With last week’s post on travel being the far biggest read in a single day, it prompted me to wonder why….Travel takes on many guises, from the beach and clubbing med, cultural city breaks, the Scottish Highlands, 60k a day bike rides (really, Joan?), to climbing the Andes, but I suppose we all share one thing: the desire to get away and do something different.

It also prompted me to think about what other things in our lives are universally liked, wanted and needed. I then realised that the answer was staring me in the face. Sport. Or more specifically now, Football. If it is true that six billion of us will watch the World Cup over the next four weeks, this must be considered to be a universally shared passion.

Now, this isn’t a subject I can speak of with much knowledge, but from a layperson’s perspective. I know that Spain are the favourites, England have an outside chance, but whatever they do, it won’t be good enough for the British press, Turkiye are back in. All the best players in the world will showcase. I know of Mbappe, Haaland and Yamal. And I know that the sport raises the competitive spirit in many and a tribal passion in us all.

I also know that there are the usual grumblings: too many teams, too expensive, too hot, too, too, too. Maybe these complaints are a normal precursor to such highly charged international events. But I, too, am fearful of two things getting in the way of the ‘beautiful game’: Politics and Technology.

FIFA always seem to carry controversy. I suppose it is a result of the enormous sums of money involved in the sport. Yet, this time, I am terrified of the Orange Man. The truth is that this man is bigger than the game of football, at the moment. And in anticipation of them allowing him to speak and him overusing the words ‘best’, ‘best’ best’, and ‘better’, I will be hitting the big red button on my remote before you can say the word ‘corrupt’.

They also say that this event will be the turning point in the use of technology in the sport. Sensors in the ball, referee cams, 2000-data-point avatars of the 1248 players, and 40 camera angles per stadium. All to provide a better viewing experience and more accurate decision-making. The VAR (virtual referee) was resoundingly bashed recently by fans in the UK’s top 20 Premier League clubs. 75 per cent want it out of the sport. Saying that it disrupts the flow of the game and takes away the immediate joy of the goal. Let’s see if the latest technology gives quicker, better decisions. Aside from this, the technology can now assess every player’s movement on the pitch, even those off the ball and out of camera shot. Minutae detail can be used for after game assessment. But here’s the rub, the technology can also predict tactics for future games, playing formations, which players best to play in each position and in which match. Looks like the best teams of the future will likely have the most expensive tech kit and million-dollar-salaried tech gurus to extrapolate what is needed. The coach’s instincts, experience and team-building skills could become a thing of the past.

For the moment (and I say for the moment) thankfully, there are still kids kicking around a ball in the backstreets of Lagos and Sao Paulo, inspired to play the beautiful game a la Pele, Maradona, Messi and Ronaldo. But we should not forget that- like travel – we have a strong visceral reaction to football. We admire the players’ skill, physicality and drive. And in our team’s ambition, togetherness and values. Please do not defraud us of these.

As the Pope recently said, and as one of the only voices, lets remember that as humans we have choices.