AN EPIDEMIC is about to hit Cyprus and it appears that nobody from the government is prepared to do anything about it. The condition is called ‘Mundialitis’, a particularly virulent and debilitating infection mainly affecting men.
The last major outbreak was four years ago: the symptoms include stomach cramps, nervous tension and in the worst cases involuntary bouts of swearing. The new strain, which originates from the Far East, leaves the sufferer unable to concentrate on work.
Attacks are most common during the morning and early part of the day.
The condition lasts for approximately 30 days, worsening until the fever reaches its peak resulting in more and more time off being taken. Fortunately, most sufferers recover completely and can resume their normal lives once the infection has run its course. If you haven’t realised already the common term for this condition is ‘The World Cup’.
Across Europe, governments and businesses have made special provisions for the inevitable outbreak of ‘Mundialitis’ because this World Cup is being staged in Japan and South Korea. Kick-off times start as early as 8.30am, with the latest games starting at 2.30pm. Many large organisations in Europe with employees wishing to follow the tournament are being provided televisions or radio and have been told they can watch or listen during normal working hours on the condition that they make up the time later in the day or the week.
Given the response given by the government and businesses in Cyprus, it appears that either Cypriots have no interest in ‘the beautiful game’ or they expect every employee to carry on with their daily routine in a disciplined manner during the live transmissions. According to Government Spokesman, Michalis Papapetrou, “It is not possible to shift the working timetable around the scheduling of the World Cup. But I don’t think it is going to be a problem.” When presented with the solution being proposed around Europe Papapetrou dismissed it’s relevance to Cyprus, suggesting the problem would only occur in countries whose national teams were taking part in the tournament. However, he conceded, “It might become an issue for Cypriots when it comes to the final or the semi-finals, but not now.”
Simon Kuper, author of the award-winning book Football against the Enemy offered his insight on what the sport means to people worldwide. “Football is more than just the most popular game in the world. It can start – or stop – wars, it can fuel revolutions or it can keep dictators in power.” Given that the World Cup represents the very pinnacle of the game it might be suggested that the relevant authorities are taking the potential problem a little too lightly.
When presented with the ‘Mundialitus’ scenario, a Laiki Bank spokesman said: “No special provisions are being made for the World Cup” but he did suspect that employees wishing to follow the tournament “would be slipping out of their offices to find the nearest television to keep up to date with what is going on.” A spokesperson at Orphanides supermarket also said that there were no plans to provide televisions or radios for employees; however, she felt that it wouldn’t be a problem.
When the potential problem was suggested to Andreas Pavlitas, Head of Research and Studies for the Pancyprian Federation of Labour (PEO) trade union, he agreed that something needed to be done and that if their members wanted to watch games, their needs should be accommodated. However, he admitted that nothing had yet been discussed within PEO. Nicos Moyseos from the Cyprus Workers Confederation (SEK) was equally unprepared when presented with the potential problem and admitted that it hadn’t been brought up in the recent congress. However, he believed the matter was worth considering and said he would be discussing it with the heads of his organisation over the next few days.
Melios Georgiou, Head of the Retailers’ Association, hadn’t considered the issue either, but believed that the organisation would consider putting proposals to its members if the unions made representations. He also admitted that he could see the possibility of retailers bringing in televisions to accommodate workers.
The CyBC plans to show every game of the tournament live and follow up its coverage with a daily highlights programme at 9pm every evening, showing extended highlights of the best match followed by goal highlights of any other games played on the day.
The Cyprus Mail is the only English-language daily newspaper published in Cyprus. It was established in 1945 and today, with its popular and widely-read website, the Cyprus Mail is among the most trusted news sites in Cyprus. The newspaper is not affiliated with any political parties and has always striven to maintain its independence. Over the past 70-plus years, the Cyprus Mail, with a small dedicated team, has covered momentous events in Cyprus’ modern history, chronicling the last gasps of British colonial rule, Cyprus’ truncated independence, the coup and Turkish invasion, and the decades of negotiations to stitch the divided island back together, plus a myriad of scandals, murders, and human interests stories that capture the island and its -people. Observers describe it as politically conservative.
