I’ve just realised that this could in fact be the last World Cup tournament ever played.

Sorry, THE LAST WORLD CUP TOURNAMENT EVER PLAYED!!!!!!!!!!!!!

So events like the tradition of washing your horses in the Eden River in Cumbria for the Appleby Horse Fair, which dates back to 1685, will have to step up to the mark and replace what used to be ‘the world cup’. Harder to gamble, I suppose. I mean, the horse will either come out of the water cleaner or not; can’t get very good odds on that one.

Or there’s the Vogalonga in Venice where people row their boats 30kms, starting at St Mark’s Square. Can’t get much more exciting than that. Maybe Lionel Messi can become a gondaleer before 2018.

But you see that’s part of the problem. Argentina. Using the World Cup as a polticial platform. Their players holding up a big banner proclaiming ‘Las Malvinas son Argentinas’. And even in a funny language, that’s still not correct. The Falkland Islands aren’t Argentina’s, their ours. Mine. English as Morris Dancing. British as a Pearly King and Queen. Though they happen to be stuck out there in the frigid wastelands of the South Atlantic right next to Argentina. That’s not the point. In 1981 Maggie Thatcher went to war with Diego Maradona and won. It was one-nil to us and no handballs.

Anyway, the World Cup is simply not a place for political statements. No. You simply have to make your statements before the tournament is set. And with all the fuss about Qatar 2022, which is simply never going to happen, it will just have to be re-bid, but with all that bother, no-one’s even mentioned 2018. In Russia. Oh my. Everyone’s favourite Most Militaristically Aggressive Country in the World. Who by the next World Cup will have ‘taken’ back into their fold, certainly Ukraine, probably Belarus, a few -istans, possibly Czekoslovakia, Bosnia, Serbia, half of Germany, most of Poland possibly a bit of France too. They are nasty people, a repressive regime still ruled by the secret police, gays are banned and its a super place to be.

And before that we have to make it through 2014, to get to the end of Brazil. Which hasn’t started. And may in fact never do so as half of Brazil is on strike. And the other half died in the overly-hasty construction of all the brand new stadia build at a cost of zillions in a country where the average weekly wage is 50 cents (US). And before anyone starts on the ‘legacy’ trail; the actual legacy of the World Cup will be a bunch of super duper stadia that no-one uses and no-one can afford to convert to housing which is so desperately needed.

The metro workers are on strike in San Paolo, have been for 3 days and don’t intend to stop for thursday’s opening match in that city. The President has said that ‘people can walk’. Then England play 3 days later. And its about 800 miles to Manaus. Better start walking now then.

Do you remember when we used to have a World Cup every 4 years? Ahhhh the memories…

Happy monday

A xxxx