The venue of the World Cup opening match often resembles the eye of a hurricane; the teams are spread all over Germany, specialized coverage, as we get in India, is available only through expensive cable subscriptions and ticket prices keep the most passionate fans at arm’s length. Unlike its cricket equivalent, this tournament has no lingua franca to bind; before kickoff, this is more like the United Nations than a sporting event.

Yet the hurricane is closing in. The first winds were felt today, with the FIFA Congress kicking off in style. Angela Merkel, Germany’s Chancellor whose honeymoon with the public appears to be ending, was in attendance; she will be desperately hoping that Germany’s performance on the field lifts the mood off it.

Her government has left no stone unturned, pumping in $38 million for cultural programmes that are as creative as a Brazilian attack. Hamburg’s venerable Museum of Ethnology, for example, has been converted into a simulated football stadium - the toilets are the betting parlours, so you could end up spending more than a penny.

Equally big stakeholders are the 15 sponsors, each of whom have paid around $50 million to be associated with the tournament. Local journalists believe the figure could double by the time of the next World Cup, in South Africa. Add to that the cost of litigation from ambush marketing; this time around the makers of Budweiser have been forced to settle with a German brewery who said “Bud” sounded too much like their “Bit”.

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