Dark questions haunt world’s greatest show

In a press centre in Salvador last week, a couple of British writers announced their arrival to the tournament — heard long before they were seen, such is the way many journalists conform to stereotype.

They took a glance around at the impressive layout, sampled the overpriced food, tested the internet speed and came to a conclusion at a nearby desk. This was a great set-up and it would, by extension, be a great World Cup. And that’s a major problem when judging all of this.

It’s those within the press centres that project the image of these five weeks to the rest of the planet yet these clinical and stale places aren’t a representation of a competition more complex than ever, due to the differing strands running right through it.