On the subject of drawing inspiration from eastern European, our sports editor managed to get a few days in the Czech Republic last week and was amazed both by the fact that the television in his hotel’s bar and foyer was showing live coverage of World Cup matches, while he saw umpteen locals in the street wearing England2015 official merchandise.
Since the extent of the reach into countries that are not involved in the sport is an even greater measure of success than the attendances at matches – more than two million spectators so far - and in the official ‘fan zones – close to 900,000 to date, that must be considered a major success.
The Czech Republic moved up to 34th in the world rankings and has never got close to qualifying for a World Cup, yet all 48 matches are being shown live by mainstream broadcaster Ceska Televize.
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