The mega-event of football has begun. Considered as a festival by football lovers all round the world, the World Cup fever has not spared the Nepalese. Interestingly, the political leaders and bureaucrats are also among the ones spellbound by the on-going football fever.
According to Kantipur, Maoist leader Prachanda has managed to watch some of the matches of the World Cup. Prachanda supported South Korea in its match against Greece on the 13th of June.  Another leader Jhalanath Khanal of UML, too, took out time to watch the same match. Both the leaders supported the same team for the same reason; their team being an Asian country.

Another Maoist leader Barsaman Singh Pun says will be one of the viewers of the World Cup. He is cheering for Argentina and Brazil this time. Surprisingly, he also finds a connection between strategies used in football and politics. “This is one of the reasons I love watching this game” he expressed. Education Minister Sarvendra Nath Shukla revealed that the world cup matches has acted as a stress buster to him. He is quite a football buff, as he has planned to watch even the late night matches. He, too, prefers the same team as Pun.

Some leaders, however, aren’t quite football enthusiast. Sports Minister, found himself quite busy to watch any of the match. He says his party’s works take consume more of his time. Maoist leader Baburam Bhattarai too, is on the list. He, in fact, went to Gorkha on Saturday, the second day of the tournament, and returned late night.

Bureaucrats are not far behind. According to Annapurna Post, Secretary General of the legislative parliament Manohar Prasad Bhattarai is placing his bets on England, which has been quite unfortunate in the past editions of the tournament. Commenting on the match between Argentina and Nigeria, Secretary of the Peace and Reconstruction Ministry Punya Prasad Neupane, said that he especially liked the co-ordination and team spirit of the Maradona coached team. Another secretary, Lila Mani Poudel of Prime Minister Office especially liked Messi’s performance in the match although he was unable to score.

Dr. Madan Kumar Bhattarai, Secretary of Foreign Ministry says since he is a foreign secretary, it would be unfair for him to choose a specific team as he feels it feels it would be undiplomatic. He says that he would try to catch all the matches Live, as far as possible. Secretary of the Development Ministry Krishna Gyawali has an emotional connection with Brazil as he had a Brazilian friend during his student days in the US. He wants Brazil to win but would also be happy to see the host nation lift the trophy. He regrets not being able to watch the opening ceremony.
Whichever the team the leaders and bureaucrats are supporting, one this is for sure; the World Cup has indeed gotten everyone hooked to the television set for the next one month.