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If you need a good excuse to leave the beach early, escape a visit to the in-laws or bypass a long queue at the wedding of someone you’ve never met then watching the Women’s World Cup Final on Sunday is where you should be heading.
I can’t say I was a huge fan of women’s football or would go out of my way to watch it, but the World Cup in France has been a revelation with the tournament showcasing skill, passion and quality of the women’s game.
VAR threatened to devour the competition, but FIFA seems to have got a grip of the technology with games no longer lasting the length of an Olympic marathon race with the look of drama-exhaustion.
The worst thing to do would be to compare the women’s game at elite level to the men’s, it has to be judged on its merits, players have to be assessed on their football ability, not their gender comparison.
Following the Lionesses has not only been enjoyable – like all England teams they faded in the semi-final – but also inspirational for youngsters watching to see women footballers generating passion and excitement.
There is a certain kind of purity about the women’s game which lacks much of the cynicism, histrionics, aggression and theatrical dives of their male counterparts.
Although once the women start getting more money, more exposure along with greater pressure to succeed then it might become a different story.
What has happened in France is infectious, a great springboard for the women’s game to grow which in turn will inspire girls and boys to play the game at grassroots level with the greatest sport on earth the real winner.
Unfortunately, there are still attitudes, countries and cultures that prevent women from participating in sport or even going to watch football matches.
Football is an all-inclusive sport where gender and cultural barriers are slowly coming down. This World Cup is certainly a milestone in the advancement of women’s football and closing the gender pay disparity within it.
Not so long ago, the English FA banned women from playing football, now it is a pioneer in improving standards with professional leagues and better coaching.
Global TV viewing figures have been broken in France which augurs well for the future but some of the games struggled to draw crowds.
FIFA’s commitment in promoting the tournament throughout France has come under criticism — the signage and presence of the competition pale in comparison to what went on in Russia 2018 for the men's World Cup.
The governing body has been caught off guard by the surge in interest and enthusiasm for the women’s World Cup finals that have been compulsory viewing on hot summer nights.
I haven’t quite convinced my sons to sit down and watch a game as Cyprus hasn’t gone overboard in covering the drama or plugged into the positive vibe oozing from France.
Certainly, I am not the only one receiving looks of bafflement in wanting to watch women play football instead of the “real thing”.
It would be interesting to know the viewing figures for the WWC on CyBC as it hasn’t made a big deal of promoting it.
CyBC only really gets excited when it has 10 male politicians all talking above the noise frequency in a studio fit for a 1960s light entertainment show with a token bunny girl.
Granted, Cypriots have better things to do than watch terrestrial summer TV which has the stubbornness of an Eskimo hunter in ensuring the viewing options are staler than a packet of Ryvita crackers past their sell-by date.
While the spectacle in France has been better than a free ride at Euro Disney, the state of the game in Cyprus is beyond pitiful.
Tainted by match-fixing, crowd violence, fan apathy, dilapidated stadiums, lack of direction and a poor product, Cyprus football is dying a slow death.
Football is a spectator sport, without fans coming to watch there is no future in the game. If clubs can’t attract families to come and support them, then they have no chance because there will be no next generation of fans.
However, the clubs and the Cyprus Football Association fail to understand that without improving a product designed to welcome fans in a safe environment to enjoy a sporting event, then they have already lost the battle.
Back in the 70s and 80s England had a terrible hooligan problem, they were the pariahs of Europe until they decided to box clever and do something about it.
That meant not treating supporters like animals but improving the experience in upgrading stadiums or building better ones.
Police introduced intelligence-led operations to weed out the troublemakers with the clubs on board determined to banish the thugs and exercising zero tolerance to anti-social behaviour.
This was backed up by introducing proper TV surveillance inside stadiums coupled with effective stewarding.
Cyprus knows all this, but it has neither the determination nor the vision to improve stadiums, introduce proper ticketing, put its house in order to make football the enjoyable spectacle that it should be.
In a sign of surrender to the yobs, the authorities introduced the fan card which ensured even fewer people are going to football matches – obviously, there’s no trouble because nobody is there.
This is the kind of heads-in-the-sand short-sightedness that ensures the development of young Cypriot football talent is stifled while the game is allowed to die a slow death.
