Truly the world’s game

Over a month of excitement kicks off today with the opening of the FIFA World Cup in Sao Paulo.

For fans in Bangladesh, it means many nights staying up through the early hours. It will be a truly global spectacle enjoyed by billions.

We trust rival fans will  share the spirit of sport in each other’s company. And we hope that local politicians will desist from killjoy complaints about people flying foreign teams’ flags.

As recent economic protests in Brazil have highlighted, the World Cup also holds up a mirror to the world’s problems. While FIFA has been involved for some years in initiatives to improve working conditions in supply chains, including in Bangladesh, which this year has supplied over $500m of merchandise, it is presently embroiled in controversies relating to bribery and the poor treatment of migrant workers in Qatar.

If the tournament increases interest in these issues, this will be a welcome bonus.

Bangladesh’s football team has a long way to go before it can expect to reach the World Cup finals. However, Asia’s population means that FIFA can be expected to increase the number of teams qualifying from Asia.

If we can build on the country’s historic enthusiasm for football, it will hopefully not be many tournaments before the country can look forward to taking part first hand.  The Bangladesh Football Federation needs to keep nurturing talent, so that Bangladeshi  youngsters watching this year’s games will be inspired to earn a chance to play on the world stage.