I had a friend lament to me about how it can be hard to enjoy the World Cup knowing how much corruption is behind it and how it’s often a proxy to the world’s conflict and drama.
And he’s not wrong… FIFA can be a mob boss in its own right.
But also, I think of all the joy I’ve seen from the Mexico side this summer, their bromance with Korea… the time my entire hostel in Taipei got up at the same time (2 AM!) to walk in unison to a plaza for the 2014 final, hearing my Scottish roommate shouting DO YOU FEEL THE MAGIC… or taking my kid to the Colombia-Jordan friendly this summer and seeing him actually get into it…
Then there’s the Nordic rowers, the Tartan Army at Red Sox games, Cabo Verde becoming the world’s darlings…
…and I think it’s kinda cool that all the concentrated forces of corruption can’t extinguish that.