Russia flashed at the opening ceremony of the World Cup. Has FIFA realized their mistake?
It is impossible to delete our country from the history of Russian football.
Unfortunately, football has not bypassed. The players of our team were deprived of the chance to even compete for a ticket to the World Cup in Qatar, but FIFA did not rush to this. A few months before the start of the tournament, the international federation wanted to erase from history the 2018 World Cup held in Russia, which took place to “cancel” … our Zabivaka!
The situation almost reached the point of absurdity, but FIFA probably realized their mistake. And they gave the Russians their due!
FIFA scared of the wolf
Last spring, FIFA deprived the Russian team of chances to get to Qatar, excluding the team from the play-offs in the qualifying tournament. At the same time, of course, among our fans there was a number of people who wanted to play in the holidays of international football. But FIFA and this is not enough – in the international federation, they probably wanted to get rid of everything Russian, but because Zabivaka unexpectedly got under attack. The wolf cub was chosen as the mascot of the 2018 World Cup held in Russia.
“I accidentally discovered an interesting detail: the contractor who made the video with the mascot of the World Cup in Qatar, at the last moment, at the request of FIFA, took a fragment from a funny video where our Zabivaka was, like a bridge from the 2018 World Cup to the 2022 World Cup. They were afraid of the wolf, they canceled it after Russia, ”Vasily Konov, general producer of Match TV, wrote on social networks.
In a FIFA study, it was calculated that it is possible to sacrifice the connection between tournaments in Russia and exclude the name of a “good” goal – all references to our country. The unfortunate wolf became a victim of registration of officials only because in its place there was a defiant inscription “Russia”.
Rehabilitation of Zabivaki
The strange idea hit not only Russia. By erasing the memory of the 2018 tournament in the face of Zabivaka, FIFA essentially destroyed significant segments in the world history of football. Where did Luka Modric shine on the field, where did Harry Kane’s performance shine? Where, after all, did Kylian Mbappe turn into a world-class star? You can’t speak in this country.
In trying to predict the oblivion of international trade, football was indeed analogous to the celebrations that took place in and around our stadiums. Perhaps FIFA officials finally saw the absurdity of this situation – and therefore rushed to rehabilitate the wolf.
Zabivaka was returned to the number of official mascots of the World Cup. First, the mascot of the 2018 World Cup appeared on the streets of Qatar in the form of an image on posters in the company of their defenders. And on November 20, the wolf can already be seen among the participants of the opening ceremony!
On the inspired figure, so beloved by the fans four years ago, “Russia 2018” was proudly written. So Russia, at least in the video of the inscription on the mascot’s T-shirt, eventually got to the Qatari football field.