World Cup Guide
By Richard Pedler
Over the next seven weeks, let The Jakarta Post be your guide to the biggest live event in history. Watched by 3.5 million spectators and two billion viewers worldwide, the Fifteenth FIFA World Championship has arrived in the United States of America. Forget Ringling Bros, this promises to be The Greatest Show On Earth.
JAKARTA (JP): After six years of organization and two years of competition encompassing 582 games, 141 initial entries have been reduced to 22 finalists. They will join the Holders of the FIFA World Cup, Germany, and the hosts, the USA, for World Cup USA '94.
The 24 finalists reflect the current balance of power in world football. Thirteen are European, four South American, two North American, three African and two Asian. They have been split into six groups of (as far as possible) geographically dispersed nations. Following two weeks of round-robin matches, eight countries will pack their flight-bags, while the remaining 16 embark on the second, knockout stage, criss-crossing America and culminating inside the Rose Bowl, Pasadena, California, on July 17th 1994 with the World Cup Final before the largest audience in history.
When the 52-match tournament is over, US$5 billion will have changed hands, and the USA will, at last, take its place in 'soccer' history. The most popular participation sport meets the most successful entertainment industry in the world. How will they get on?
Fourth of July
On the fourth of July 1988, FIFA, the world football federation, narrowly chose the USA (10 votes) above Morocco (7) and Brazil (2), to host World Cup XV. This was the culmination of FIFA's driving ambition: to take the sport of football to all corners of the world, to make 'The World Game' truly global.
Team USA briefly stunned the football world with a victory over England in the Brazilian World Cup of 1950. Then, nothing until those great exporters of pop music, The Beatles, arrived in America just before England hosted and won the World Cup. For the first time, America was able to see what the fuss was all about as they watched the final live in their homes. The dormant support of ethnic communities such as the Greeks, Irish, Italians, Hispanics, and even Ukrainians, persuaded a few Canadian and US businessmen of football's potential and they formed the North American Soccer League (NASL) at Christmas 1967.
A pre-season tour by Pele and his Santos team brought a great response from the public. Once Pele had flown off, though, the fans drifted away from mediocre games and nameless players back to baseball, basketball and American Football. Within a year only five clubs were left. But the structure and league held on and slowly developed, until Pele was lured out of retirement and into Giants Stadium, New York to play alongside Beckenbauer, Muller and Chinaglia for the New York Cosmos in front of crowds of 50,000. On his arrival, Pele had told the Press of his dream that one day the World Cup would take place on American soil. "Everyone said I was crazy," he recalls.
No More Heroes
Unfortunately, foreign stars such as Johan Cruyff and George Best were the ones people came to watch. They dominated the press and their teams, crowding out the domestic players who became passive and nameless in contrast. Without local heroes, the novelty slowly faded and the fans left again. The league eventually folded in 1985, it's only tangible success the qualification of Canada for the 1986 World Cup with a squad of former NASL players.
For FIFA, the USA remained the one unconquered land, the one region refusing to join the world football 'club.' An invitation, a spur, was needed. FIFA President, Havelange, approached then President Reagan, got his support, and never looked back.
Sport is Business
Of course, the 'dream' shared by Pele and Havelange had a utilitarian aspect. Pele's two years at New York Cosmos were worth US$4 million. The big money for FIFA lies in global sports television rights, and Havelange wants FIFA to get the sort of riches that the Olympics bring to the IOC (NBC have bought exclusive rights to the 1996 Olympics for a cool half a billion dollars) from the richest nation in the world.
Ten official sponsors paid US$200 million between them for the 1990 Finals, which attracted 2.7 million fans and 1.3 billion viewers. The Italia '90 Organizing Committee made $12.5 million net profit. The US '94 Organizing Committee expects to double that, and have promised FIFA US$100 million in funds when the tents come down and the circus leaves town.