According to the International Federation of Football Associations, FIFA, the beautiful game of football is played by more than 250 million people in the world and almost 2 million clubs are registered officially. Today, December 10 is World Football Day. According to the International Federation of Football Associations, FIFA, the beautiful game of football is played by more than 250 million people in the world and almost 2 million clubs are registered officially.The fact that a majority of UN members are members of FIFA is evidence that football is indeed a global phenomenon. Perhaps the ancient Chinese, the Egyptians and the ancient Romans, believed to be the originators of football, or indeed the Englishmen who set down the rules of football in the middle of the 19th century probably couldn’t have thought that the game will one day become a global event. Today, television coverage of football matches is watched by several millions of lovers, and international football tournaments earn huge sums of money for the organizers.. Leading footballers earn millions of dollars, prompting millions of children in the world to dream about emulating the frontline players. Much has been written about the game of football, and writers of articles have been trying to find out the secret of the spherical object , which attracts people like a magnet. Football has long transcended just a form of sport, says Nikita Simonyan, a former legendary footballer and author of the book “Football-only a game?”. Football is both politics and art, and possibly the interaction of the peoples of the world, who are seeking to make friends. Perhaps that is why there is such uncompromising competition over the right to host World football championships, said Simonyan. Football has become a national ideology. When the Russian national team played well at the European competition, millions of people took to the streets to celebrate; they were proud to be Russians. No other sport has the power to unite people like the game of football, Simonyan says. Russia is hosting the 2018 World football championships; 16 new stadiums are to be constructed in 13 cities where matches are to be played. The championships will give a boost to the development of football in Russia, said Simonyan. “I look with optimism at the future of football in Russia”, he says. After getting the right to stage the World competition in 2018, we must train a new generation of players , and a new national team should now be selected, advises Simonyan. The coaches of the youth team should take note. They should look for latent talent players, who are morally strong and ready to defend the dignity and honour of the country, says Simonyan. Chiefs of the Russian Football Union have put before the players an ambitious task of winning the gold medal in 2018 on home soil. Source; Voice of Russia
