The World Cup is avidly watched by nations around the world every four years. It is a class act in every way, from the effort that goes into its organisation to the skills of the players and the enthusiasm of the spectators. And that's not all. Analysts speak of a correlation between football and democracy. The evidence is statistical. Of the 32 countries that qualified for this year's World Cup, 95 per cent are truly democratic. When it came to making it through to the second round that figure rose to 100 per cent. In the qualifying rounds the majority of Third World countries, and those with despotic regimes, were eliminated. In the Arab world, where freedom is thin on the ground, only two countries -- Tunisia and Saudi Arabia -- made it to the tournament. Neither got past the first round. And what applies to teams applies to other aspects of the event. Few referees come from the Third World. Egypt's Issam Abdel-Fattah was the only Arab referee in the event, and he got dismissed after making some questionable calls. With the exception of the British, the spectators were mostly civilised and disciplined, and the administration was superb. The World Cup, temporarily at least, has changed the mood in the Arab world. Instead of the public complaining about the lack of political reform, now you hear people complaining about the backwardness of our football. Instead of the public calling for political freedom, you hear people calling for freely broadcast matches. Instead of criticising their regimes, people are venting their wrath against FIFA and Sheikh Saleh Kamel, owner of the company that is offering the event to subscribers. Rather than lament the death of the Arab dream, people now lament the demise of their football teams. Though many people in this part of the world remain opposed to hiring foreign consultants to help reform the domestic scene, no such qualms are expressed when it comes to the hiring of foreign coaches and managers. Everyone has something to say about football though for some reason few make the link between our football skills and political and economic conditions. But football has become a microcosm of many other things. Football brings to the fore the skills and passions of the modern world. In the industrial world football epitomises individualism and team spirit, the division of labour and the elements of planning and forethought common in all other walks of life. In football, as in life, there is an element of luck and unpredictability. Football, like politics and business, has its own hierarchy and its own bag of dirty tricks. Remarkably, artificial intelligence experts now claim that footballing skills are more mental than mechanical. The top players may be worth a fortune, but it's because they use their heads as much as their feet.
