Fifa fever catches on:cakes, jerseys, and more

[Thakur]

One of the most awaited sports extravaganzas
of the year, the football World Cup, kicked off
Thursday night, sending fans of the sport in a
tizzy. Although the opening ceremony was not
so impressive going by reactions on Twitter,
and no-show from a few DTH operators played
more of a dampener, all that didn’t deter the ­
cricket-crazy nation from changing its ‘religion’
as they rooted for their favourite teams ­
playing in Sao Paulo, Brazil.
From the likes of actors Shah Rukh Khan to
Amitabh Bachchan and even Delhiites, many
took to social media to talk about the sport as
they sat glued to their TV sets in their favourite
team’s jersey.
The top 10 trends on Twitter were football
related, even as Gaurav Kapoor, who was
anchoring the studio telecast of the opening ­
ceremony for Indian audiences, got flak for his
comments.
No one, however, is smiling as wide as sports
merchandise sellers and club owners — game-
inspired apparel, accessories, gourmet dishes
and drinks are scoring the biggest goals when
it comes to sales.
Desserts and dishes...
“From soccer stadium cakes to football cakes,
people are looking for football-inspired
desserts and cakes,” says Radheika Mittal,
owner of the Exotic designer cake boutique in
Civil Lines
”The business has shot up incredibly. From
cupcakes to cakes, everything is about FIFA
now,” says Nidhi Bahl, owner of a Indulgence
Cakery in Kalkaji
Our FIFA food packs (meant for home delivery)
with pizzas, nachos, burgers and beverages are
a hit,” says Prashant Karan of the bistro
Anarchy.
Merchandise...
“Nobody is in as much demand as Lionel Messi.
(Cristiano) Ronaldo and Neymar are popular,
but the Argentine rules merchandise,” says
Vikram Narula of Glued, a game hub in Noida.
“Sale of footballs, T-shirts, mugs, cushion
covers, coasters and mobile covers are doing
well,” Saurabh Kochhar of the e-retail portal,
Printvenue.
And in Bollywood land...
While the entire Bachchan family — actors
Amitabh, Jaya, Abhishek, Aishwarya — is
working its schedule to be able to fly down to
Brazil and watch at least a few matches live,
others like actor Juhi Chawla have already
booked their seats in the stadium to enjoy the
game from the stands.
Actor Shah Rukh Khan tweeted, “And on the
most exciting note….I am completely over the
moon with FIFA starting. TV glue ready!”
Actor Amitabh Bachchan, like many, felt the
opening ceremony could’ve been better,
“Opening ceremony over!! Just felt could have
been better...”