[1]Mikel John Obi, a Nigerian player, racing across the field in the U. J. Esuene Stadium in Calabar while Ethiopian players, Adane Girma, left, and Shemeles Bekele, right, try to steal the ball during the 2014 FIFA World Cup match on Sunday. Photo from http://i.cbc.ca/1.2429281.1384625136!/fileImage/httpImage/image.jpg_gen/derivatives/16x9_620/nigeria-ethiopia.jpg
By Tara Henley
BELLEVILLE – While the rest of the world seems engrossed with watching the FIFA World Cup, workers and students at Loyalist College this summer are the exception.
“I don’t even know how (the World Cup) works!” said Tania Ardley, who works in the Aboriginal Resource Centre at Loyalist.
Her co-worker, Dustin Brant, says he feels the same way.
“I don’t know who’s in the lead right now. I don’t even know how they determine who makes it to the World Cup,” he said. “I don’t think I even know how they determine who wins.”
The FIFA (Fédération Internationale de Football Association) World Cup Finals take place over the course of a month. Thirty-two teams from around the globe compete for the winning title. This is the 20th World Cup, and according to the FIFA World Cup website, an estimated 715 million people, close to one-ninth of the world’s population, will be watching.
According to CBC, the amount of Canadians who have tuned in to watch the 2014 FIFA World Cup is 73 percent higher than the 2010 opening match.
However, of the ten people QNetNews spoke with Tuesday, they all said they weren’t paying much attention to the World Cup.
“I hear the highlights on the radio, but that’s about it,” Brant said.
Another Loyalist worker, Bryan Dunham, also says he’s been neglecting to watch any FIFA World Cup games.
“If it’s on, I might watch it for a bit,” Dunham told QNetNews. “But I won’t go out of my way to sit down and watch a whole game or anything. I appreciate the abilities of the players – I like to watch that, but I’m not exactly a soccer fan.”
Gareth Martin, a student and summer worker at Loyalist College, has also managed to catch a few games in his downtime.
“It’s like this ongoing, hectic event that’s everywhere,” Martin said.
Asked why he wasn’t watching the World Cup, Brant replied, “I’ve been busy watching the Blue Jays lose. I’m a baseball kind of guy.”
Ardley says she agrees that soccer isn’t her sport.
“I’m a hockey fan, and once that’s over, that’s it for me in terms of following sports,” she said.
The FIFA World Cup is taking place in Brazil until mid-July. It can be watched on any sports channel, or live streamed online or through the FIFA World Cup 2014 app.