By Nigel Bidmead
And on the 16th day we rested.
At least it gave us a chance to draw breath, reflect on what has gone before and savour what is to come or, in my case, light the touch paper by touching on the touchiest of subjects.
Religion.
Cards on the table; we live in an age where religion feeds and empowers extremism and a most useful vehicle for conveying this ultra-conservatism is football.
“Sport offers a way to elevate man’s physical and spiritual culture, and it should be a tool for the Church,” the Russian Orthodox primate said.
“The Patriarch wants to make the sports community more Christian,” said press secretary Vakhtang Kipshidze. “The World Cup is great chance to do that, to help those new to the Church understand our spirituality.”
Thanks but no thanks.
Football is tribal enough already and any attempt to make it more tribal and less secular should be resisted. Everybody, regardless of faith, gender or race is welcome. Admittedly, there is some way to go with sexuality – mostly because religions have been telling us for thousands of years that homosexuals will burn in hell for eternity.
Crazy Christians hijacking the World Cup to spread their eschatological nonsense may seem far-fetched and laughable but, across the religious divide, the mad mullahs demand everything, including football, be submissive to theirs.
There was more than a hint of exasperation in the tone of Egyptian Football Association President Hany Abo Rida’s comments about Egypt’s performances at the World Cup.
“It affected us badly, I talked with them before the World Cup but they refused (to break their fasting). We ended Ramadan one day before Uruguay but the fasting affected them.”
Of course it did. You simply cannot prepare to play elite sport by not eating and drinking during daylight hours for a month beforehand.
Before the Champions League final last month the devout Mo Salah found himself in a tight spot. The game against Real fell on Ramadan and he would have to make a choice; put religion ahead of club, teammates, fans and the biggest game of his career or compromise.
He compromised and broke the fast for three days before the game. There may well have been a theological get-out clause – there usually is when Late Antiquity meets the modern world – but it went unused by Mo and the squad in Russia.
This neutral feels shortchanged by the willingness of players to compromise performance for piety but that is nothing compared to the frustration felt by non-believing football fans from Egypt, Iran, Saudi Arabia, Morocco, Tunisia.
Believe me, there are lots of them.