FIFA World Cup 2010

Here in the Caribbean the most popular sports are, Football and Cricket. Now when I say football I don’t mean American football, I mean the sport that is actually played with your feet and is recognized WORLDWIDE as the true football (I refuse to use that other word). Now back to what I was saying… Football, is the largest spectator sport in human history, with the main event being The FIFA World Cup. The FIFA World Cup 2010 begins on June 11th and ends July 11th and will be held in South Africa for the first time. For more information visit the Wikipedia article.

Lets give some stats on the its worldwide popularity.

1. The 2006 World Cup Finals drew 716 Million Viewers, while the whole tournament attracted 30+ billion non-unique viewers. To put that into perspective, the Beijing Olympics attracted a mere 4.7 Billion Viewers while the Superbowl attracted 95 Million viewers.
2. FIFA has 208 member associations, which is 16 more than the United Nations and three more than the International Olympic Committee, though five fewer than the International Association of Athletics Federations.
3. United States has more official soccer players than any other nation in the world – almost 18 million. Of these, 78 percent are under the age of 18. In the 1990s, soccer was recognized as the fastest-growing college and high school sport in the US.
4. Football is the richest sport in the world with one team valuing 1.87 Billion (Manchester United)
5. Football has the largest fan following in the world.

But what makes the sport so popular? Football in its simplicity only requires two teams and a small round ball. So both rich and developing countries can play this sport with great ease as expensive equipment and specific playing grounds are not required. The rules are also very easy to learn; don’t use your arms (all other body parts are allowed), stay within the outer lines, and kick the ball into the  opposing teams net. The hardest rule to learn is the offside rule, but even this can be understood after only a single game. It is these few requirements that make the game of soccer so exhilarating and fun to watch. Football requires both speed and great skill, players spend thousands of hours perfecting their art. The ability to have full control over a small ball is highly sought after, being able to kick at high speeds and with great accuracy can make a huge impact in any players sporting life. Every year Football becomes more popular than the year before, no other sport has been able to make this assessment. To sum up Football into two words; Passion and Simplicity.

PS. I know most people have a problem understanding the Offside Rule in Football and is probably the only rule in football that’s a bit complicated to understand. Please watch the video below to review the Offside Rule in Football.