Eduardo Galeano said that soccer is the only religion without atheists. If you also put Argentina, a World Cup and perhaps Leo Messi’s last chance to lift the coveted golden cup in the shaker, you have, however, much more than a belief: you have a force of nature capable of provoking a crisis of social and economic overtones that results in a matter of State.
Sounds like an exaggeration, but no.
And if not, ask the Secretary of Commerce of Argentina, Matías Tambolini, who a few days ago retweeted a message from his department —with an institutional portrait included— on what was surely his most surreal meeting: a summit with businessmen to find solutions to a major crisis unleashed… by the shortage of trading cards for the Qatar World Cup.
Exactly, because of the lack of stickers with the players.
The problem is basically as simple as its scope has been exorbitant.
From newsstands to offices
In Argentina, those who are passionate about football and sticker collecting, known there as “figurines”, have found an unpleasant surprise: when they went to the kiosk they were greeted by a sign warning that there were no envelopes left with the prized Panini stamps from the Qatar World Cup.
There weren’t any at the stall in his neighborhood, at the corner stall, the one two streets down, or at the one on the other side of the city. They simply had run out of cards.
Despite its tremendous demand, businesses have found that the new shipments of “figurines” do not arrive, as a result – assures the Union of Kiosqueros – that the popular Italian house has prioritized other distribution channels, such as supermarkets, gas stations or apps.
The problem could have been limited to that, a simple bottleneck and in the worst case half-finished albums; but has ended up requiring the intervention of the institutions.
The shortage provoked a demonstration in front of the factory that produces the cards, caught the interest of the international media and fueled the picaresque of those who have seen the perfect opportunity to make some money selling material at scandalous prices and that multiply the guidelines.
CNN points out how Messi’s special card is offered on the Internet for 22,000 Argentine pesos, about 150 dollars to change, far, very far from what they would be worth under normal conditions. There are those who even talk about stickers for $300 and albums for sale for 25 euros.
“The average delivery is 25 to 50 packages a week and 20 to 30 albums. That is not enough for any neighbor of any locality. What we ask Panini is to deliver the merchandise to the official distributors and those distributors sell it to the kiosk vendors and not do it as before, in the parallel market”, the Kiosk Vendors Union explained days ago to Clarion.
The problem acquired such dyes that the very Government of the nation ended up moving tab to find a solution. How? giving him a matter of state and bringing together the main stakeholders, the newsstands and publisher representatives, to alleviate the shortage.
“The meeting began to assess the situation of the World Cup figurines market. From @ComercioArg we open a dialogue channel between @ukraok and @PaniniArg, making our legal and technical teams available to collaborate in the search for possible solutions”, tweeted an account from the Secretary of Commerce without verification on September 20. The message was shared shortly after through his profile —this yes verified— the secretary himself, Matías Tombolini.
The meeting began to assess the situation of the World Cup figurines market. Since @CommerceArg we open a dialogue channel between @ukraok Y @PaniniArgmaking our legal and technical teams available to collaborate in the search for possible solutions. pic.twitter.com/upeLAtg4cD
– Secretary of Commerce (@ComercioArg) September 20, 2022
During the meeting, the publisher would have promised to control the 60 distributors with the purpose of resolving the crisis of the figurines, the albums of the Qatar World Cup can be completed in a timely manner and the marketing of stickers at crazy prices loses steam.
The episode has also left several readings.
There are those who interpret it as a consequence of the “deepest imbalances” in Argentina, where the restrictions applied to imports would make it difficult, for example, to bring cards from other countries, beyond Brazil; who sees it as a sample of the expectations that the nation has in the World Cup and who, directly, as he points out The worldfollowed with surprise the meeting of the Secretary of Domestic Trade in a country that is dealing with runaway inflation.
As Galeano said: soccer is the only religion without atheists…
… and capable of mobilize a government due to the lack of cards.
Pictures | Saadick Dhansay (Flickr) and Adam Jones (Flickr)