2 days before the kick off of the World Cup Football. Normally something I really look forward. This combined with the European Championships are for me something I really look forward to.

But this year it is different! Completely different.
I have been on holidays during a world cup and even had the Belgian flag, hanging out at the pool of the hotel or on the balcony. When at home the house is decorated on the in and outside! But this year. Nothing, completely nothing!
While talking with friends, I am not the only one who is missing some heathy football fever!

There are several reason for this. And yes some have to do with the host country of the World Cup. While the football fans when watching football won't neglect the political situation, this isn't what is causing a lack of World Cup fever.

Sponsors

There are 2 kind of sponsors during the World Cup. We have the sponsors of the World Cup itself. The ones who do fund the pockets of the Fifa and the sponsors of the National teams. While the first are major companies world wide, the sponsors of the Nationals team are big in their country. Both do want exposure. But this time it is different.
Normally stores are filled with merchandise. Or people do get gifts related with the World Cup when buying their products.
But for this World Cup, at least the sponsors here in Belgium, did decrease their advertising and merchandising to a very low level.
They want to get burned or too much connected to this World Cup, due to the political situation in the host country.

While the modern slaves are bad enough, for most this isn't the reason to decrease their exposure. This has more to do with woman rights and the LGBTQ suppression. If it would be only the slavery, most companies would have their World Cup campaigns close to max speed!
Their biggest reason is that they don't want to offend woman, who do have a lot to say about how the money is spend in a family. They for instance could just switch brands when shopping for the household!

So this does not create a world cup fever at all!

The timing!

There are 2 issues with the timing.
Firstly it is strange to have a world cup kicking of in the middle of November. We are just not used to this. We do expect the World Cup kicking off early June.
Secondly there wasn't a lot of time between the pause of the competitions and the start of the World Cup. Max 1.5 for some players.

Let's go back to the first one. Normally we do watch the games with friends. Always outside! Placing a beamer and just having some fun, rooting for our team and drinking some !BEER . But the weather here in Belgium won't allow this. This really is a bummer on the World Cup mood. No idea, if I maybe just love the atmosphere of watching with friends or just the football. Will be the combination of both I guess!

Secondly, normally there is around 1 month between the end of most competitions and the start of the World Cup. So, combined with the press, the merchandising and everything is involved. You can build up to the World Cup. There is just more time to watch forward to it.
Now, it is jumping from the competition into the World Cup, which just doesn't feel right!

But both are a personal impression.

The World Cup festivals!

In the beginning of the year, there were a lot of World Cup parties planned. Even gave the impression of being more or less of Football festival. But also here there is a timing issue. When normally these are outdoor events, organizations can't take this risk with the unsecure weather.
So, they are forced to host them indoor. Of course they do need to find an indoor place where they can organize this, but those places do cost money. So there are forced to ask an entry fee to pay for the venue. I do believe that 80 to 90% of these planned events are already cancelled due to not having sold enough tickets. Which also does prove that I am not alone who is missing the World Cup Fever!

As a result ...

.. the World Cup Fever is just missing. Probably and hopefully it will build up during the world cup, but there are no guarantees.
Since I am on Hive this will be the first major soccer event, where I won't have a World cup competition going on. I just lack the motivation to do this.
Also it is pretty quiet on the betting preparation side. Didn't get much further than listing the odds for the first round and the outright odds for the tournament and the golden booth! So betting also will be on a low.

Really pity that this is the case. The question is what the biggest problem is. Is this the timing or the hosting country? Would I have World Cup fever if it was played at the same time but in another country? To be honest I really don't know. As a football fan, I am thrilled about a world cup, hey as a sport addict thrilled for every major sport event, but as a person I can't neglect that situation in the host country. so, yes probably there would have been some mild World Cup fever if it was hosted somewhere else. But not as much as if I would be played in June. so maybe, timing is the biggest problem for my world cup fever than the hosting country. But that is as a sports fan!

So, how is your World Cup Fever!

Cheers,
Peter