Love God Only

A good read:

World Cup 2018: 45 things we learned in Russia - from Lenin to Leo Messi

1) The World Cup: actually, quite good.

Before the tournament, I speculated idly in this column whether the World Cup was still the pinnacle of the game. In terms of standard, I maintain that the very best Champions League games still outstrip it. At times last season, Manchester City played a style of football more intricate and sophisticated than anything we’ve seen in Russia. But in terms of sheer size, scale, scope and drama, its ability to unite nations and bridge worlds, its ability to make hearts flutter and focus billions of eyes on one event, the World Cup is still without equal.

What we’ve rediscovered - certainly in England - is the way major tournaments can change the way a nation sees itself. World Cups are such a big deal these days that it’s not outlandish to describe them as potential turning points in a country’s history and psyche. Brazil’s triple triumph between 1958 and 1970 marked their coming of age as a global power. Germany’s hosting of the tournament in 2006 allowed it to reclaim a submerged patriotism that had lain latent since the Second World War. And the butterfly effects of Croatia’s staggering run to the final on a small country of just four million can only be guessed at.:

https://www.independent.co.uk/sport/football/world-cup/world-cup-2018-russia-lionel-messi-neymar-cristiano-ronaldo-a8448356.html


Ol' creak-floor para .   .  .   .

What we’ve rediscovered - certainly in England - is the way major tournaments can change the way a nation sees itself. World Cups are such a big deal these days that it’s not outlandish to describe them as potential turning points in a country’s history and psyche. Brazil’s triple triumph between 1958 and 1970 marked their coming of age as a global power. Germany’s hosting of the tournament in 2006 allowed it to reclaim a submerged patriotism that had lain latent since the Second World War. And the butterfly effects of Croatia’s staggering run to the final on a small country of just four million can only be guessed at.[/i]:

https://www.independent.co.uk/sport/football/world-cup/world-cup-2018-russia-lionel-messi-neymar-cristiano-ronaldo-a8448356.html


Ol' creak-floor para .   .  .   .

I guess the next step would be to give FIFA a seat at the UN.   

Here's how Croatia celebrated after losing to France. They know better how to find positives:

- - -

I tell you, I'd rather be with them than sour sports commentators.


Ol' pound-cake para .   .  .   .

Yes, much better.   Did you hear about the Croatian player who paid the bar bill for fans in his home town? 

http://www.dailymail.co.uk/sport/football/article-5933171/Drinks-Mario-Mandzukic-splashes-3-000-bar-tab-Croatian-fans.html

Despite being more than 2,500 miles away in Sochi, Croatian striker Mario Mandzukic ensured fans in his hometown had plenty to drink as they watched the country's quarter-final against Russia.

Mandzukic accumulated a bar tab of £3,000 as he provided free beers to supporters watching on in his home town of Slavonski Brod.

The 32-year-old worked tirelessly for 120 minutes inside the Fisht Olympic stadium as Croatia were taken to penalties and the dramatic win set up a semi-final date with England in Moscow. 

Think of it.  They're drinking when he isn't -- and he's paying the bill.  What a guy! 

This isn't the first time Mandzukic has given back to his community either, with the striker having previously donated £18,000 to local firefighters last year.

Let's see.  The exchange rate now is 63.46 rubles to the dollar,   so that's 95.2 billion rubles spent by fans; but the Russian government did not get that money.   They may get taxes on it; but vendors, transportation  and hotels got it.    I'm still left wondering who's going to pay the bills for all the stadiums.

https://www.dw.com/en/who-will-pay-for-russias-vamped-up-venues-after-world-cup/a-44056056

Representatives from Republic of Mordovia, where Saransk is located, suggested establishing a Russia-wide management association to centrally coordinate the utilization of football arenas and pay for their upkeep. And Nizhny Novgorod wants the Russian state to provide funds for its stadium for three years after the tournament is over. Overall, it has been estimated that annual maintenance costs for Russia's football arenas could total 2 billion rubles. 

Late last year, President Putin decided that the post-tournament plan written for the venues in 2015 would be revised. The document, which is yet to be officially ratified by Putin, says upkeep of training facilities and arenas will cost more than 13 billion rubles through 2023. The lion's share, 12.4 billion rubles, will be covered by the state. Another 900 million rubles will have to be contributed by the regions. Consultants working for PricewaterhouseCoopers highlight that while bidding to host the 2012 Summer Olympics, London was already thinking about how venues could be used after the major event. In Russia, however, there seems to be a lack of advance planning. 

Kerry -  ^

I don't know why Gazprom with its line to Germany can't pick up the extra 900.


para .   .  .   .

I think Gazprom is probably already funding most of that.  Russia owns 38% of it so it gets 38% of the profits. . . in theory anyway.  They own over half if you consider how things are set up.  Let's see:  In 2017, their net income was $113 billion.   Being conservative and using one-third, that would be $38 billion annual income to the Russian government.  That would be $2449 billion rubles.  You would think they could squeeze that 900 million rubles out of their profits.   

Then Putin could say, "We held the World Cup and Germany paid for it." 

But then Russia does a  lot of spending on the military.  That was $69 billion in 2016.  That's almost twice the government's annual income from Gazprom.   

Trump was annoyed with Germany  because he would like more European countries to import American natural gas.   I think  he may be right too but going about it in the wrong way.   Trump allegedly (according to him anyway) told Putin  the US had already increased its military budget.  I guess that was his way of telling Putin it was futile to try to match American spending.   Oh, I see Russia is already feeling the pinch financially and has cut back its military spending.

https://money.cnn.com/2018/05/02/news/russia-defense-spending-plunge/index.html

Moscow spent 3.9 trillion rubles ($61 billion) on defense in 2017, a 17% decline from the previous year and the first annual drop since 1998, according to new data from the Stockholm International Peace Research Institute (SIPRI).

The decline in spending is a sharp reversal from recent years, when Russia ramped up investment as part of an effort to update outdated military systems by 2025.

Siemon Wezeman, a senior researcher at SIPRI, said that military modernization remains a government priority, but economic conditions have made it difficult to maintain spending levels.

Russia was hit by the double whammy of plunging oil prices and western sanctions in 2014, and it has been slow to recover from the resulting recession. Cuts to the defense budget had been avoided until last year.

"The decision to reduce military spending came only after cuts were already made in most other government areas," Wezeman said.

Trump has also been lobbying Saudi Arabia to keep their oil flowing to avoid a rise in the price of oil.   The sad fact is the more money Russia makes, the more they have to spend on the military.    I think Russia might be better off using the money from Gazprom for sports and to encourage tourism.  It would certainly make relations better. 

It wouldn't surprise me if the expensive stadiums fell into disrepair.  Time will tell what happens.