Is this the last World Cup?

Dramatic, I grant you, but all you need do is pause for a moment to consider who the subsequent hosts are and you can quickly write them off as events that any fan who is also a human being should want to participate in.

For Russia, see Sochi 2014 – $51 billion siphoned to corrupt officials, homes bulldozed, roads of caviar to glorify a repressive conservative regime, not to mention the ever so slight racist tendencies of the nation’s club supporters.

Qatar might be even worse! The death toll stands at more than 500, for an event that is 8 years away, to be played in a desert with no footballing heritage but with FIFA’s main requisite of a corrupt government in need of golden elephant projects, where workers are treated as expendable.

My only consideration is if Brazil can provide a glorious end to international football competition, the most successful nation with the most exciting style of play and attitude must surely deliver a 5 week party that I can reflect on in the football empty summers of 2018 and 2022.

Sadly this is not straightforward. 5 people have died building the stadia required, and the new Maracana has been developed over precious public facilities (including a school) to the anger of local residents. As Roy Hodgson and the right wing press like to repeat, ‘Brazil is a nation that loves football’ – which, if true, gives even more weight to the protesters angry with the high government spending on the tournament at the cost of spending on healthcare, transport and education. The only hope from Hodgson et al is that the police keep every one in line so as we do not spoil the party.

For a few seconds, I want to agree. I want to be dancing a carnival through the streets of Rio, drinking and singing with fans of teams from all over the world, enjoying Brazilian hospitality as we forget our problems and celebrate the wonderful and beautiful game we love. The reality will be sanitised fan zones, rank and file of fat corporate clients and little if any representation from the poorer nations. Brazil and its public, will like every country before them, make a net loss on the tournament, as the money flows out of the country to Budweiser or into the pockets of the corrupt. When I stop indulging selfish fantasy, and put my political head on, I hope the tournament is disrupted by protests, I hope the people’s frustrations are heard, and we can start seriously looking at FIFA and how they allocate tournaments. There is no reason why it should be a corrupt corporate fairground, which excludes almost all fans from its half empty stadiums and increasingly half hearted games.

Perhaps Brazil’s legacy to the tournament could go beyond one final party, and instead start us on a path to bring the game back towards something we can all enjoy, without playing in deserts or people dying in the attempt to legitimise repressive politicians. Sorry Bill Shankley, but there are more important things than football, lets hope one day it will be peoples lives rather than money and power.