(Image source from: Will Narendra Modi attend FIFA World Cup final in Brazil?})
Guess who would be cheering to the tunes of “Ole Ola” on the grand finale of the ongoing 2014 World Cup Brazil? Who else but country's newly elected Prime Minister of India, Mr. Narendra Modi. Yeah, you heard that right.
The PM has received an invitation to attend the big football finale to be played in Brazil on July 13. Apparently, Modi is scheduled to make a trip to Brazil for a summit of the BRICS countries (Brazil, Russia, India, China and South Africa) during that time, between 15-17 July in the city of Fortaleza.
Given the summits close proximity to the final event, the Brazilian embassy has invited the BRICS leaders to attend the historic event live.
Ever since his swearing in, it has been all work and no play for our hardworking PM. A soccer break in between could offer a much-needed break for Modi, who has been personally invited by Brazilian President Dilma Rousseff to watch the World Cup final at the Estadio Maracana in Rio de Janeiro.
If Modi accepts the invitation, he will join other dignitaries like the Russian President Vladimir Putin, Chinese President Xi Jinping and South African President Jacob Zuma. India is yet to accept the invitation.
All BRICS nations save for India have played in the World Cup with three of the nations even hosting the tournament - South Africa in 2010, Brazil this time and Russia in 2018.
India, which ranks 154 on the FIFA list, had qualified once for the tournament, in 1950, when Brazil was the host, but football federations never sent the team.
Brazil will host more than 20 world leaders, including German Chancellor Angela Merkel, the Emir of Qatar, Prince Albert of Monaco and UN Secretary-General Ban ki-Moon, during the month-long soccer affair.
The BRICS summit will be Modi's first multilateral summit and Modi's third destination abroad as PM. He is next bound for Japan.
Just a couple of days back, Narendra Modi had released FIFA postage stamp, just at the time of World Cup opening. Given our progressive Prime Minister is always game for new experiences, it wouldn't be a surprise if he flies off to Brazil two days before the scheduled date to cheer for his favorite team. After all, even a country's prime minister needs some downtime, isn't it?
AW: Suchorita Choudhury
