction of gender, ethnicity or social status. Something that expresses, in a universal language, the metaphor of contemporary society.
Tulio Guterman, Director - October 2022

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