SPORTS NEWS NIGERIA

A seat at the final will set you back N160k.

Thinking about going to the 2014 World Cup in Brazil? If your answer is “Yes” and you are not a millionaire – preferably in US dollars or any other ‘strong’ currency – then you better start saving a lot, or hope to win the Baba Ijebu lottery, and really win big. Going to Brazil next year, ESPECIALLY if the Super Eagles make it as we all expect them to, is not going to come cheap. Yesterday football’s governing body, FIFA, revealed its ticket prices for the much anticipated football fiesta.

For a Nigerian fan wishing to follow the African Champions live in Brazil, assuming of course that Stephen Keshi’s side qualifies, the cheapest ticket you can hope to purchase will cost $90 (N14,510), while the most expensive will go for $990 (N159,600).

These figures are considerably higher than the $15 (N2,420) Brazilian students, the over-60s in the Portuguese-speaking country, and those on welfare will have to pay, or the N5,000 the Brazilian working class will have to cough out to watch a match in the group phase; a figure which rises to as high as N145,000 for a category one seat at the final.

Air fares

But it is not really the ticket prices that a Nigerian fan wishing to go to Brazil should be concerned about, and it is definitely not the N743,869 you will need to purchase a South African Airways return ticket from Lagos to Rio de Janeiro, through Johannesburg, or the more enticing N291,502 Ethiopian Airlines currently charges for flights from Lagos to Brazil’s commercial capital through Cotonou.

Those will be the least of your financial concerns.

Rather, you should be worried about the cost of travelling across this vast South American country to watch your darling Super Eagles in action, as well as the money it would cost to put up in a hotel or any other boarding facility for the opening two weeks of the month-long tournament – by which time the tournament’s group phase would have been concluded and the men separated from the boys.

Where to stay

Accommodation would be a nightmare as most of the hotels have already been taken.

A huge problem for Nigerian fans, including the official supporters club who will be getting some form of financial support from the Federal Government, as well as other sponsors of the Super Eagles, will be deciding where to stay, as FIFA, as has been the case since France ’98, has yet again decided against hosting each of the eight groups in geographical clusters.

This means that players, supporters and officials face the prospect of making long trips across a country as big as West Africa even before the knockout stage commences.

For example, if the Super Eagles were to be pooled in Group A and scheduled to play the tournament’s opening match against the Brazilians, following the draws for the World Cup in December, then it means that after playing the hosts in Sao Paulo, Keshi and his boys will head off to Manaus for their second game.

Manaus is situated in the north-west of Brazil. Is more than 2500 kilometres from Sao Paulo, and takes about four hours by air.

Hotel accommodation is already difficult to come by presently in some Brazilian cities. In Rio de Janeiro there are only a couple of two- and three-star hotels offering rooms during the opening two weeks of the World Cup.

The four- and five-star hotels have gone, which according to some reports suggests FIFA’s accommodation agency has again block-booked the best places.

At the eHostel, situated 300 metres from the world-famous Copacabana beach, 16 nights in a six-bed dormitory, during the opening two weeks of the tournament from June 11-27, costs around N349,000, while a studio for three, which comes with a set of bunk beds, in apartments in the town of Praia, a distance of 9 km from the Maracana Stadium, is available for almost two million naira (actually it is N1,923,474).

And with no recognised rail network or car hire services, following the Super Eagles around during the World Cup will require a lot of flying.

In some ways the World Cup sounds like it will be a logistical nightmare next year, although seasoned World Cup campaigners, especially those from football mad countries like England, Holland and Germany, will argue that working out where to stay and how to get to matches is all part of the fun.