What to expect now that the World Cup is here

What you need to know:

The Fifa World Cup 2018 kicked off last evening with the host nation Russia taking on Saudi Arabia at the Luzhniki Stadium setting off a month of frenzy.

Dar es Salaam. The Fifa World Cup 2018 kicked off last evening with the host nation Russia taking on Saudi Arabia at the Luzhniki Stadium setting off a month of frenzy.

This could by now be cliché but the World Cup is the biggest sporting event on the planet, represented by 32 countries whose national teams have undergone a gruelling qualification process en route to finals.

For most countries it is much more than a game. It is a matter of pride and identity.

A loss and elimination from the Cup could and does put a whole country into a ‘National Day of Mourning’.

As we all know the tournament is being played in lands far away in Russia, but the craze is on in Tanzania.

The truth is that there is no country in the Southern hemisphere in Africa featuring in the tournament this term and as usual we shall play the spectator role.

Football is the number one sport in Tanzania and it draws thousands of followers who are supporters of clubs in the top Five European Leagues.

The battle ground therefore has been drawn and many have already picked their sides, which they tip for glory comes July 15.

Football has its own mysteries that you can sometimes just not understand, from the goals that should have been disallowed to the beauties that keep following the teams and of course, the disappointment.

Bets of all nature

You have heard it before of how a man lost his wife to another in Uganda sometime last year well that is just part of the craze, whereas some have even gone on to lose property worth hundreds of millions.

Well this is just the season for it all, as the betting houses which are multiplying by the day feast on the fans curiosity there are those who are willing to take the risk.

Online, various pundits have been sharing tips on how to make sure predictions of match outcomes, using Fifa rankings and such factors. It is expected that betting firms will make a tidy sum, who wouldn’t want to mint a coin or two as they watch the games.

Games at Home

This has always been a tricky part of watching football for so many years, most male fans prefer public places.

Ahmed Abdallah is a fanatic follower of the Brazilian team and after the capitulation on home soil in 2014, he is confident that the Seleção will come good on this occasion.

He is placing a wonderful bet on the men in Yellow and Blue, for he believes Neymar and co have matured to take the glory home.

The way he memorizes the squad and the possible scenarios is one that is ought to leave you in awe and by the way Abdallah is a banker!

The only thing is that despite his wife being a good follower of the game, she keeps switching from one team to the other and sometimes switching from football to watch soap operas.

“She keeps switching between teams during the same match and she hardly understands any of the basic rules of the game such as the controversial offside rule,” he laments.

He will most likely watch the final game in his house but his young family is preparing for the worst.

“I suspect, though, that friends will be brought over! I Just hope he doesn’t expect me to be the caterer! I also want him to stop forcing me to watch matches with him because sometimes I am not in the mood,” says Abdallah’s wife Naima.

His request is that she should spare him from some responsibilities at home.

“I will be emotionally divided,” he said.

New sets of rules

On social media, a number of “rules” have been doing the rounds on how women should behave during the World Cup season.

“Non-soccer conversations shall not be tolerated within regulation, injury, extra time or during penalties,” says one.

“There shall be no comments about Cristiano Ronaldo’s looks. Professionalism shall remain an absolute part of the World Cup,” says another.

“Repeats and highlights are as good as the main match, so I’m going to watch them. Don’t you bother to switch the channel,” states yet another.

Then another rule: “We can watch Africa Magic provided actors and actresses are wearing soccer jerseys and they are in Russia.”

Clearly, the banter has been building up and it is upon us now. But the tournament, one of the biggest sport showpieces in the globe, will affect more than relations in the family.

Hang-out spots

Men as usual have all the reasons to stay away from home in most cases in the name of football and this season will not be an exception.

As it happens with televised matches from the top European Leagues, pubs and restaurants are set to receive more clients.

“We have members who are requesting for more seats to accommodate the number of people. They are expecting a high turnout of clients in their outlets,” says Joshua the Bar man at Forty Forty in Tabata.

The outlet just like many others, it is prepared for some of the big games especially in the later stages of the tournaments where favourites are set to meet.

Some have fixed ne screens whereas at some joints they have increased the number of screens that will beam the games live from Moscow.

“We are aware that some of the Free to air channels will be showing the game but serious fans can’t watch football from home given all the inconveniences that come with sitting in a family setup,” says Joshua.

Flags of the teams participating in the finals are part of the decorations at most joints in the city.

Divided attention at work

Ten out of the 40 group stage matches will be played before 5pm, the closing hour of most workplaces. Among them is the Egypt versus Uruguay match to be played at 3pm today, and the Brazil versus Costa Rica clash to happen the same hour on Friday, June 22.

This is likely to make some workers craft all manner of excuses to ensure that they catch the games during working hours.

But things will look up for the football-crazy workers after the group stages, as all matches will be played at either 5pm or 9pm, with the exception of the final.

But even as employees seek creative ways to catch matches, American researcher Neal Taparia believes the World Cup can improve workers’ productivity if the opportunity is used well.

In a Forbes magazine article, he has a blunt message for employers: “Employees are going to watch games. There’s no way around it. So why not embrace that and try to avoid some of the real problems that could come out of it?”

He advises companies to use the month to give workers a time-off and focus more on result-oriented work. He also urges employers to stream games in conference rooms.

“Some of our sales webinars (in the past) were interrupted because internet bandwidth was being used to stream the game on a number of computers. When we streamed the game publicly for everyone in one place, our internet speed increased dramatically.

“Additionally, people watching can do work on their laptops while listening to and occasionally glancing up at the game,” writes Neal.

Infidelity

But if you thought this was all about football then you got it all very wrong.

You have all heard how men go to bars to discuss ideas, this season men will stay up late in the name of football sometimes to the extent that they can hardly remember the score line.

Some individuals are likely to take advantage of games being aired at night to cheat on their spouses. But it appears it is not only men who capitalise on the opportunity.

The Telegraph newspaper reports that ahead of the 2014 World Cup, there was a surge in the number of women using a site where people seek no-strings-attached relationships.

The paper quoted the website spokesman saying there was a 67 per cent rise in female activity on the site in the months leading up to the football event.

“There is a large number of women who are feeling neglected due to World Cup fever being their partner’s number one priority. Some of the new members even mention the fact they had signed up just because they were sick and tired of coming second to football matches and decided to ‘play away’ themselves during the World Cup,” Mike Taylor, a spokesman of the website, said.

Nothing compares to the World Cup!!!