On Sunday night comedian John Oliver presented a lengthy segment about the World Cup on his brilliant HBO program Last Week Tonight. The Brit with razor sharp wit admitted that he was torn about the upcoming games in Sao Paulo: on one hand football is his passion and he lives for the World Cup every four years; on the other the accusations of corruption leveled at FIFA and the tyrannical demands it places upon host cities (did you know that FIFA pays no tax to the host country and the organization cajoled Brazil to suspend a law preventing the sale of beer at games that was created to protect fans from dying because Budweiser is a sponsor?) are completely outrageous. With protests and strikes taking place in Sao Paulo before the start of the game tomorrow, reformed ’80s UK alt-rock band Pop Will Eat Itself have voiced their dislike for FIFA by unveiling a protest song called “Reclaim the Game (Funk FIFA)” featuring Brazilian singer/rapper BNegão.
In the song, PWEI unleash their disdain for controversial FIFA and its boss Sepp Blatter: “Sepp Blatter don’t matter, getting richer and fatter / His idle chatter batters the beautiful game. / They’ve stole it, trolls control it.”
The band are running a remix contest asking producers to interpret the song that highlights “the greed and incompetence of FIFA as well as the austerity facing the Brazilian people.” A variety of versions can be heard on their website. The winner (best entry as judged by the band) wins a pair of tickets to the PWEI gig of their choice (travel not included!) and a free signed album due in October. Okay, the prize might not be a million bucks but at least PWEI are expressing a sentiment that’s shared by a lot of people around the world.