The conveyor belt of capital arrivals and departures. A fleet of black cars and the obligatory entourage, announcing ‘people of great significance’…or VIPs (never bereft of the first letter, no middle ground or halfway point). An organised swarm descending and withdrawing on the chosen target. Further west, in the damp tail end of an afternoon, the temporary continental exile. A state (of mind) within a country. Blue and red (and yellow and red) bedecked figures on the route march to yet another, highly marketed, cultural exchange (of sorts). Rewind four decades ago and a marked difference in most aspects of the brief visit would be apparent. The synthesis of sport to brand (not national) values.