the World Cup begins today...once considered a unifying tournament, in this case it is proving divisive...extortionate costs for travel, hotel and ticket prices, and extensive travel bans for fans from more than 30 countries, many of them African, have cast a pall over the tournament

Vancouver will host 7 matches, with a local poll suggesting that the cost of hosting them, now forecast to exceed revenues, resulted in just over 70% of people saying it is not a welcome plan