Sabarish Parameswaran lands in Germany tomorrow, the same day the Germans takes on Sweden in Group F match of the FIFA World Cup in Russia. “It was my dream to be in a European country when the football world cup is on,” says Sabarish, working with an MNC in Technopark. A “football fan for life” he will be in Germany for two months as part of his job. But that doesn’t mean he will miss out on all the fun. “In fact betting is legal there! So I might even give a try,” he says with a chuckle.
Also, he will be constantly in touch with his football-crazy colleagues and friends in Technopark via Whatsapp. “We have a closed group that hosts ‘Fantasy League’ for major sporting events such as the Indian Premier League (IPL), Euro Cup and the FIFA World Cup. The members, around 50 of us, predict the result of every match. Many of us haven’t even met each other but we have loads of fun.” Each of us contribute money and give prizes to the top 10 members who get their predictions right. IPL 2018 winner got an XBox 360 and the World Cup’s first prize is a surprise,” says Sabarish.
Football frenzy has touched a high and Technopark is no exception. Companies have arranged in-house screenings, there are contests to predict winners and goals, football-special Whatsapp groups have come up and tournaments are being organised. “We are full-time fans of the game because all of us follow the football league matches across the globe,” says Vineeth Venugopal, who works with an MNC.
Prediction games
Prathidhwani, a socio-cultural forum of the IT hub, will commence a prediction contest from the pre-quarter matches onwards. “We are also organising screenings from quarter final onwards at the amphitheatre on the campus,” says Rajeev Krishnan G.R., secretary of the forum. “In addition, from July 1, the forum hosts the fourth edition of our annual Sevens Tournament. This time 60 teams are in the fray and the matches, at least 10 games per day, will be played on weekends,” he says.
Football lovers point out that since the matches are being aired in the evening there are many who wind up their work early to catch the action. Some of them log in from home, if needed. “And if a much-anticipated match is played late at night many take leave the next day. Like the case with the Brazil-Switzerland match last Sunday,” says Vineeth. On weekends he takes off to his home town, Amballur in Thrissur district, to watch the games on big screens put up by local football clubs. “That’s a different ambience altogether. Political discussions and arguments take a backseat,” he adds.
Meanwhile companies are doing their bit to celebrate the sporting spectacle. IBS, for instance, has devoted the July edition of its internal e-magazine, IBSZine, to football. Fans of the game talk about their favourite teams, clubs, players and how the game has inspired their work. A cover story on managing football teams and section on unknown facts about soccer are included. While its corporate radio, IBS on Air, airs football-related interviews, the internal communication app, Echo, has discussions on the game.
Vineeth R. Nair of Finastra points out that employees like him who work the night shift have the facility to watch late-night matches in office. “We are also planning to hold a tournament featuring ‘Brazil’, ‘Argentina’ and ‘Rest of the World’,” Vineeth says.
It is not just men who are having all the fun. Women too are in the fray. Krishnapriya J.R. of Oracle tells us that the prediction contest currently on within in her team is real fun. “Each of us has to predict the winner and the goal difference of each game. If you get it right for one game you get 30 points. It is up to me to decide the prizes to be distributed when the contest gets over!” says Krishnapriya, a fan of Argentina. She makes it a point to watch all the matches, along with her husband, Sreejith K.S., also a techie.
Anna Sony, who plays football for her company, tells us that football is the main topic of discussion all around. “There is a fan following not just for Brazil or Argentina. There are quite a few Belgium supporters as well,” she says.
Even though it has become a norm to support Brazil, Argentina or Germany, there are many who want Spain, the winners of 2010, to lift the cup. “I am a Real Madrid fan and follow the Spanish League a lot. I like their game, the way the control and pass the ball and the sync in the team. I just hope I don’t end up as a laughing stock after the tournament,” says Vivek S.Kumar. Sujitha Sukumaran, another ardent supporter of Spain, says, “Although their game with Portugal ended in a draw, I thought they played well.”
And Messi and Ronaldo are not the only favourites. “The top European football clubs have the best players from different countries in the same team. So when they play for their respective countries for the World Cup it is difficult to choose one!” says Vineeth, a Chelsea fan. Sabarish, a Real Madrid follower, seconds him, saying, “My favourites are Luka Modrić, Toni Kroos and Andrés Iniesta who play for Croatia, Germany and Spain respectively. How can I settle for just one?”
A fortnightly column on life in tech street
