World Cup 2018 was one of the most memorable major football tournaments in recent times, and there were a lot of myths debunked and friends made by Russia in the process.
“The city disappears, its routine forgotten. All that exists is the temple. In this sacred place, the only religion without atheists puts its divinities on display.”
— Eduardo Galeano, The Fan, Football in the Sun and Shadow
Thousands have swarmed the streets of various cities for three weeks now. People from all around the globe have gathered in northern Europe with face-paints and colourful banners in their nation’s colours. For them, it’s the religion being practised inside their temples that matter, not the controversies surrounding the stadium authorities or the alleged heavy-handed policing. For them, the holy event is a periodical celebratory pilgrimage where nothing seems to be impossible. For them, the stories and the narratives hold more importance than media propaganda revolving around the host nation’s treatment to the processing.
Undoubtedly, the 21st edition of the FIFA World Cup has left thousands with egg on their faces — surprising, disappointing and exciting the entire public sphere with every game. Be it technological interventions snuffing out the theatrics on the field, the Telstar 18 being exalted with numerous world-class strikes, or the accounts of people being brought together from different continents, this World Cup has overshadowed the sense of villainy and wrongdoing attached with Russia and its public bodies.