tag:theconversation.com,2011:/uk/topics/world-cup-2170/articlesWorld Cup – The Conversation2024-03-07T17:23:54Ztag:theconversation.com,2011:article/2251992024-03-07T17:23:54Z2024-03-07T17:23:54ZCopa 71: how the first women’s World Cup was erased from footballing history<p>The young Gail Emms, who would later become world badminton champion, was great at sport. At school, she once proudly gave a detailed presentation about how her mother, Janice, had played football for England in a World Cup in the early 1970s. Her teachers enjoyed the story but thought Gail was fantasising. There was no official record of any such event taking place. </p>
<p>However, Janice Emms did indeed play for an England football team in Mexico City in 1971 – and in front of a crowd of 90,000 at that. The women and girls concerned hid their involvement because football’s world governing body, Fifa, disapproved, and England’s Football Association (FA) sought to ban those who had participated in this “unsanctioned” tournament. </p>
<p>The players involved seldom talked about Mexico later, even among themselves. But those who had been there would never forget it.</p>
<p>Copa 71, a new documentary film about this long-forgotten landmark tournament, lists US soccer star Alex Morgan and tennis legends Serena and Venus Williams as executive producers. It premiered recently at the British Film Institute and, to some acclaim, at the Toronto International Film Festival. </p>
<p>Released on March 8, it interviews some of those involved and emerges at a moment when the women’s game is experiencing unprecedented commercial and popular success. The Women’s World Cup is now a major money-spinner and a <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/football/2023/aug/04/womens-world-cup-2023-hailed-as-most-successful-in-history-at-halfway-point">global TV event</a>, and Fifa has even <a href="https://www.fifa.com/tournaments/womens/womensworldcup/australia-new-zealand2023/news/bareman-women-will-play-vital-role-in-football-s-future">embraced</a> women’s football as the “future” of the game. Times have changed.</p>
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<figcaption><span class="caption">The extraordinary story of the 1971 Women’s Football World Cup.</span></figcaption>
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<h2>‘British Independents’</h2>
<p>In the early 1970s, Italian drinks company Martini Rosso identified untapped commercial and marketing potential in women’s football. It argued for a privately funded international tournament in Mexico in 1971 – promising to pay for the kit, travel and accommodation of any Europeans willing to be involved. </p>
<p>Six countries took part, including four from Europe. In England, there was little point engaging with the FA on such matters: women’s football had been <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/football/2022/jun/13/how-the-fa-banned-womens-football-in-1921-and-tried-to-justify-it">banned</a> there for 50 years, and it was barely on the national agenda again. So, a Mr Harry Batt from Luton was contacted instead. </p>
<p>Early women footballers remember Batt fondly as a chain-smoking, rather sweary bus driver in his sixties. He and his wife, June, had started up the Chiltern Valley Ladies football club in 1969. An unlikely moderniser, Batt had recognised the demand among young women in his area for a chance to play, and built a successful and competitive regional club. </p>
<p>So, when the man from Martini Rosso came calling and asked Batt if he could put a squad together to represent England in Mexico, he jumped at the chance. Batt’s scratch team of so-called “British Independents” ranged in age from the 13-year-old Leah Caleb to a handful of more mature women players. Parental approval was needed for some squad members even to travel.</p>
<p>Did Batt really know what he was doing? His inexperienced and youthful team had only ever performed in charity matches or on uneven park pitches in front of a smattering of dogs, friends and family members. Children played alongside adults because of the paucity of women players; there was nowhere decent even for female players to change. </p>
<p>In Mexico City, this patchwork 14-player squad – by now re-labelled as England – played between daft pink-and-white goalposts in some of the largest stadia in the world, in front of enormous and enthusiastic crowds. The England women suffered injuries and lost their matches, but respect for them abroad grew.</p>
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<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/580231/original/file-20240306-18-fgv5q1.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="An image of a crowd gathered outside a large football stadium." src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/580231/original/file-20240306-18-fgv5q1.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/580231/original/file-20240306-18-fgv5q1.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=395&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/580231/original/file-20240306-18-fgv5q1.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=395&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/580231/original/file-20240306-18-fgv5q1.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=395&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/580231/original/file-20240306-18-fgv5q1.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=497&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/580231/original/file-20240306-18-fgv5q1.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=497&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/580231/original/file-20240306-18-fgv5q1.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=497&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px"></a>
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<span class="caption">In 1971, Mexico City’s Estadio Azteca was the world’s largest football stadium, hosting 112,000 fans for the women’s final.</span>
<span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/1971_Women%27s_World_Cup#/media/File:Mexico_stadium_1986.jpg">Karl Oppolzer/Wikipedia</a>, <a class="license" href="http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-sa/4.0/">CC BY-NC-SA</a></span>
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<h2>Disappearing from view</h2>
<p>And Batt’s reward for all this promoting of women and girls’ football in the international spotlight? A rebuff from Fifa and a lifetime ban from the FA. Thanks for nothing.</p>
<p>The New York Times had <a href="https://www.nytimes.com/1971/06/27/archives/soccer-goes-sexy-south-of-border-womens-world-cup-aimed-at-the-2.html">billed</a> the Mexico tournament as “Soccer Goes Sexy South of Border”, with women’s football depicted as “a mixture between a sports event and a beauty contest … the shorts will be as close as possible to hot pants”. </p>
<p>But in fact, these international women footballers appear to have been as revered in Mexico as were men players. Some 112,000 fans watched Denmark defeat Mexico 3–0 in the final. Autograph hunters and TV presenters followed every step of the visiting England team. </p>
<p>After this sort of adulation, coming home was a real let-down. Mexico ‘71 had barely registered in England.</p>
<p>It took the dinosaurs at the FA another decade, under protest, to take the <a href="https://www.englandfootball.com/england/womens-senior-team/Legacy/History">women’s game</a> in-house, and a blundering Fifa 20 years to organise the first official Women’s World Cup, in <a href="https://www.fifa.com/tournaments/womens/womensworldcup/chinapr1991">China</a>. So many wasted years.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/225199/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>John Williams does not work for, consult, own shares in or receive funding from any company or organisation that would benefit from this article, and has disclosed no relevant affiliations beyond their academic appointment.</span></em></p>Thousands of fans packed out stadiums for the 1971 women’s World Cup, but it has been virtually erased from history.John Williams, Associate Professor of Sociology, University of LeicesterLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/2235132024-02-21T17:28:02Z2024-02-21T17:28:02ZThe 100-hour war between El Salvador and Honduras is famous for starting with a football match – the truth is more complicated<p>A recent football match in Hong Kong has flared geopolitical tensions. A sell-out crowd was left disappointed when Inter Miami’s Argentinian superstar, Lionel Messi, did not come onto the field. Their disappointment soon turned to anger as, just days later, Messi played in another game in Japan.</p>
<p>Chinese state media, Hong Kong politicians and frustrated fans interpreted the act as a sign of disrespect, suggesting that there were <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/football/2024/feb/08/lionel-messi-injury-return-japan-anger-china-benching-unfit">political reasons</a> for Messi’s absence. Two Argentina friendlies that were scheduled to take place in China in March <a href="https://edition.cnn.com/2024/02/09/sport/china-cancels-argentina-match-messi-backlash-intl-hnk/index.html">have been cancelled</a>. Some Hong Kong officials have demanded an “explanation and apology” from the player, while fans <a href="https://edition.cnn.com/2024/02/08/china/lionel-messi-china-backlash-hong-kong-japan-miami-intl-hnk/index.html">claimed</a> that Messi should no longer be welcome in China.</p>
<p>Football has flared up tensions before, with lasting political consequences. In 1990, a game between Zagreb’s Dinamo team and Belgrade’s Red Star <a href="https://www.croatiaweek.com/33-years-ago-today-the-most-famous-derby-never-played/">erupted into violence</a> between fans and the police. The violence is believed by some to have sparked the ensuing Croatian war of independence (1991–95). </p>
<p>But one case in particular holds the reputation for a war that was started over a series of football matches. </p>
<p>In 1969, El Salvador and neighbouring Honduras played each other three times in the qualifying stages of the 1970 Fifa World Cup. The two matches that took place in Tegucigalpa (June 8) and San Salvador (June 15) were marred by violence between fans. </p>
<p>On the same day as the third match, in Mexico City on June 29, the Salvadoran government cut diplomatic ties with Honduras. Military action began two weeks later with aerial bombardment and a ground invasion, before coming to an end after a ceasefire was negotiated four days later. For its brevity, the conflict is known as the <a href="https://www.jstor.org/stable/27868774">100-hour war</a>.</p>
<p>Of course, it would be silly to look for the causes of war in an ugly tackle, or in questionable decisions by referees. More than silly, to reduce the causes of war to a football match is disrespectful to the memories of the thousands of civilians displaced and killed in the conflict. </p>
<p>For that reason, as pivotal as these matches might have been for that war, it is essential to understand the broader context in which such an escalation of conflict becomes possible.</p>
<h2>The war of the dispossessed</h2>
<p>El Salvador is a fraction of the size of Honduras. But, despite the difference in area, El Salvador has a much larger population. At the start of the 20th century, Salvadoran farmers began migrating to Honduras in large numbers, primarily because of the greater availability of land across the border.</p>
<p>By the 1960s, the issue of land ownership had fuelled social tension in Honduras against the large population of Salvadoran migrants. The National Federation of Farmers and Livestock Farmers of Honduras was created to promote a land reform aimed at <a href="https://html.rincondelvago.com/la-guerra-no-fue-de-futbol_eddy-jimenez-perez.html">expelling Salvadoran peasants</a> from Honduran land. </p>
<p>This allowed large property owners, including foreign companies like the US-based United Fruit Company, to increase their ownership share of arable land. </p>
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<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/577015/original/file-20240221-20-1haedq.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="A map of Central America." src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/577015/original/file-20240221-20-1haedq.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/577015/original/file-20240221-20-1haedq.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=474&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/577015/original/file-20240221-20-1haedq.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=474&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/577015/original/file-20240221-20-1haedq.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=474&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/577015/original/file-20240221-20-1haedq.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=595&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/577015/original/file-20240221-20-1haedq.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=595&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/577015/original/file-20240221-20-1haedq.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=595&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px"></a>
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<span class="caption">Honduras is roughly five times as large as El Salvador.</span>
<span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://www.shutterstock.com/image-vector/central-america-map-150994196">Rainer Lesniewski/Shutterstock</a></span>
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<p>After a coup in 1963, the then Honduran president, General Oswaldo López Arellano, pursued the interests of these agrarian elites through the suppression of political opposition and systematic institutionalised violence. </p>
<p>Arellano’s brutal repression of peasant movements, with a specific nationalist sentiment mobilised against Salvadorans, <a href="https://catalogosiidca.csuca.org/Record/UCR.000022943/Description">caused the displacement</a> of thousands of rural workers in the years before those football matches. This is why <a href="https://academic.oup.com/ahr/article-abstract/87/3/889/95948?redirectedFrom=fulltext">research</a> on the topic usually refers to the conflict as the “war of the dispossessed”. </p>
<h2>Escalating conflict</h2>
<p>The level of violence against Salvadorans led the government in San Salvador to formally accuse Honduras of genocide. The <a href="https://www.diariocolatino.com/una-guerra-breve-y-amarga/">communication</a> sent by the Salvadoran chancellor to inform Tegucigalpa of the severed diplomatic ties in 1969 clearly frames the conflict in these broader terms.</p>
<p>“In this republic [Honduras] there is still … homicide, humiliation and violation of women, dispossession, persecution, and mass expulsion that have targeted thousands of Salvadorans due simply to their nationality, in events that have no precedents in Central America, nor in America as a whole.”</p>
<p>The football matches simply added a mobilising element that contributed to escalating an already existing conflict. The number of displaced Salvadoran peasants after the conflict reached hundreds of thousands. After the ceasefire, El Salvador had to deal with this large population of refugees. </p>
<p>The conflict also increased the Salvadoran nationalistic sentiment and the political role of the armed forces, setting the stage for the political disputes in the 1970s that would culminate in the <a href="https://www.britannica.com/place/El-Salvador/Civil-war">Salvadoran civil war</a> in 1979.</p>
<p>Many of the Salvadoran refugees already had experience of political organisation from the land disputes in Honduras and ended up joining the <a href="https://prism.librarymanagementcloud.co.uk/port/items/686599?query=el+salvador+civil+war&resultsUri=items%3Fquery%3Del%2Bsalvador%2Bcivil%2Bwar">Farabundo Martí Popular Forces of Liberation</a>. This was a faction of the Salvadoran Communist Party that later became a left-wing military organisation with support from Cuba and the Soviet Union.</p>
<h2>Messi will not start a war in China</h2>
<p>The idea that football started a war is misguided. The violence in those matches in 1969 would not have escalated without the broader sociopolitical context of violent dispossession. Lacking a similar context, the declarations of frustrated fans who expected to see Messi in Hong Kong will not escalate. </p>
<p>This is not to say that football lacks political relevance. The inflamed reaction by fans and Chinese authorities shows the effect that a political statement (or one perceived as such) by a celebrity can have on global politics. Messi himself recently published a <a href="https://www.reuters.com/sports/soccer/messi-sets-record-straight-over-hong-kong-absence-2024-02-19/">statement</a> on Weibo (China’s most popular microblogging site) denying any political motivation for not playing in Hong Kong. </p>
<p>Messi has avoided getting involved with politics, especially during Argentina’s heated general election in 2023. But others have done the opposite. Perhaps former Chelsea striker Didier Drogba <a href="https://www.bbc.co.uk/sport/football/52072592">calling</a> for a ceasefire in Ivory Coast in 2007 can serve as an inspiring example of how footballers can use their popularity to influence global politics and even stop wars.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/223513/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Pedro Dutra Salgado does not work for, consult, own shares in or receive funding from any company or organisation that would benefit from this article, and has disclosed no relevant affiliations beyond their academic appointment.</span></em></p>Messi will not start a war in China, but this is not to say that football lacks political relevance.Pedro Dutra Salgado, Lecturer in International Relations, University of PortsmouthLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/2170072023-11-08T17:02:40Z2023-11-08T17:02:40ZHow Saudi Arabia’s unchallenged 2034 World Cup bid could weaken Fifa’s human rights demands<p>In 2010, Qatar was awarded the rights to host the 2022 Fifa men’s World Cup. It marked the culmination of the small, oil-rich gulf nation’s long-term strategy to diversify its economy and strengthen its international standing through investment in sport, culture and tourism.</p>
<p>However, from the moment the hosting rights were awarded until the event’s conclusion in December 2022, the Qatar World Cup was marred by controversies. These controversies included <a href="https://www.nytimes.com/2020/04/06/sports/soccer/qatar-and-russia-bribery-world-cup-fifa.html">allegations of bid bribery</a>, <a href="https://www.hrw.org/news/2022/11/14/qatar-rights-abuses-stain-fifa-world-cup">violations of human rights</a>, and what has come to be known as “<a href="https://www.heraldscotland.com/sport/23125473.time-blow-whistle-sportswashing-qatar/">sportswashing</a>” – the strategic use of the positive image associated with sport to divert attention away from the less palatable aspects of a nation’s social and political culture. </p>
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<p>Qatari officials have consistently denied all allegations of bid bribery levelled at them. However, in 2020, the New York Times <a href="https://www.nytimes.com/2020/04/06/sports/soccer/qatar-and-russia-bribery-world-cup-fifa.html">released information</a> from a US Department of Justice indictment that revealed details about payments made to five members of Fifa before the 2010 vote of Russia and Qatar as World Cup hosts. </p>
<p>The New York Times also reported that over half the people involved in the voting process for the 2018 and 2022 World Cups, including former Fifa president Sepp Blatter, have been accused of wrongdoing.</p>
<p>Qatar’s gulf neighbour, Saudi Arabia, has now been <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/football/2023/oct/31/saudi-arabia-2034-mens-world-cup-human-rights">all but confirmed</a> as the host of the 2034 edition of football’s greatest spectacle. This comes after it was left as the sole bidder once the deadline for potential hosts to declare their interest passed on Tuesday October 31. Fifa had restricted the process so only countries from Asia and Oceania could put themselves forward.</p>
<p>Upon learning that the bid process was non-competitive, the <a href="https://sportandrightsalliance.org/">Sport & Rights Alliance</a> – a coalition of human rights and anti-corruption organisations, trade unions, fan representatives, athlete survivors groups and players unions – expressed its concern. </p>
<p>In a post on Twitter (now called X), <a href="https://twitter.com/Sport_Rights/status/1718963237834588636?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw%7Ctwcamp%5Etweetembed%7Ctwterm%5E1718963237834588636%7Ctwgr%5E58e92ead694ae78cae12d33ed891b6da23addbb9%7Ctwcon%5Es1_&ref_url=https%3A%2F%2Ftheconversation.com%2Fdrafts%2F217007%2Fedit">the Alliance said</a>: “Amid the triviality of extravagant sports events and gestures, activists highlight the stark reality of oppressive conditions in Saudi Arabia.” </p>
<p>It is a country where homosexuality is currently illegal, and women’s rights are restricted by a model of male guardianship. Expressing criticism of the ruling regime can also result in <a href="https://theconversation.com/saudi-arabia-is-imprisoning-women-while-the-rest-of-the-world-is-not-paying-attention-189928">immediate imprisonment</a> or, in some cases, execution.</p>
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<h2>Losing leverage over human rights</h2>
<p>According to <a href="https://digitalhub.fifa.com/m/51aef03d916e5ad/original/FIFA-World-Cup-2030-and-FIFA-World-Cup-2034-Bidding-Regulations.pdf">Fifa’s own guidelines</a>, countries bidding for the men’s World Cup are required to commit to “respecting internationally recognised human rights”. This means that they must ensure human rights and labour standards are implemented by the bidding member associations, governments and all other entities involved in organising the competitions. </p>
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<a href="https://theconversation.com/qatars-death-row-and-the-invisible-migrant-workforce-deemed-unworthy-of-due-process-191017">Qatar's death row and the invisible migrant workforce deemed unworthy of due process</a>
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<p>Independent human rights risk assessments are also supposed to be carried out by bidding nations. This was done for the first time in the bidding process for the <a href="https://www.sporthumanrights.org/library/candidate-city-human-rights-proposals-for-the-2026-world-cup-summary/">2026 World Cup</a>.</p>
<p><a href="https://www.amnesty.org/en/latest/news/2023/10/global-fifa-should-secure-human-rights-protections-for-2030-and-2034-world-cups-as-bidding-deadline-passes/">Amnesty International</a> and <a href="https://www.hrw.org/news/2023/10/27/fifa-broke-own-human-rights-rules-world-cup-hosts">Human Rights Watch</a> have urged Fifa to ensure that they secure binding human rights agreements from Saudi Arabia in line with Fifa’s own stated policy. However, as Saudi Arabia are the sole bidder left in the race, there are genuine doubts as to how adherence to international standards can be guaranteed. </p>
<p>In effect, the non-competitive bidding process means that Saudi Arabia is likely to have less pressure to set challenging targets around improving its human rights because Fifa has no rival bids. </p>
<p>There were two competing bids in 2026: Morocco and the joint bid from the US, Canada and Mexico. As a result, each had to take their human rights risk assessments seriously.</p>
<p>Saudi Arabia has until July 2024 to submit its full bid. And <a href="https://www.fifa.com/about-fifa/organisation/fifa-council/media-releases/fifa-council-takes-key-decisions-on-fifa-world-cup-tm-editions-in-2030-and-2034">Fifa</a> has announced that the bid will need to adhere to all bid requirements, including those related to human rights. </p>
<p>But the <a href="https://apnews.com/article/saudi-arabia-fifa-2034-world-cup-a5788a734c83be35e5ce7119456ab30a">estimated US$10 billion</a> (£8.1 billion) on offer to Fifa from a tournament hosted in Saudi Arabia appears too lucrative to risk jeopardising it.</p>
<h2>How did we get here?</h2>
<p>The fact that Saudi Arabia is on course to host football’s flagship event is no great surprise. Since 2016, the Saudi ruling family has been building towards realising their <a href="https://www.vision2030.gov.sa/en/">Saudi Vision 2030</a>. </p>
<p>As part of this vision, they have committed to bid for, and deliver, a series of spectacular sporting and cultural events – several of which have already happened. These events include football’s <a href="https://www.fifa.com/fifaplus/en/tournaments/mens/fifa-club-world-cup/saudi-arabia-2023">2023 Club World Cup</a>, <a href="https://www.formula1.com/en/racing/2023/Saudi_Arabia.html">Formula One</a>, the <a href="https://www.nytimes.com/article/liv-golf-saudi-arabia-pga.html">LIV Golf Series</a>, tennis and boxing.</p>
<p>The Saudi Public Investment Fund also acquired English top-flight football club Newcastle United in 2021. And developments within the Saudi Professional League (the highest division of football in the Saudi league system) have attracted global superstars like Cristiano Ronaldo and Neymar, who both moved for substantial sums of money.</p>
<figure class="align-center ">
<img alt="Cristiano Ronaldo at a training session in Saudi Arabia." src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/557855/original/file-20231106-29-u8p1rf.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/557855/original/file-20231106-29-u8p1rf.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=375&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/557855/original/file-20231106-29-u8p1rf.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=375&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/557855/original/file-20231106-29-u8p1rf.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=375&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/557855/original/file-20231106-29-u8p1rf.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=471&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/557855/original/file-20231106-29-u8p1rf.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=471&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/557855/original/file-20231106-29-u8p1rf.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=471&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">Cristiano Ronaldo joined Saudi Pro League side, Al Nassr, in December 2022.</span>
<span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://www.shutterstock.com/image-photo/riyadh-saudi-arabia-3-january-2023-2251351777">oday jamil moari/Shutterstock</a></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>Saudi Arabia has disrupted the sports event market by making significant financial investments to showcase their ability to host international events while also wooing influential sporting figures like Tyson Fury to <a href="https://www.telegraph.co.uk/boxing/2023/10/30/tyson-fury-saudi-arabia-francis-ngannou-oleksandr-usyk/">openly support</a> the nation’s political and cultural traditions. </p>
<p>In a <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/sport/blog/2023/sep/23/bin-salmans-sportswashing-quip-reflected-growing-power-but-was-perhaps-a-mistake">recent interview</a> with Fox News, Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman even said: “If sport washing is going to increase my GDP by way of 1%, then I will continue doing sport washing. I don’t care … I’m aiming for another 1.5%. Call it whatever you want, we’re going to get that 1.5%.”</p>
<p>Fifa appears willing to award its premiere football tournament to a nation with a dubious human rights record, despite being outwardly committed to anti-discrimination in all other aspects of its work. Yet again it is left to advocacy organisations to lobby for <a href="https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/full/10.1080/14413523.2021.1955531#:%7E:text=Specific%20to%20the%20potential%20of,planning%20and%20delivery%20of%20MSEs">ethical mega events</a> while governments and sporting federations observe from the sidelines. </p>
<p><em>In response to this article, a Fifa spokesperson said that the hosts of the upcoming 2034 World Cup will have to be confirmed by the Fifa Congress in 2024 following “due process”. And that bidding regulations and hosting requirements were approved by the Fifa Council – made of 37 elected members from all around the world. Fifa said it engaged on “all matters” regarding human rights with “a wide range of stakeholders in the bidding countries”, and all relevant reports will be made available on FIFA.com.</em></p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/217007/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>David McGillivray does not work for, consult, own shares in or receive funding from any company or organisation that would benefit from this article, and has disclosed no relevant affiliations beyond their academic appointment.</span></em></p>Saudi Arabia is on track to host the football World Cup in 2034, raising concern among human rights campaigners.David McGillivray, Professor in Event and Digital Cultures, University of the West of ScotlandLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/2100082023-07-19T12:24:10Z2023-07-19T12:24:10ZWomen’s World Cup will highlight how far other countries have closed the gap with US – but that isn’t the only yardstick to measure growth of global game<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/538141/original/file-20230718-25-qo58l9.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&rect=6%2C0%2C4623%2C2811&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">The end of the glory years for the U.S. Women's National Team?</span> <span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://newsroom.ap.org/detail/SoccerWWCupWomensWorldCupPreview/3b68e459a55441e9bd321e7f33a899cc/photo?Query=Women%27s%20World%20Cup&mediaType=photo&sortBy=arrivaldatetime:desc&dateRange=Anytime&totalCount=54882&currentItemNo=25">AP Photo/Claude Paris</a></span></figcaption></figure><p>The 2023 FIFA Women’s World Cup <a href="https://www.fifa.com/tournaments/womens/womensworldcup">begins on July 20, 2023, in Australia and New Zealand</a>, and the U.S. enters the soccer tournament in a <a href="https://theathletic.com/4694555/2023/07/17/uswnt-womens-world-cup-favourites/">familiar position: favorites</a>.</p>
<p>The U.S. Women’s National Team, or USWNT, is the reigning back-to-back champion, and many pundits are <a href="https://www.cbssports.com/soccer/news/2023-womens-world-cup-odds-futures-uswnt-predictions-picks-best-bets-from-proven-soccer-insider/">expecting it</a> to make history by securing a third successive title.</p>
<p>Certainly, the team is built on solid foundations – it has a tournament history like no other, having reached the podium in all eight editions of the tournament stretching back to 1991 – and lifted the winner’s trophy four times. And it still possesses some of the game’s most recognizable and decorated players, <a href="https://www.ussoccer.com/players/r/megan-rapinoe">Megan Rapinoe</a> and <a href="https://www.ussoccer.com/players/m/alex-morgan">Alex Morgan</a> among them.</p>
<p>Yet the U.S. players are not certain to win the World Cup this time around. No USWNT has experienced more turnover between World Cups than the current squad – it will be sporting a <a href="https://www.ussoccer.com/stories/2019/10/vlatko-andonovski-named-head-coach-of-us-womens-national-team">new head coach</a>, and the team will be missing several mainstay players because of retirement and a spate of injuries. And its form heading into the tournament <a href="https://www.insider.com/us-womens-soccer-issues-remain-despite-germany-win-world-cup-2022-11">has been patchy</a>.</p>
<p>Moreover, there are external currents that are also pushing against U.S. dominance. A <a href="https://www.fifa.com/tournaments/womens/womensworldcup/australia-new-zealand2023/news/gender-equality-highlighted-by-2023-leaders">commitment by governing body FIFA</a> to growing the women’s game globally has contributed to nations around the world narrowing the gap with the U.S. on the pitch.</p>
<p>All of those factors should lead to a more competitive tournament in New Zealand and Australia. But having more teams challenging the U.S. is not the only yardstick for success in the women’s game.</p>
<p>As we argue in our forthcoming book, “<a href="https://www.routledge.com/The-2023-FIFA-Womens-World-Cup-Politics-Representation-and-Management/Beissel-Postlethwaite-Grainger-Brice/p/book/9781032459035">The 2023 FIFA Women’s World Cup: Management, Politics and Representation</a>,” much more needs to be done by world soccer’s governing body to put in place institutional reforms prioritizing what is right over simply what is profitable in the women’s game. We believe that only then can it play on a level playing field.</p>
<h2>Moving the goal posts (in the right direction)</h2>
<p>Some 22 years after the <a href="https://time.com/6289539/womens-world-cup-2023-history/">first official FIFA Women’s World Cup</a>, the sport is witnessing <a href="https://www.espn.com/soccer/story/_/id/37633336/women-soccer-growth-unlike-other-sport-fifa-report">dramatic growth internationally</a>. The number of women and girls participating in the sport at all levels is increasing. FIFA’s plan is to <a href="https://www.fifa.com/tournaments/womens/womensworldcup/australia-new-zealand2023/news/gender-equality-highlighted-by-2023-leaders">double the number of women soccer players globally to 60 million by 2026</a> and pump US$1 billion into the women’s game over a four-year period.</p>
<p>Meanwhile, <a href="https://www.fifa.com/womens-football/media-releases/fifa-sets-the-pace-with-release-of-second-study-into-elite-womens-league-and">more and more countries are launching professional leagues</a>, including recent additions such as Colombia and Mexico. </p>
<p>Accompanying this has been <a href="https://www.complex.com/style/a/backwoodsaltar/nike-commitment-supporting-next-generation-women-athletes">increased sponsorship</a> of women’s <a href="https://www.fifa.com/womens-football/media-releases/fifa-sets-the-pace-with-release-of-second-study-into-elite-womens-league-and">clubs and leagues</a> and a growing number of lucrative sponsorship deals for top players. </p>
<p>Governing bodies and franchises are beginning to invest more in players, coaches and infrastructure, too. And it has yielded success. The past year alone has seen <a href="https://www.statista.com/statistics/1344057/womens-football-record-transfers/">record-breaking player transfers</a>, <a href="https://www.sportspromedia.com/news/womens-fa-cup-final-2023-sets-new-attendance-record-wembley/?zephr_sso_ott=Y0EKTa#:%7E:text=Overall%20record%20for%20a%20women's,the%20highest%20in%20the%20UK">record attendance</a> at games and television viewing figures <a href="https://www.jdsupra.com/legalnews/the-increasing-popularity-of-women-s-3940195/#:%7E:text=Viewership%20of%20the%20NWSL%20Championship,year%20increase%20in%20TV%20viewership.">hitting an all-time high</a> at both domestic and international levels. </p>
<p>This growth is not restricted to playing fields in Europe and North America. Women’s soccer <a href="https://theconversation.com/morocco-vs-south-africa-as-womens-football-enters-a-new-era-187267">in Africa</a>, <a href="https://globalsportmatters.com/culture/2022/12/21/beyond-qatar-world-cup-womens-football-growing-middle-east-north-africa/">the Middle East and Asia</a> has also benefited. For the first time, the World Cup will see 32 teams participate – up from 24 in the past two tournaments. Among the teams making their inaugural appearance will be <a href="https://www.espn.com/soccer/story/_/id/37633336/women-soccer-growth-unlike-other-sport-fifa-report">Morocco, the Philippines, Vietnam and Zambia</a>.</p>
<p><a href="https://www.reuters.com/sports/soccer/debutants-come-world-cup-with-surprises-up-their-sleeves-2023-07-13/">Noting the growth in such countries</a>, U.S. coach Vlatko Andonovski commented: “The world that is catching up is Wales, is Vietnam, is Zambia, Portugal.”</p>
<p>That isn’t to say that a handful of countries led by the U.S. won’t again dominate. But even if they do, that would not negate the strides made in the women’s game since the last World Cup in 2019.</p>
<h2>Leveling the playing pitch (a little)</h2>
<p>Meanwhile, FIFA has displayed a commitment to investing, celebrating and marketing its flagship women’s tournament in ways not seen in previous editions. Prize money, team preparation cash and compensation to players’ clubs has <a href="https://apnews.com/article/fifpro-fifa-equal-pay-ae96bd069231795a283bdc8ec86dde7b">increased 300% over the last World Cup</a>, with the overall prize money <a href="https://apnews.com/article/womens-world-cup-prize-money-fifa-soccer-b27cdd2346b06aff6ee78558be9f6943">standing at $152 million</a>. Each player at the tournament will receive at least $30,000.</p>
<p>Yet the overall prize pool remains a fraction of the men’s equivalent – a gender disparity <a href="https://twitter.com/thepfa/status/1680679071594971136?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw%7Ctwcamp%5Etweetembed%7Ctwterm%5E1680679071594971136%7Ctwgr%5E61e65dfe2c55121b5fcb0eec02bc04689b3233c4%7Ctwcon%5Es1_&ref_url=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.cnn.com%2F2023%2F07%2F17%2Ffootball%2Faustralia-matildas-wwc-equal-pay-video-spt-intl-hnk%2Findex.html">called out by Australia’s national women’s side</a> in a recent video message.</p>
<p><div data-react-class="Tweet" data-react-props="{"tweetId":"1680679071594971136"}"></div></p>
<p>And crediting FIFA for progress on gender pay issues ignores how women footballers had to overcome exploitation, under-marketing and structural and institutional barriers <a href="https://www.routledge.com/The-2023-FIFA-Womens-World-Cup-Politics-Representation-and-Management/Beissel-Postlethwaite-Grainger-Brice/p/book/9781032459035">created in part by the game’s governing body</a> in the first place.</p>
<p>Unlike the men’s game, dozens of players taking the pitch in Australia and New Zealand are amateur or semiprofessional footballers at best. Even some of those who are professional endure <a href="https://equalizersoccer.com/2018/12/13/womens-world-cup-platform-players-poor-working-conditions-professional-amateur/">poor working conditions</a>, insufficient facilities and unsafe playing conditions – something that likely plays a part in the recent spate of <a href="https://theconversation.com/female-football-players-are-at-much-higher-risk-of-career-ending-acl-injuries-the-science-on-why-198121">ACL injuries</a> among top female players.</p>
<p>And this is to say nothing of the <a href="https://www.npr.org/2022/10/03/1126587851/womens-soccer-abuse-nwsl-report">horrific and widespread cases</a> of sexual misconduct, harassment and emotional abuse documented in the women’s game. Women soccer players from Afghanistan to India to Argentina have been subjected to systemic abuse, misconduct and violence stemming in part from labor precarity and a lack of workplace protections.</p>
<p>Here, the U.S. – long the global leader in the women’s game – is not immune, as a 2022 report into the sexual misconduct, and verbal and emotional abuse by <a href="https://www.npr.org/2022/10/03/1126587851/womens-soccer-abuse-nwsl-report">coaches in the National Women’s Soccer League</a> has shown.</p>
<p>Going into the 2023 World Cup, the USWNT remains a yardstick by which other teams can be measured. The U.S. players are emblematic of the soaring popularity and commercial value of women’s soccer. But as their labor activism, quest for equal pay and push for better protection reveals, even at the elite level of the women’s game, battles remain both on and off the pitch.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/210008/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>The authors do not work for, consult, own shares in or receive funding from any company or organization that would benefit from this article, and have disclosed no relevant affiliations beyond their academic appointment.</span></em></p>The US national team is the favorite going into the tournament in New Zealand and Australia. But growth in the global game has seen others catch up.Adam Beissel, Associate Professor of Sport Leadership and Management, Miami UniversityAndrew Grainger, Lecturer in Sport Development, Western Sydney UniversityJulie E. Brice, Assistant Professor, Department of Kinesiology, California State University, Fullerton Verity Postlethwaite, Doctoral Prize Fellow, Loughborough University; Research associate, Japan Research Centre, Loughborough UniversityLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/1971722023-02-21T13:23:43Z2023-02-21T13:23:43ZHow apartheid, European racism and Pelé helped cultivate a culture of diversity in US soccer that endures into Messi-era MLS<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/510142/original/file-20230214-24-cmo1s.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&rect=0%2C278%2C2159%2C1567&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">Patrick 'Ace' Ntsoelengoe in action for the Toronto Blizzard.</span> <span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://www.gettyimages.com/detail/news-photo/ace-ntsoelengoe-news-photo/515084973?phrase=Ntsoelengoe&adppopup=true">Tony Bock/Toronto Star via Getty Images</a></span></figcaption></figure><p>North America’s <a href="https://insight.balancenow.co/major-league-soccer-how-diverse-is-the-growing-north-american-sports-league/">most diverse</a> <a href="https://www.mlssoccer.com/news/mls-ranks-most-diverse-pro-league-north-america-average-age-drops">professional league</a> kicks off on Feb. 21, 2024, as Major League Soccer returns after a winter break.</p>
<p>The league, commonly known as the MLS, has long prided itself as a standard-bearer for racial and national diversity: Last season <a href="https://www.mlssoccer.com/news/mls-features-most-geographically-diverse-youthful-player-pool-in-north-american-">saw players from 81 countries</a> across six continents compete for teams. Members of racial minorities <a href="https://www.tidesport.org/_files/ugd/c01324_24acde5f83f24b99aa481a33138f9cf1.pdf">make up 63% of players and 36% of head coaches</a>, according to the latest diversity scorecard from the University of Central Florida’s <a href="https://www.tidesport.org/">Institute for Diversity and Ethics in Sport</a>.</p>
<p>As a <a href="https://as.vanderbilt.edu/communication/people/john-m-sloop/">soccer scholar</a> and author of the book “<a href="https://www.uapress.ua.edu/9780817394547/soccers-neoliberal-pitch/">Soccer’s Neoliberal Pitch</a>,” I know that this diversity is in part by design and has deep roots. Indeed, the MLS had, as a model of diversity, an earlier attempt to get Americans to embrace the “beautiful game”: the North American Soccer League, or NASL.</p>
<h2>The fall and rise of the NASL</h2>
<p>Most often remembered for <a href="https://worldsoccertalk.com/news/pele-leaves-behind-an-everlasting-soccer-legacy-in-america-20221229-WST-413799.html">bringing Pelé to the U.S.</a>, the NASL was arguably the first serious attempt to develop a truly professional “major” soccer league in the country. It <a href="http://www.nasl.com/a-review-of-the-golden-era">ran from 1968 to 1984</a> and peaked in popularity the mid-1970s. </p>
<p>With minimal audiences at the gates and a TV contract that was scrapped early on because of dismal ratings, the league struggled early on. A full dozen of the 17 inaugural teams folded after the first year, leaving just five competing in the second season. Growth was slow – by 1973 there were nine teams, and games had an average attendance of about 6,000 fans.</p>
<p>Most team owners and league commissioner Phil Woosnam believed the NASL needed more sizzle to appeal to an American market. To that end, the league decided to make a number of alterations. Rules were tweaked to increase the number of goals, and more traditional American sports add-ons – tailgating and cheerleaders, for example – were encouraged to help improve the atmosphere.</p>
<p>But the impulse to alter both the substance and meaning of the game had mixed results, at best. Although the NASL was able to enlarge its audience among a subset of fans through these stylistic distractions, others felt alienated by the focus on razzmatazz.</p>
<p>As <a href="https://www.proquest.com/docview/1850826116/D78711E2A15A4159PQ/1?accountid=14816&parentSessionId=bzak904ZyhMydnGB5V2QipEQSVYr2TE%2FEco5Su5lPBs%3D">Newsweek reported at the time</a>, first-generation immigrants – the demographic expected to make up the supporting base – stayed away. Polls revealed that these traditional soccer supporters perceived the quality of play in the league to be so inferior that they weren’t interested in attending games. </p>
<p>Likewise, European players often found the innovations of the NASL off-putting. After playing his first game for the Portland Timbers, Pat Howard – a former player for the English team Everton – <a href="https://us.macmillan.com/books/9781466884007/rocknrollsoccer">found himself thinking</a>, “What kind of football is this? I mean, there were blinking cavalry charges up the wings, ducks behind the goal, firecrackers going on.”</p>
<p>A study commissioned by the NASL convinced the league that it would have to increase the skill level of the game if it hoped to grab the largest possible viewership. And that is when the story of the league’s diversity really takes off.</p>
<h2>A league of nations</h2>
<p>The New York Cosmos, owned by Warner Communications, was one of earliest NASL teams to reach out to international star power, <a href="https://www.cnn.com/2022/12/31/football/pele-new-york-cosmos-north-america-revolution-spt-intl/index.html#:%7E:text=Pel%C3%A9%20joined%20the%20New%20York,last%20official%20game%20in%201977.&text=He'd%20won%20three%20World,of%20soccer%20in%20North%20America.">luring Pelé out of retirement</a> to play three seasons for a reported US$4.7 million.</p>
<figure class="align-center ">
<img alt="A shirtless soccer player talks with Pelé in white jacket, reclining." src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/510363/original/file-20230215-3402-78jak9.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/510363/original/file-20230215-3402-78jak9.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=390&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/510363/original/file-20230215-3402-78jak9.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=390&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/510363/original/file-20230215-3402-78jak9.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=390&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/510363/original/file-20230215-3402-78jak9.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=490&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/510363/original/file-20230215-3402-78jak9.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=490&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/510363/original/file-20230215-3402-78jak9.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=490&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">Pelé chats with fellow New York Cosmos player Manoel Maria in 1975.</span>
<span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://newsroom.ap.org/detail/Pele/dbbe0191e4ef4ae39acab37d715bb58b/photo?Query=Cosmos%20Pele&mediaType=photo&sortBy=arrivaldatetime:asc&dateRange=Anytime&totalCount=269&currentItemNo=12">AP Photo</a></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>The Cosmos followed the signing by bringing in other global stars, such as Germany’s World Cup winning captain Franz Beckenbauer, Italian Giorgio Chinaglia and Brazilian Carlos Alberto.</p>
<p>Other global stars who signed for different teams included elite global players such as Johan Cruyff, Gerd Müller, Peter Osgood, Bobby Moore, Eusébio and George Best. It represented a who’s who of the soccer world, albeit an aging one.</p>
<p>The <a href="https://us.macmillan.com/books/9781466884007/rocknrollsoccer">impact on the league was immediate</a>. It resulted in increased attendances and a higher media profile in the U.S.</p>
<p>It also set a course for rosters featuring players from around the world – and not only through the import of fading stars.</p>
<p>NASL teams needed to strike a balance – and balance their budgets – by searching for players who were talented but also undervalued. And this often meant <a href="https://blacksoccercoaches.org/product/black-pioneers-of-the-north-american-soccer-league-1968-84">bringing in African and African diaspora players</a>. They were aided in their search by overseas racism, both implicit and state-sponsored.</p>
<p>European teams in the 1970s had relatively low numbers of Black players playing in them.</p>
<p>It led players like Trinidad and Tobago’s Leroy DeLeon to choose the NASL rather than sign contracts with European teams. As DeLeon recounted, he decided to join the New York Generals in 1969 <a href="https://blacksoccercoaches.org/product/black-pioneers-of-the-north-american-soccer-league-1968-84">after a recruitment trip</a> to England in which he only saw one Black player, West Ham’s Clyde Best. By contrast, the Washington Darts, the team DeLeon later joined, had seven Trinidadians on the roster. </p>
<h2>Escaping apartheid</h2>
<p>Meanwhile, under the apartheid laws in South Africa, Black and white <a href="https://foreignpolicy.com/2010/06/07/how-soccer-defeated-apartheid/">players were prohibited from playing one another</a>. To Black South Africans, the NASL represented a chance to escape the racism of their homeland. </p>
<p>Patrick “Ace” Ntsoelengoe <a href="https://blacksoccercoaches.org/product/black-pioneers-of-the-north-american-soccer-league-1968-84">was one of many Black South Africans who viewed the NASL</a> as being the only route toward international fame. Fellow Black South African Webster Lichaba, who played in Atlanta in the early 1980s, <a href="https://blacksoccercoaches.org/product/black-pioneers-of-the-north-american-soccer-league-1968-84">relished his treatment in the U.S.</a>: “You were allowed to eat in any restaurant; you went into any club if you wanted to; you stayed in any area you wanted to. … It was different, a different lifestyle altogether. You were treated as an equal.” </p>
<figure class="align-left ">
<img alt="A soccer player in a tracksuit." src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/510148/original/file-20230214-28-hxapdk.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=237&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/510148/original/file-20230214-28-hxapdk.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=488&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/510148/original/file-20230214-28-hxapdk.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=488&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/510148/original/file-20230214-28-hxapdk.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=488&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/510148/original/file-20230214-28-hxapdk.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=614&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/510148/original/file-20230214-28-hxapdk.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=614&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/510148/original/file-20230214-28-hxapdk.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=614&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
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<span class="caption">Kaizer Motaung of the Denver Dynamos.</span>
<span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://www.gettyimages.com/detail/news-photo/motaung-kaizer-boy-boy-denver-dynamos-soccer-star-news-photo/162098895?phrase=Kaizer%20Motaung&adppopup=true">Steve Larson/The Denver Post via Getty Images</a></span>
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<p>Kaizer Motaung, who played for the Atlanta Chiefs and later returned to South Africa to found the successful Kaizer Chiefs football club, <a href="https://scholarlypublishingcollective.org/uip/jsh/article-abstract/47/3/210/217803/Heading-for-the-big-time-South-Africans-and-the">noted</a>: “America was an eye-opener for me. I am in a foreign country, but here are Black people holding high positions being respected worldwide.”</p>
<p>And it wasn’t only Black South Africans who made the move. Apartheid resulted in <a href="https://foreignpolicy.com/2010/06/07/how-soccer-defeated-apartheid/">a sporting boycott of South Africa</a>, preventing the country from playing in international games. As such, the NASL represented an opportunity for white South Africans to play in front of a wider audience.</p>
<p>As <a href="https://scholar.google.com/citations?user=cFKNjHMAAAAJ&hl=en">soccer scholar Chris Bolsmann</a> <a href="https://scholarlypublishingcollective.org/uip/jsh/article-abstract/47/3/210/217803/Heading-for-the-big-time-South-Africans-and-the">has noted</a>, both Black and white players later went back to South Africa, energized to act against apartheid and confident of their ability to succeed in joint struggles again racism. </p>
<p>While some overseas players returned home after their playing careers ended, others stayed to help the grassroots game in the U.S. Trinidad and Tobago goalkeeper <a href="https://www.baltimoresun.com/maryland/howard/columbia/cng-ho-cf-lincoln-phillips-vg-20210826-asacu3qrl5gw7pqn2j6ed3i5z4-photogallery.html">Lincoln Phillips</a>, who played for the Baltimore Bays, went on to coach Howard University’s men’s soccer team – the first from a historically Black college or university to <a href="https://www.ncaa.com/history/soccer-men/d1">win an NCAA soccer championship in 1974</a> – and later helped found the Black Soccer Coaches Association, an organization designed to help move Black coaches up the administrative ladder in soccer. </p>
<h2>A lasting soccer experiment</h2>
<p>While the North American Soccer League never turned soccer into a religion in the U.S. and was not without its own race issues – not least the gap in wages between predominantly European elite players and cheaper African and Caribbean players – it nonetheless leaves a legacy of diversity in U.S. soccer that continues today.</p>
<p>As soccer author <a href="https://www.amazon.com/Rock-Roll-Soccer-American-League/dp/1906850852/ref=tmm_pap_swatch_0?_encoding=UTF8&qid=1654289041&sr=8-2">Ian Plenderleith</a> has argued, the NASL was the first soccer experiment of “mixing several ethnic backgrounds” into one team.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/197172/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>John M Sloop does not work for, consult, own shares in or receive funding from any company or organization that would benefit from this article, and has disclosed no relevant affiliations beyond their academic appointment.</span></em></p>Major League Soccer is the most diverse league in the US. Its predecessor, the NASL, led the way.John M Sloop, Professor of Communication Studies, Vanderbilt UniversityLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/1971482023-01-04T15:42:19Z2023-01-04T15:42:19ZPelé was more than a great footballer – he revolutionised Brazil’s football industry<p><a href="https://theconversation.com/pele-a-global-superstar-and-cultural-icon-who-put-passion-at-the-heart-of-soccer-197097">Brazilian football legend Pelé</a> (1940-2022), whose death was announced in December, inspired countless fans with his skills on the pitch. But his contribution to the off-the-pitch business of football is by no means less impressive.</p>
<p>Following his retirement from the <a href="https://edition.cnn.com/2022/12/31/football/pele-new-york-cosmos-north-america-revolution-spt-intl/index.html">New York Cosmos</a> in 1977, Pelé ran his own company, <a href="https://www.nytimes.com/2006/06/20/sports/20iht-wcpele.html">Pelé Sports and Marketing</a>. </p>
<p>It wasn’t uncommon for retired footballers to take on another job when Pelé first went into business – players weren’t paid the large sums they are today – but Pelé’s success was unusual in terms of scope and recognition, both at home and abroad.</p>
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<a href="https://theconversation.com/pele-was-ensnared-by-brazilian-style-racism-but-stood-firm-as-dictatorship-tried-to-keep-him-playing-197109">Pelé was ensnared by 'Brazilian-style racism' but stood firm as dictatorship tried to keep him playing</a>
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<p>Pelé changed the way businesses viewed Brazilian footballers and the sport as a whole. And that changed the football industry beyond recognition.</p>
<h2>Brazilian footballers</h2>
<p>Brazilian football has come a long way since first reaching the World Cup finals in the 1950s. <a href="https://www.football-observatory.com/Brazil-tops-the-list-for-football-players-export">1,219 Brazilian players</a> now play professionally in 81 different countries, including <a href="https://www.ft.com/content/044b971c-e3ab-4424-8a54-7d73d515626f">four of the top 20 most expensive transfers</a> of all time. </p>
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<iframe width="440" height="260" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/1e6DlM9SRsA?wmode=transparent&start=0" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen=""></iframe>
<figcaption><span class="caption">Some of the best moments from Brazil’s five FIFA World Cup wins.</span></figcaption>
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<p>The €222 million (£192 million) <a href="https://www.reuters.com/article/us-soccer-neymar-idUSKBN1AJ1FV">transfer of Neymar Jr</a> from Barcelona to Paris Saint Germain in 2017 <a href="https://bleacherreport.com/articles/2724794-neymar-to-psg-a-look-inside-the-worlds-biggest-transfer-deal">was record breakingly expensive.</a></p>
<p>Historically, however, Brazilian footballers were not highly regarded by leagues or international sponsors as football was <a href="https://eprints.lse.ac.uk/113724/1/de_Witte_the_idea_of_europe_in_football_paper_17_2021.pdf">more European focused</a>. It was Pelé’s success that changed this perception, leading to increased investment and interest in Brazilian football.</p>
<h2>Brazilian football and the economy of a nation</h2>
<p>The growth of Brazilian football as a business has been a direct result of the <a href="https://www.bloomsbury.com/uk/futebol-9781408854174/">national team’s success</a>. Brazil has won the FIFA World Cup a record five times and consistently produced world class players like Pelé, Ronaldo and Neymar.</p>
<p>While the likes of <a href="https://www.footballhistory.org/player/garrincha.html">Garrincha</a> (1933-1983) elevated the global <a href="https://eds.s.ebscohost.com/eds/detail/detail?vid=0&sid=500f3bc9-3821-44b2-a760-d9b3ac6d6107%40redis&bdata=JnNpdGU9ZWRzLWxpdmU%3d#AN=33650618&db=bth">“brand” of Brazilian football</a>, the money spinning industry that we recognise football as today is more recent – and it started with Pelé. </p>
<p>Here, Pelé’s success was helped by historical timing – his latter playing years and retirement in 1977 came when international sponsorship had started to come on board with FIFA (<a href="https://www.fifamuseum.com/en/about-the-museum/partners/coca-cola/">Coca-Cola became a sponsor in 1974</a>). But it was his international recognition that shone the spotlight on the Brazilian team.</p>
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<figcaption><span class="caption">Before he was sponsored by Coca-Cola, Pelé featured in Pepsi adverts.</span></figcaption>
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<p>More sponsorship for the governing bodies meant more money for the sport. In English football (where club finance data is widely available), research shows that wages <a href="https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/full/10.1080/14660970.2022.2059858">increased in line</a> with the growth in broadcasting income provided by sponsorship. And with the growth in sponsorship came the need for athlete images for sponsors to use – and Pelé was the obvious first choice.</p>
<h2>Sponsorship growth</h2>
<p>Footballers are <a href="https://web.p.ebscohost.com/abstract?direct=true&profile=ehost&scope=site&authtype=crawler&jrnl=17541360&AN=33650618&h=d8TRsnYplTIvK%2b7OwyzFmYbuLFIxXHTKgIlWQOrYiLoN4lh0%2f%2b1UmtsZ3siM%2fPI9%2fnK%2fGhzqyx0Lq4eEcKNaTg%3d%3d&crl=c&resultNs=AdminWebAuth&resultLocal=ErrCrlNotAuth&crlhashurl=login.aspx%3fdirect%3dtrue%26profile%3dehost%26scope%3dsite%26authtype%3dcrawler%26jrnl%3d17541360%26AN%3d33650618">attractive to sponsors</a> because they are <a href="https://journals.humankinetics.com/view/journals/ijsc/12/3/article-p376.xml?alreadyAuthRedirecting">popular, visible and able to generate significant buzz</a> and engagement. They are also seen as role models and influencers, able to reach a vast global audience.</p>
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<span class="caption">The New York Cosmos number 10 was retired in Pelé’s honour.</span>
<span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Libro_elegido_24.jpg">Libro Elegido magazine</a></span>
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<p>Pelé’s international fame and national hero status helped him to use his image after retirement. So influential was that image that Coca-Cola signed him for <a href="https://www.sportbusiness.com/news/coke-signs-soccer-superstar-pele-in-100m-deal/">advertising campaigns in 2001</a>, when he was 60.</p>
<p>There has also been a rise in <a href="https://www.scielo.br/j/cebape/a/CshZdXPDWc68HhXpkk6t7Hg/?lang=en">team sponsorships</a>, where brands are signed as the official sponsor of a football team. </p>
<p>As a result, investment has been made in the <a href="https://theculturetrip.com/south-america/brazil/articles/brazil-soccer-stadiums-from-world-cup-arenas-to-white-elephants/">construction of new stadiums</a> and training facilities and the hosting of major international tournaments such as the 2014 World Cup and 2016 Olympic Games.</p>
<h2>The product of ‘team Brazil’</h2>
<p>Pelé’s global image was also helpful in raising the profiles of his clubs. Santos FC became a household name thanks to its <a href="https://www.santosfc.com.br/en/pele-2/">most famous player</a> and the New York Cosmos, too, benefited through global recognition in markets that US football had not previously reached, such as India. </p>
<p>The same is true of the Brazilian national team. The 1950s were a buoyant time for the Brazilian economy, which created an <a href="https://books.google.co.uk/books/about/The_Ball_is_Round.html?id=BrimQgAACAAJ&redir_esc=y">ideal atmosphere for its football industry to grow</a>. Pelé led the charge, with Brazil being crowned world champions in three of his four FIFA World Cups. </p>
<p>This created a product of “team Brazil” at a time when sponsorship was becoming an <a href="https://www.scielo.br/j/motriz/a/mKpftwpvQFYR9Btmdx8ByBd/abstract/?lang=en">increasingly integral</a> part of football.</p>
<p>But with growth also came issues. Corruption within both the <a href="https://www.besoccer.com/new/fifa-bans-head-of-brazilian-football-federation-for-life-over-corruption-418411">Brazilian football federation</a> and <a href="https://www.penguin.co.uk/books/432790/the-fall-of-the-house-of-fifa-by-david-conn/9780224100458">FIFA</a> have been <a href="https://www.frontiersin.org/articles/10.3389/fspor.2021.649889/full">well documented</a>. Pelé himself <a href="https://www.nytimes.com/1993/12/20/sports/IHT-familyfirster-havelange-bars-pele-irking-other-soccer-officials.html">was vocal</a> in his criticism of the state of football administration in Brazil during his time as the country’s extraordinary minister for sport.</p>
<p>The economics of football meant <a href="https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/full/10.1080/19406940.2022.2062425">vested interests and politics</a> made use of the culturally important team, a legacy <a href="https://theconversation.com/brazils-iconic-football-shirt-was-a-symbol-of-bolsonaro-heres-how-the-world-cup-is-changing-that-195405">still in existence today</a>. </p>
<p>Regardless of the issues, Pelé’s legacy of Brazilian greatness will march on. As the blurb for his 2007 <a href="https://www.simonandschuster.co.uk/books/Pele-The-Autobiography/Pele/9781416511212">autobiography</a> stated: “even people who don’t know football know Pelé.”</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/197148/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Christina Philippou is affiliated with the RAF FA.</span></em></p><p class="fine-print"><em><span>Sarthak Mondal does not work for, consult, own shares in or receive funding from any company or organisation that would benefit from this article, and has disclosed no relevant affiliations beyond their academic appointment.</span></em></p>Pelé’s death in December saw the world mourn one of football’s all time greats, but his contributions to the business of football were by no means less great.Christina Philippou, Principal Lecturer, Accounting and Financial Management, University of PortsmouthSarthak Mondal, Lecturer in Sport Management, University of PortsmouthLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/1962762022-12-22T22:13:09Z2022-12-22T22:13:09ZWill Australia receive a red card for gender equity at the 2023 Women’s World Cup?<p>This year’s FIFA men’s World Cup has cast a media spotlight on Qatar’s human rights record. The tournament also offered an opportunity to <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/football/2022/nov/29/protests-around-iran-at-world-cup-continue-but-security-take-a-step-back">draw attention</a> to the current protests in Iran surrounding the mistreatment of women.</p>
<p>Qatar’s <a href="https://www.amnesty.org/en/location/middle-east-and-north-africa/qatar/report-qatar/">imbalance in rights</a> and treatment of women in particular has been called out. Discrimination against women has long been enshrined in Qatari law, including <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/global-development/2021/mar/29/were-treated-as-children-qatari-women-tell-rights-group">unclear rules</a> on male guardianship. This means Qatari women face inequities and lack of access to basic freedoms.</p>
<p>Although Iran was not a host country, the World Cup has been an opportunity for people to protest the treatment of women in Iran following the <a href="https://www.abc.net.au/news/2022-09-23/what-happened-to-mahsa-mini-iran-protests-death-iranian-women/101467612">death in custody</a> of Kurdish-Iranian woman Mahsa Amini. Iranian footballer Amir Reza Nasr Azadani was this month <a href="https://www.abc.net.au/news/2022-12-15/iranian-footballer-handed-death-sentence-for-backing-women/101774262">sentenced to death</a> for joining in protests against the country’s clerical establishment.</p>
<p>Host nations of large sports events are often called out by the international public for their track record on human rights. If they fall short of human rights expectations they are increasingly accused of “<a href="https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2022/nov/16/sportswashing-qatar-west-world-cup-regime">sportswashing</a>” – enhancing their reputation by leveraging the <a href="https://theconversation.com/liv-golf-sportwashing-vs-the-commercial-value-of-public-attention-185478">goodwill associated with sport</a>. </p>
<p>While Australia is unlikely to be accused of sportswashing to the same extent as nations like Qatar, should we be? As we prepare to co-host (with New Zealand) the 2023 FIFA women’s World Cup, will the world bring focus to Australia’s treatment of women?</p>
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<a href="https://theconversation.com/fifas-mirage-of-unity-why-the-world-cup-is-a-vessel-for-political-protest-195432">FIFA's mirage of unity: why the World Cup is a vessel for political protest</a>
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<h2>Sport events revealing human rights injustices</h2>
<p>In 2017, amid mounting criticism of its decision to award the 2022 tournament to Qatar, FIFA, the international governing body of football, adopted a <a href="https://digitalhub.fifa.com/m/1a876c66a3f0498d/original/kr05dqyhwr1uhqy2lh6r-pdf.pdf">Human Rights Policy</a> with the aim of encouraging member countries to respect and protect all human rights. However, FIFA stands accused of <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/football/2022/dec/12/fifa-accused-of-failing-to-adhere-to-its-own-human-rights-commitments">failing to adhere</a> to its own human rights commitments.</p>
<p>This includes FIFA <a href="https://www.reuters.com/article/us-soccer-worldcup-fifa-infantino-idUSKBN1K31IG">praising Russia</a> for hosting a successful tournament in 2018, despite the country doing little to hold that nation to account for abuses of foreign workers, repression of LGBTQIA+ people and its persecution of Ukraine.</p>
<h2>Is Australia levelling the playing field for women?</h2>
<p>It’s important to note that unlike Qatar and Iran, Australia doesn’t have constitutional or legally formalised repression of women or sexual minorities. However, women (especially First Nations women) in Australia still navigate deeply entrenched inequities and disadvantage for a range of reasons.</p>
<p>This is why in the lead-up to Australia co-hosting the Women’s World Cup, the nation needs to look at its own gender inequities. For example, Australia is currently ranked <a href="https://www3.weforum.org/docs/WEF_GGGR_2022.pdf">43rd in the world</a> by the World Economic Forum for gender equality. In contrast, our 2023 Women’s World Cup hosting partners New Zealand ranks fourth. </p>
<p>One woman a week <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2021/mar/01/a-woman-is-still-being-killed-each-week-in-australia-we-need-federal-leadership">dies in Australia</a> as a consequence of intimate partner violence. <a href="https://www.ourwatch.org.au/quick-facts/">One in two</a> Australian women have experienced sexual harassment in their lifetime. It’s been <a href="https://www.pwc.com.au/pdf/a-high-price-to-pay.pdf">estimated</a> violence against women costs the Australian economy $21.7 billion a year. <a href="https://www.sbs.com.au/news/article/the-dark-underbelly-of-australian-workplaces-was-exposed-now-migrants-are-being-asked-for-their-stories/mhyk2p0pc">Migrant, refugee</a> and First Nations women are at <a href="https://www.aihw.gov.au/reports/domestic-violence/family-domestic-sexual-violence-in-australia-2018/report-editions">greater risk</a>. </p>
<p>Australia’s lack of progress is also reflected in Australian men having been <a href="https://www.globalcitizen.org/en/content/australian-men-rank-among-most-misogynistic/">found</a> to hold some of the most sexist and misogynistic views in the world. This research found more men in Australia believe “it’s a woman’s obligation to have sex with her boyfriend or husband even if she doesn’t feel like it” than men in any of the 30 countries surveyed.</p>
<p>Inequity against women is also present in workplaces. Despite legislative and other apparent protections, inequities against women are weaved into the very fabric of our nation. From the private domain, workplaces to the law and public office, masculine (typically white) privilege is retained.</p>
<p>At the current rate of progress, it will take more than 200 years for Australian women to achieve <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/australia-news/2022/dec/05/australian-women-will-need-more-than-200-years-to-reach-income-equity-with-men">pay equity with men</a>. </p>
<h2>First Nations women disproportionately affected by inequity in Australia</h2>
<p>Through <a href="https://www.footballaustralia.com.au/legacy23">Australia’s Legacy ‘23 plan</a> to increase diversity in professional sport, there is an <a href="https://www.fifa.com/tournaments/womens/womensworldcup/australia-new-zealand2023/news/australia-building-strong-platform-for-indigenous-legacy">opportunity</a> for First Nations women and gender-diverse people to participate in football. While a great sporting opportunity, how will this materially or culturally benefit these First Nations people in the long term? </p>
<p>First Nations peoples’ public participation in sport is not enough, as academics Toni Bruce and Emma Wensing have found in <a href="https://link.springer.com/chapter/10.1057/9780230367463_31">their research</a>. They analysed the reception to Cathy Freeman’s success at the Sydney Olympics, and found that widepsread media coverage of Freeman’s achievements did nothing to change the country’s racial attitudes towards Aboriginal people. </p>
<p>While widespread media coverage of participation in sport is certainly a great opportunity for some First Nations people in Australia, it could be considered a form of sportswashing, where media use sport and sporting achievements to distract from bigger issues. For example, in 2016–17, Indigenous women in Australia reported three times as many incidents of sexual violence and accounted for one in three family violence <a href="https://www.aihw.gov.au/getmedia/b180312b-27de-4cd9-b43e-16109e52f3d4/aihw-fdv4-FDSV-in-Australia-2019_in-brief.pdf.aspx?inline=true">hospitalisations</a>, and were more likely to be killed due to assault.</p>
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Read more:
<a href="https://theconversation.com/how-closing-the-gap-may-close-doors-for-first-nations-women-in-new-plan-to-end-violence-192620">How 'closing the gap' may close doors for First Nations women in new plan to end violence</a>
</strong>
</em>
</p>
<hr>
<h2>Moving the goalposts</h2>
<p>Australia has voluntarily entered into <a href="https://www.ag.gov.au/rights-and-protections/human-rights-and-anti-discrimination/international-human-rights-system#:%7E:text=Australia%20is%20a%20party%20to,Forms%20of%20Racial%20Discrimination%20(CERD)">human rights treaty commitments</a> including the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination Against Women (CEDAW). </p>
<p>As it stands, we aren’t doing enough to honour this commitment. Uplifting women will have positive cultural and economic effects that benefit all Australians, we’re on the same team after all. To build women’s strengths Australia could start by investing in meaningful amounts of <a href="https://theconversation.com/paid-parental-leave-needs-an-overhaul-if-governments-want-us-to-have-one-for-the-country-145627">paid parental leave</a>. First Nations people must also be valued and <a href="https://theconversation.com/albanese-insists-voice-will-help-close-the-gap-as-divisions-flare-in-nationals-195564">empowered</a> to address inequities affecting them.</p>
<p>Perhaps some rules of the game need changing? Or maybe the goalposts need to be shifted altogether. Calling foul on workplace harassment, eliminating the gender pay gap, reducing violence against Indigenous women and enabling women to progress are rights Australia has sworn to practice and protect. </p>
<p>This would be a win for everyone.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/196276/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Sonya Pearce works with Homelessness NSW and is Consultant for DVSM RAP PLAN, and received grants from PAUL RAMSAY FOUNDATION and UTSB.</span></em></p><p class="fine-print"><em><span>Alison Pullen, Hazel Maxwell, Michelle O'Shea, and Sarah Duffy do not work for, consult, own shares in or receive funding from any company or organisation that would benefit from this article, and have disclosed no relevant affiliations beyond their academic appointment.</span></em></p>The Qatar World Cup has attracted criticism of the country’s human rights. With Australia set to host the women’s world cup next year, there’s some work we need to do in this area, too.Michelle O'Shea, Senior Lecturer, School of Business, Western Sydney UniversityAlison Pullen, Professor of Gender, Work and Organization, Macquarie UniversityHazel Maxwell, Senior Lecturer, Western Sydney UniversitySarah Duffy, Senior Lecturer, School of Business, Western Sydney UniversitySonya Joy Pearce, Casual academic, University of Sydney, University of Technology SydneyLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/1969132022-12-21T17:23:52Z2022-12-21T17:23:52ZLionel Messi’s black cloak: a brief history of the bisht, given to the superstar after his World Cup triumph<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/502397/original/file-20221221-17-uhtknt.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&rect=8%2C25%2C5599%2C3707&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">Argentina's Lionel Messi is honored with a cloak prior to receiving the World Cup trophy at Lusail Stadium in Lusail, Qatar, on Dec. 18, 2022. </span> <span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://newsroom.ap.org/detail/WCupArgentinaFranceSoccer/6fe696ed3f5f4799b94de31b1109f0aa/photo?Query=messi%20receiving%20world%20cup&mediaType=photo&sortBy=&dateRange=Anytime&totalCount=14&currentItemNo=0">AP Photo/Thanassis Stavrakis</a></span></figcaption></figure><p>Shortly before Lionel Messi took to the stage to lift up the World Cup trophy, Qatari Emir Sheikh Tamim bin Hamad Al Thani <a href="https://www.aljazeera.com/news/2022/12/19/why-was-messi-wearing-a-bisht-at-world-cup-ceremony">put a black cloak, called a “bisht</a>,” over the Argentinian soccer star’s shoulders.</p>
<p>Images of Messi wrapped in black fabric, which might have been construed as obscuring his national jersey, caused confusion around the world. Many fans questioned why the Argentinian soccer star was shrouded in an Arabian cape, with some suggesting that it “<a href="https://www.sportbible.com/football/lionel-messi-world-cup-trophy-903540-20221218">ruined an iconic moment</a>.” </p>
<p>What is the bisht? And what is its significance?</p>
<h2>A cloak for the ages</h2>
<p>As a <a href="https://www.pardismahdavi.com/">scholar of Middle Eastern cultural traditions</a>, I’m aware that the origins of the bisht date back to the fifth century B.C. It was initially used as a traveling coat to protect the skin of nomadic shepherds and Bedouins as they journeyed through different climates. </p>
<p>The word itself <a href="https://www.arabnews.com/fashion/traditional-modern-saudi-mans-bisht">derives from Persian</a> and translates literally to “on one’s back.” Also called an “aba” in Arabic, the bisht is traditionally a long, hand-woven cloak made of camel hair and goat fur. Its fibers were specifically crafted for the harsh desert climates – both cold and warm. </p>
<p>The process of spinning and weaving the fabric together – usually black, brown, beige or gray – makes it highly breathable.</p>
<p>Over time, tailors began adding specialized trim to the cloth, such as hand-spun gold or silver. The trim, called “zari,” was crafted by mixing fine metals with silk to give it a lasting sheen. The zari was added to the outer portions to distinguish traveling cloaks from those to be worn <a href="https://www.arabnews.com/node/2218411/lifestyle">by dignitaries or on special occasions</a>.</p>
<p><a href="https://www.middleeasteye.net/discover/qatar-world-cup-bisht-origins-what-it-represents">By the time</a> of the Prophet Muhammad in the sixth century, soldiers and generals who performed well were shrouded with a bisht after battle in the conquests of the Persian and later Arab empires. The more transparent the fabric and more ornate the trim, the higher the honor. In countries such as the United Arab Emirates and Qatar that were formed in the early 1900s, <a href="https://www.middleeasteye.net/discover/qatar-world-cup-bisht-origins-what-it-represents">royalty and politicians</a>, referred to as Al Malaki, frequently wore the more ornamented bisht.</p>
<h2>Culture and the meaning of style</h2>
<p><div data-react-class="Tweet" data-react-props="{"tweetId":"1604978642379231234"}"></div></p>
<p>Today, there are many kinds and levels of the bisht, ranging in price from a few hundred to a few hundred thousand U.S. dollars. While the invention of the sewing machine facilitated the mass production of these cloaks, royalty, dignitaries and sheikhs wear only handmade, woven and trimmed bisht. </p>
<p>Like fashion and outerwear around the world, Middle Eastern clothing such as the bisht or the traditional white robes worn by many Arabs in the Persian Gulf, called “dish dasha,” are a status symbol. </p>
<p>For Qataris, shrouding Messi, the star of the FIFA World Cup, with their most honorific clothing was <a href="https://www.aljazeera.com/opinions/2022/12/20/how-lionel-messis-bisht-exposed-the-western-medias-racism-again">an opportunity to share</a> their culture – and the geopolitical importance of the World Cup games – with the world.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/196913/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Pardis Mahdavi does not work for, consult, own shares in or receive funding from any company or organization that would benefit from this article, and has disclosed no relevant affiliations beyond their academic appointment.</span></em></p>A scholar of Middle Eastern cultural traditions explains the history and significance of the bisht.Pardis Mahdavi, Provost and Executive Vice President, University of MontanaLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/1944932022-12-18T18:07:55Z2022-12-18T18:07:55ZLooking back on the 2022 FIFA World Cup: A tournament of surprises and controversy<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/501710/original/file-20221218-16-k5xgzr.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&rect=44%2C44%2C7418%2C4922&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">Argentina's football players celebrate with the World Cup trophy after winning the final match with France at the Lusail Stadium in Lusail, Qatar.</span> <span class="attribution"><span class="source">(AP Photo/Martin Meissner)</span></span></figcaption></figure><p>After a month of football, the 2022 FIFA Men’s World Cup in Qatar has concluded with <a href="https://www.cbc.ca/sports/soccer/worldcup/world-cup-argentina-france-final-recap-1.6690221">Argentina beating France 4-2 in a penalty shootout after drawing 3-3</a>. Record numbers of fans were expected to watch the nail-biting final match at the Lusail Stadium just outside of the Qatari capital Doha. </p>
<figure class="align-right zoomable">
<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/501711/original/file-20221218-11-vfhrq0.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="A man in a blue football uniform carrying a golden trophy in the shape of a football boot walks past the world cup trophy." src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/501711/original/file-20221218-11-vfhrq0.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=237&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/501711/original/file-20221218-11-vfhrq0.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/501711/original/file-20221218-11-vfhrq0.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/501711/original/file-20221218-11-vfhrq0.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/501711/original/file-20221218-11-vfhrq0.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/501711/original/file-20221218-11-vfhrq0.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/501711/original/file-20221218-11-vfhrq0.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px"></a>
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">France’s Kylian Mbappé won the golden boot trophy awarded to the tournament’s top goal scorer.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">(AP Photo/Martin Meissner)</span></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>The tournament featured <a href="https://www.bbc.co.uk/newsround/63832029">a highly competitive group stage</a>, increased <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/football/2022/dec/03/diverse-world-cup-knockout-stage-a-leap-forward-for-africa-and-asia">global representation</a> in the knockout rounds, <a href="https://www.economist.com/graphic-detail/2022/12/09/qatars-world-cup-has-seen-the-biggest-upsets-in-recent-history">dramatic upsets</a> and <a href="https://www.marca.com/en/world-cup/2022/12/05/638e1bb7268e3e7c628b4594.html">outstanding individual performances</a> — highlighted by Argentina’s great Lionel Messi and emerging superstar Kylian Mbappé of France.</p>
<p>From the moment FIFA announced Qatar as the 2022 World Cup host in 2010, non-sporting controversy has plagued the event. In addition to <a href="https://www.forbes.com/sites/afontevecchia/2015/05/29/fifa-scandal-follow-the-money-to-qatar/?sh=609092241a6a">bribery charges against FIFA officials</a>, questions were raised about the suitability of a small nation with limited football history or <a href="https://www.bloomberg.com/news/features/2022-09-22/fifa-world-cup-in-qatar-brings-new-infrastructure-hotels-stadiums">infrastructure</a> hosting the World Cup. </p>
<p>Complicating the choice of Qatar further was the <a href="https://www.scientificamerican.com/article/how-will-mens-world-cup-soccer-players-cope-with-qatar-heat/">desert nation’s hot summers</a> which made scheduling the event in its normal June-July timeframe impractical — necessitating the <a href="https://www.espn.com/soccer/fifa-world-cup/story/4345373/qatar-2022-how-will-football-squeeze-in-a-world-cup-in-november-december">move to November-December</a>, which European football associations viewed as disrupting their regular schedules.</p>
<figure class="align-center zoomable">
<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/501617/original/file-20221216-22510-xi6pw6.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="Moroccan soccer players wearing red and green celebrate on a football pitch with Moroccan flags." src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/501617/original/file-20221216-22510-xi6pw6.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/501617/original/file-20221216-22510-xi6pw6.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/501617/original/file-20221216-22510-xi6pw6.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/501617/original/file-20221216-22510-xi6pw6.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/501617/original/file-20221216-22510-xi6pw6.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/501617/original/file-20221216-22510-xi6pw6.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/501617/original/file-20221216-22510-xi6pw6.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px"></a>
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">Moroccan players celebrate after becoming the first African and Arab team to reach the semi-finals at the World Cup.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">(AP Photo/Martin Meissner)</span></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<h2>Politics and sport</h2>
<p>Beyond the logistical issues, the 2022 World Cup will also be remembered as one of the most politically scrutinized sporting events in recent times. A sampling of global politics intersecting with the World Cup include:</p>
<ul>
<li><p>FIFA threatened to give yellow cards to team captains who <a href="https://www.cbc.ca/sports/soccer/worldcup/world-cup-one-love-arm-bands-fifa-1.6658613">wear One Love armbands</a> in support of LGBTQ+ rights.</p></li>
<li><p><a href="https://www.sportsnet.ca/soccer/article/germany-players-cover-mouths-in-fifa-protest-during-team-photo-at-world-cup/">German players covered their mouths</a> during the pre-game photo to protest the Qatari government’s human rights violations.</p></li>
<li><p><a href="https://www.cnn.com/2022/11/28/football/brussels-riots-belgium-morocco-world-cup-spt-intl/index.html">Some Morocco fans rioted in Belgium</a> after the North African nation defeated the Belgians.</p></li>
<li><p>Serbian players <a href="https://globalnews.ca/news/9307296/serbia-political-banner-fifa-world-cup/">displayed a map of their home nation</a> in their locker room that included Kosovo with the words “No Surrender.” Kosovo declared its independence from Serbia in 2008.</p></li>
<li><p><a href="https://www.theguardian.com/football/2022/nov/27/usa-show-iran-flag-without-emblem-of-islamic-republic-before-world-cup-clash">Iranian state officials called for the U.S. to be kicked out</a> of the tournament after the U.S. Soccer Federation displayed an image of the Iranian flag on social media without the Islamic Republic emblem.</p></li>
<li><p><a href="https://www.cbc.ca/news/world/iran-qatar-world-cup-protests-1.6664061">There were tensions between pro-government and protest-supporting Iranian fans</a>.</p></li>
<li><p><a href="https://www.middleeasteye.net/news/qatar-world-cup-israel-media-shunned-arab-muslim-fans">Fans refused to be interviewed by Israeli media outlets</a>.</p></li>
<li><p><a href="https://www.nytimes.com/2022/12/07/sports/soccer/palestine-flag-world-cup.html">The Palestinian flag was waved by teams and fans</a>.</p></li>
<li><p><a href="https://www.tsn.ca/serbia-charged-by-fifa-for-team-fans-conduct-at-world-cup-1.1888814">Tensions escalated on the field and in the stands</a> during Serbia’s match with Switzerland who featured players of Albanian descent.</p></li>
</ul>
<h2>Human rights criticisms</h2>
<p>Human rights groups criticized Qatar’s <a href="https://www.hrw.org/news/2022/10/24/qatar-security-forces-arrest-abuse-lgbt-people">laws banning homosexuality</a> and its <a href="https://www.cfr.org/backgrounder/what-kafala-system">poor treatment of migrant workers</a>. Millions of migrant workers live in Qatar, with an estimated one million employed in the construction industry. </p>
<p>According to a <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/global-development/2021/feb/23/revealed-migrant-worker-deaths-qatar-fifa-world-cup-2022">report by <em>The Guardian</em></a>, 6,500 of these migrant workers — mostly from South Asia — died in Qatar in the years since FIFA’s decision to award the country the World Cup.</p>
<p><a href="https://www.gco.gov.qa/en/2021/02/gco-statement-guardian-article/">Qatari authorities have challenged</a> <em>The Guardian’s</em> report, claiming the number of migrant worker deaths were in line with expected mortality rates. And officials also highlight the legacy that the World Cup will provide Qatar, including modernized <a href="https://www.wilsoncenter.org/article/2022-fifa-world-cup-qatars-catalyst-propel-development-and-soft-power">infrastructure for a diversified economy</a> and social progress, including <a href="https://www.hrw.org/news/2020/09/24/qatar-significant-labor-and-kafala-reforms">labour reforms</a>, to better protect vulnerable migrant workers. </p>
<figure class="align-right zoomable">
<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/501611/original/file-20221216-22510-8bdby7.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="A white man wearing a suit with his head resting on his hand." src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/501611/original/file-20221216-22510-8bdby7.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=237&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/501611/original/file-20221216-22510-8bdby7.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=693&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/501611/original/file-20221216-22510-8bdby7.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=693&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/501611/original/file-20221216-22510-8bdby7.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=693&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/501611/original/file-20221216-22510-8bdby7.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=871&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/501611/original/file-20221216-22510-8bdby7.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=871&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/501611/original/file-20221216-22510-8bdby7.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=871&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px"></a>
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">At a news conference before the opening match, FIFA President Gianni Infantino said the West should not criticize Qatar and instead apologize for its own human rights abuses.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">(AP Photo/Martin Meissner)</span></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>During the event’s opening ceremony, American actor Morgan Freeman appeared on the field with <a href="https://ghanimalmuftah.org/">Ghanim al-Muftah</a> — a young Qatari social media celebrity born with a lower spine impairment — to emphasize the world as “<a href="https://ca.sports.yahoo.com/news/morgan-freeman-helps-open-controversial-184327877.html">one big tribe</a>.” Qatar’s emir, <a href="https://www.qatar2022.qa/en/news/spectacular-opening-ceremony-signals-the-start-of-fifa-world-cup-qatar-2022">Sheikh Tamim bin Hamad al-Thani</a> welcomed the world to his nation, and asked for people to “put aside what divides them” and engage in “human and civilized communications.” </p>
<p>The gentle tone of Qatar’s leader contrasted with FIFA President <a href="https://www.cbc.ca/news/world/fifa-president-infantino-qatar-critics-1.6657690">Gianni Infantino’s angry hour long speech</a> the previous day calling out the West’s hypocrisy and demanding Europe apologize for the next 3,000 years for its human rights abuses.</p>
<p>Throughout the tournament, our project has been <a href="https://www.balsillieschool.ca/research/projects/world-cup/">highlighting this intersection of global politics and the World Cup</a>. Every match tells a story about international affairs — sometimes directly through football, other times tangentially. But the reality is sport always happens in times and places and the political dimension cannot be ignored or set aside despite pleas from gatekeepers such as FIFA who <a href="https://www.fifa.com/social-impact/campaigns/football-unites-the-world/news/fifa-world-cup-unites-the-world-and-helps-global-causes">want to better the world</a> while <a href="https://www.cbc.ca/sports/soccer/fifa-world-cup-focus-soccer-over-politics-1.6640459">appearing to stay on the political sidelines</a>.</p>
<figure class="align-center zoomable">
<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/501613/original/file-20221216-22-ied2jl.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="A man wearing black holds out to his arm to a smaller man wearing Arabic clothing who is also holding out his arm." src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/501613/original/file-20221216-22-ied2jl.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/501613/original/file-20221216-22-ied2jl.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/501613/original/file-20221216-22-ied2jl.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/501613/original/file-20221216-22-ied2jl.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/501613/original/file-20221216-22-ied2jl.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/501613/original/file-20221216-22-ied2jl.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/501613/original/file-20221216-22-ied2jl.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px"></a>
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">U.S. actor Morgan Freeman, left, with FIFA World Cup Ambassador Ghanim al-Muftah at the FIFA World Cup opening ceremony in Doha, Qatar.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">(AP Photo/Hassan Ammar)</span></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<h2>Diverging opinions</h2>
<p>As the tournament concludes, assessments will begin: was it a success beyond the sport? The answer is — it’s complicated. Defenders of Qatar as host will likely point to the nation’s lasting <a href="https://www.fifa.com/tournaments/mens/worldcup/qatar2022/news/legacy-in-action-qatar-2022s-state-of-the-art-transport-systems">infrastructure enhancements</a> and employment of cutting-edge <a href="https://www.qatar2022.qa/en/sustainability">sustainability practices</a>; the significance of bringing the <a href="https://www.qatar2022.qa/en/news/the-first-world-cup-in-the-arab-world-and-middle-east-offers-a-unique-opportunity-to-celebrate-humanity">World Cup to the Middle East</a> and <a href="https://www.pacificcouncil.org/newsroom/building-bridges-through-sport-qatars-world-cup-vision">building cultural bridges</a> through a peaceful sporting event; and the opportunity for Qatar to showcase <a href="https://www.aljazeera.com/sports/2022/11/20/reflecting-on-a-modern-qatar-during-a-world-cup-game-with-friends">its modern identity</a>. </p>
<p>Detractors will point to the treatment of migrant workers, <a href="https://www.aljazeera.com/sports/2022/11/17/do-host-countries-make-money-from-the-world-cup">the estimated US$200 billion price tag</a> and the sportswashing of Qatar’s image.</p>
<p>To capture these divergent ways of looking at the intersection of sport and politics, <a href="https://doi.org/10.1080/13600826.2021.1973382">Tim Elcombe created the REI/BCI continuum</a>. One can view Qatar’s hosting of the World Cup from a positive perspective: an opportunity for Qatar to develop meaningful resources (R), to engage the world in productive dialogue (E) and to show the world Qatar’s identity (I). </p>
<p>At the same time, a negative view of the 2022 World Cup host would emphasize the waste of resources (and loss of life) to put on a four-week “show” (Bread and Circus) for the purpose of washing its image through sport (BCI).</p>
<p>Regardless of which view holds sway, the 2022 FIFA World Cup reminds us that sport is complex and tense — both on and off the field.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/194493/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Tim Elcombe receives funding from from the Balsillie School of International Affairs.</span></em></p><p class="fine-print"><em><span>Alanna Harman and Alun Hardman do not work for, consult, own shares in or receive funding from any company or organisation that would benefit from this article, and have disclosed no relevant affiliations beyond their academic appointment.</span></em></p>During the 2022 FIFA World Cup, many highlighted the controversial and politicized climate of the tournament, but sport and politics are rarely, if ever, separable.Tim Elcombe, Associate professor, Kinesiology & Physical Education; Fellow, Balsillie School of International Affairs, Wilfrid Laurier UniversityAlanna Harman, Assistant Professor, Kinesiology and Physical Education, Wilfrid Laurier UniversityAlun Hardman, Senior Lecturer and Associate Dean, International, Cardiff Metropolitan UniversityLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/1964182022-12-12T17:52:28Z2022-12-12T17:52:28ZWorld Cup 2022: crunching 150 years of big data to predict the winner<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/500469/original/file-20221212-113843-qh64s7.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&rect=30%2C25%2C3402%2C2235&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">France's goalkeeper #01 Hugo Lloris (C) jumps for the ball during the Qatar 2022 World Cup quarter-final football match between England and France at the Al-Bayt Stadium in Al Khor, north of Doha, on December 10, 2022. </span> <span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://news.afp.com/#/c/main/search/photos?id=newsml.afp.com.20221210T210326Z.doc-33362bz&type=photo">Jewel Samad/AFP</a></span></figcaption></figure><p>Perhaps more than any recent World Cup, this year’s competition in Qatar has thrown up considerable surprises. Who indeed, of the analytics crowd, could have predicted Saudi Arabia would defeat Argentina the way it did, or competition-favourite Brazil would end up losing to Croatia? Meanwhile, Morocco has stunned commentators by becoming <a href="https://edition.cnn.com/2022/12/10/football/morocco-portugal-quarterfinals-world-cup-2022-spt-intl/index.html">the first African nation to reach semi-finals</a>. Now, almost a week away from the final, speculation is about who will win the game is at its apex. Is there any way we could predict the results better than we did by “following the science”? </p>
<h2>150 years of big data</h2>
<p>In collaboration with analytics company <a href="https://www.alteryx.com/">Alteryx</a> and Stirling University , our team at Audencia has given its best shot by developing a sophisticated World Cup prediction model drawing from 150 years of international football match results, including tournaments and friendly games. </p>
<p>While developing our initial mathematical model, we considered factors such as win ratio, goals scored, and overall match results. To further improve the accuracy of our prediction, we took into account individual teams’ current FIFA ranking and overall rating. We also added <a href="https://www.fifaratings.com/">FIFA player ratings</a> along with individual player skills and attribute scores (i.e., attack, movement, power, defence). This allows fine adjustments in our modelling technique based on individual player selection and injuries during later stages.</p>
<p>With the existing data as a <a href="https://theconversation.com/what-is-machine-learning-76759">machine-learning training mechanism</a>, we employed <a href="https://www.ibm.com/cloud/learn/random-forest">Random Forest algorithm</a> to predict results for every World Cup fixture. Using the <a href="https://www.alteryx.com/">Alteryx</a> data analysis platform, we calculated the overall outcome of individual games along with <a href="https://understat.com/">expected goals</a> (xG) per team per match. Overall, our model showed 60% to 70% accuracy rate in the course of the training and testing phase. In data science language, this is considered to be a range of accuracy that is acceptable to good in predicting the outcome of an event.</p>
<figure class="align-center ">
<img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/500407/original/file-20221212-109624-4pofku.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/500407/original/file-20221212-109624-4pofku.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=331&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/500407/original/file-20221212-109624-4pofku.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=331&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/500407/original/file-20221212-109624-4pofku.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=331&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/500407/original/file-20221212-109624-4pofku.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=416&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/500407/original/file-20221212-109624-4pofku.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=416&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/500407/original/file-20221212-109624-4pofku.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=416&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">Importance and ranking of key data variables used for match prediction.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="license">Author provided</span></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<h2>Group stage, knockout stage and the winner</h2>
<p>Applying the model to the FIFA World Cup 2022 group stage fixtures produced some interesting and unexpected results. We ran the simulation through 500 different sets of probabilities to verify the accuracy of these predictions. Our algorithm successfully predicted the qualifications of 11 teams, including Senegal and Morocco, reflecting 68.7% accuracy.</p>
<p><strong>Group stage result prediction</strong></p>
<figure class="align-center zoomable">
<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/500457/original/file-20221212-113720-4pofku.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/500457/original/file-20221212-113720-4pofku.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/500457/original/file-20221212-113720-4pofku.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=227&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/500457/original/file-20221212-113720-4pofku.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=227&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/500457/original/file-20221212-113720-4pofku.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=227&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/500457/original/file-20221212-113720-4pofku.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=286&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/500457/original/file-20221212-113720-4pofku.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=286&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/500457/original/file-20221212-113720-4pofku.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=286&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px"></a>
<figcaption>
<span class="caption"></span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="license">Author provided</span></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>After the start of the knockout stage, we reset the results and ran the simulation mimicking the original knockout fixtures. The new analysis also took into account player performance during this World Cup and likely player selection during each match. During the round of 16 predictions, our algorithm predicted seven correct match result outcomes, reflecting 87.5% accuracy. The only shock result was Morocco’s win over Spain, which we couldn’t capture appropriately.</p>
<p><strong>Round of 16 results (predicted vs actual)</strong></p>
<figure class="align-center zoomable">
<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/500458/original/file-20221212-105279-f6pez3.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/500458/original/file-20221212-105279-f6pez3.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/500458/original/file-20221212-105279-f6pez3.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=144&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/500458/original/file-20221212-105279-f6pez3.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=144&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/500458/original/file-20221212-105279-f6pez3.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=144&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/500458/original/file-20221212-105279-f6pez3.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=181&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/500458/original/file-20221212-105279-f6pez3.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=181&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/500458/original/file-20221212-105279-f6pez3.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=181&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px"></a>
<figcaption>
<span class="caption"></span>
<span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://www.telegraph.co.uk/world-cup/2022-predictor-wallchart-football-bracket-predictions/">Developed using The Telegraph Wallchart</a>, <span class="license">Author provided</span></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>In the simulation of the quarter finals, once again, we revised the algorithm considering quarterfinal fixtures and individual player’s performance during the World Cup. This time our algorithm only came out with 50% accuracy, failing to predict Brazil’s exit and Morocco’s triumph over Portugal. The tournament and fan’s favourite, Brazil’s loss to Croatia was a result of their failure to create early scoring chances. Morocco and Croatia’s persistent resistance leading to elimination of bigger team show that this World Cup has favoured teams who were well organised with their defence.</p>
<p>Another important aspect of this world cup is penalty shootout success. Big teams like Spain and Brazil fell due to poor penalty performance.</p>
<p><strong>Quarter-final results (predicted vs actual)</strong></p>
<figure class="align-center zoomable">
<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/500459/original/file-20221212-110120-k8glwk.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/500459/original/file-20221212-110120-k8glwk.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/500459/original/file-20221212-110120-k8glwk.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=69&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/500459/original/file-20221212-110120-k8glwk.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=69&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/500459/original/file-20221212-110120-k8glwk.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=69&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/500459/original/file-20221212-110120-k8glwk.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=87&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/500459/original/file-20221212-110120-k8glwk.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=87&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/500459/original/file-20221212-110120-k8glwk.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=87&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px"></a>
<figcaption>
<span class="caption"></span>
<span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://www.telegraph.co.uk/world-cup/2022-predictor-wallchart-football-bracket-predictions/">Developed using The Telegraph Wallchart</a>, <span class="license">Author provided</span></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>Similarly, England fell short as Harry Kane lost a second decisive penalty kick against France. Looking at these emerging statistics, it seems teams that can keep their goalkeepers in top forms and have a good penalty squad are likely to win the World Cup. </p>
<p>Despite having the best shot saving goalkeeper, Argentina is likely to be at disadvantage in the semi-finals due to two key player suspensions, <a href="https://www.football.london/international-football/argentina-netherlands-fifa-messi-paredes-25722319">Marcos Acuna and Gonzalo Montiel</a>. The suspension of <a href="https://www.football.london/international-football/world-cup-yellow-card-rules-25702167">Walid Cheddira</a> will also put Morocco at a disadvantage against France.</p>
<p><strong>Semi-final results (predicted)</strong></p>
<figure class="align-center zoomable">
<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/500459/original/file-20221212-110120-k8glwk.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/500459/original/file-20221212-110120-k8glwk.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/500459/original/file-20221212-110120-k8glwk.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=69&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/500459/original/file-20221212-110120-k8glwk.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=69&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/500459/original/file-20221212-110120-k8glwk.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=69&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/500459/original/file-20221212-110120-k8glwk.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=87&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/500459/original/file-20221212-110120-k8glwk.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=87&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/500459/original/file-20221212-110120-k8glwk.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=87&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px"></a>
<figcaption>
<span class="caption"></span>
<span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://www.telegraph.co.uk/world-cup/2022-predictor-wallchart-football-bracket-predictions/">Developed using The Telegraph Wallchart</a>, <span class="license">Author provided</span></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>Both France and Argentina have boasted tough opposition with excellent defence and goal conceding records in this World Cup. If the semi-final games end in a penalty shootout then Croatia and Morocco will have a greater chance to reach the final.</p>
<figure class="align-center zoomable">
<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/500461/original/file-20221212-110235-xogfk5.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/500461/original/file-20221212-110235-xogfk5.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/500461/original/file-20221212-110235-xogfk5.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=112&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/500461/original/file-20221212-110235-xogfk5.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=112&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/500461/original/file-20221212-110235-xogfk5.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=112&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/500461/original/file-20221212-110235-xogfk5.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=141&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/500461/original/file-20221212-110235-xogfk5.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=141&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/500461/original/file-20221212-110235-xogfk5.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=141&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px"></a>
<figcaption>
<span class="caption"></span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="license">Author provided</span></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>Based on current records, our big data driven prediction indicates that the final of the FIFA World Cup 2022 is set to be played between two-time winner France and their opponent, Argentina, on 18 December at <a href="https://www.qatar2022.qa/en/tournament/stadiums/lusail-stadium">Lusail Stadium</a>, Qatar. </p>
<p>France is predicted to be the first defending champions of the modern era since Brazil defended theirs in 1962, bringing joy to the country’s 67 million residents and its diaspora around the world. If these two teams make it to the final, then France is likely to be the favourite given their squad’s make-up and better defensive history in the course of the knockout stages.</p>
<p><strong>Final (predicted)</strong></p>
<figure class="align-center zoomable">
<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/500462/original/file-20221212-110747-xzjqgr.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/500462/original/file-20221212-110747-xzjqgr.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/500462/original/file-20221212-110747-xzjqgr.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=106&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/500462/original/file-20221212-110747-xzjqgr.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=106&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/500462/original/file-20221212-110747-xzjqgr.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=106&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/500462/original/file-20221212-110747-xzjqgr.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=134&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/500462/original/file-20221212-110747-xzjqgr.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=134&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/500462/original/file-20221212-110747-xzjqgr.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=134&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px"></a>
<figcaption>
<span class="caption"></span>
<span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://www.telegraph.co.uk/world-cup/2022-predictor-wallchart-football-bracket-predictions/">Developed using The Telegraph Wallchart</a>, <span class="license">Author provided</span></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>If the final games goes to the penalty stage, Argentina will hold the advantage given its recent records and its <a href="https://www.bbc.co.uk/sport/av/football/63925007">goalkeeper</a>. While a superb attacker, France’s Kylian Mbappé has only a <a href="https://theathletic.com/3978749/2022/12/09/world-cup-penalty-saves-success/">75% penalty conversion</a> success rate.</p>
<figure class="align-center zoomable">
<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/500464/original/file-20221212-108656-8w73ee.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/500464/original/file-20221212-108656-8w73ee.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/500464/original/file-20221212-108656-8w73ee.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=96&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/500464/original/file-20221212-108656-8w73ee.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=96&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/500464/original/file-20221212-108656-8w73ee.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=96&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/500464/original/file-20221212-108656-8w73ee.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=120&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/500464/original/file-20221212-108656-8w73ee.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=120&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/500464/original/file-20221212-108656-8w73ee.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=120&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px"></a>
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">Historic penalty shoot-out success from semi-final onwards.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="license">Author provided</span></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>Croatia is predicted to be third in the competition.</p>
<h2>Prediction validity and big surprises</h2>
<p>It is impossible to achieve 100% accuracy in predicting game outcomes, particularly in a tournament that is played at the highest level. Additional factors such as venue, host country weather, timing of the tournament, referee judgement, <a href="https://www.fifa.com/technical/football-technology/football-technologies-and-innovations-at-the-fifa-world-cup-2022/video-assistant-referee-var">video assistant referee</a> (VAR) interventions, squad formation, in-game tactical switches, and player concentration and stamina all play a huge role in producing the final outcome. These elements are relatively new to sports science and we are still unsure about how to apply them as influential statistical factors in an algorithm. </p>
<p>For example, VAR played a major role in Argentina’s <a href="https://www.bbc.com/sport/live/football/60976486">shock defeat against Saudi Arabia</a> and may eventually cause to Leonel Messi never lifting the world cup in his lifetime. Similarly, <a href="https://news.sky.com/story/japan-beat-germany-in-second-world-cup-shock-result-12753940">Japan’s victory over Germany</a> was a result of in-game tactics that the German players may not have expected. This World Cup promises to be exciting with lots of hidden surprises. We will have to wait until 18 December to find out who will be raising the trophy.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/196418/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Les auteurs ne travaillent pas, ne conseillent pas, ne possèdent pas de parts, ne reçoivent pas de fonds d'une organisation qui pourrait tirer profit de cet article, et n'ont déclaré aucune autre affiliation que leur organisme de recherche.</span></em></p>After Brazil’s exit, who might be on course to win in 2022? Experts crunch 150 years of big data to predict the winner.Ronnie Das, Associate professor in Digital and Data Science, AudenciaWasim Ahmed, Senior Lecturer in Digital Business, University of StirlingLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/1960102022-12-08T13:31:39Z2022-12-08T13:31:39ZWorld Cup’s ‘middle income trap’ – why breaking into soccer’s elite is so hard to do (as Morocco might soon find out)<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/499650/original/file-20221207-27-4aexqb.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&rect=5%2C215%2C3988%2C2443&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">Rising above Spain is one thing ... but can Morocco repeat the feat again and again and again? </span> <span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://www.gettyimages.com/detail/news-photo/jawad-el-yamiq-of-morocco-in-action-during-the-fifa-world-news-photo/1447296737?phrase=Morocco%20world%20cup&adppopup=true">Liu Lu/VCG via Getty Images</a></span></figcaption></figure><p>Every World Cup produces surprises.</p>
<p>In the group stage in Qatar, <a href="https://www.nytimes.com/2022/12/01/sports/soccer/japan-germany-world-cup-group-e.html">Japan delighted almost everyone</a> by defeating both Germany and Spain, <a href="https://www.cnn.com/2022/11/22/football/saudi-arabia-argentina-world-cup-upsets-spt-intl/index.html">Saudi Arabia upset Argentina</a>, <a href="https://www.france24.com/en/sport/20221127-world-cup-morocco-defeat-belgium-in-shock-win">Morocco felled Belgium</a>, and <a href="https://www.foxsports.com/watch/play-61086332d001519?cmpid=google-one-box">South Korea shocked Portugal</a>.</p>
<p>Even <a href="https://www.espn.com/soccer/fifa-world-cup/story/4823432/cameroon-give-this-world-cup-another-shock-by-beating-brazil">mighty Brazil</a> <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/football/2022/nov/30/tunisia-france-world-cup-group-d-match-report">and France</a> were beaten by lowly ranked teams – Cameroon and Tunisia – although those two soccer powerhouses were resting players at the time, having already qualified for the knockout round.</p>
<p>And on the back of shocks in the group stage, the same question arises at every World Cup: Are we finally seeing the changing of the guard in world soccer?</p>
<p>Then the knockout stage begins. Over the last few days, we have seen the U.S. <a href="https://www.foxnews.com/sports/us-netherlands-world-cup-match-drew-giant-audience">efficiently dispatched by the Netherlands</a>, <a href="https://www.nytimes.com/live/2022/12/03/sports/argentina-australia-world-cup-score">Australia overwhelmed by Argentina</a>, Senegal sunk by England, Japan lose on penalty kicks to Croatia, and South Korea routed by Brazil.</p>
<p>The common theme is the teams that won those matchups represent one of the two historically dominant continental federations: <a href="https://www.uefa.com/">UEFA in Europe</a> and <a href="https://www.conmebol.com/">South America’s CONMEBOL</a>. These federations, which govern professional soccer leagues in those continents, have supplied all but one World Cup semifinalist since 1930. No team from any other confederation has ever reached the final.</p>
<p>World Cup winners themselves <a href="https://www.foxsports.com/soccer/2022-fifa-world-cup/history">are drawn from an elite</a> that rarely changes. The odds are that won’t change in Qatar. Of the eight teams left in the competition, four – Brazil, France, Argentina and England – are former winners, two – Netherlands and Croatia – are losing finalists, and one – Portugal – is a former semifinalist.</p>
<p>And then there is Morocco – more on that later.</p>
<h2>A game of two (global) halves</h2>
<p>So why are teams from Africa, Asia and the other Americas persistent underdogs?</p>
<p><a href="https://www.kines.umich.edu/directory/stefan-szymanski">I addressed this question</a> during the last World Cup in a paper with <a href="https://www.melanie-krause.de/">Melanie Krause from the University of Hamburg</a>. We <a href="https://doi.org/10.1080/00036846.2018.1564018">looked at a data set of over 32,000 international soccer matches</a> played from 1950 to 2014. It revealed two interesting, though also perhaps expected, results.</p>
<p>First, nations that do well in the World Cup tend to share three characteristics. They have a large population, ensuring a large talent pool; are relatively wealthy, so they can afford to develop that talent; and they have been playing international soccer for a long time, suggesting that experience matters. To be sure, some small, poor and inexperienced countries do well on occasion, and being blessed with only one or two of these advantages also makes a difference.</p>
<p>Second, over time there is convergence. That is, weaker countries from the earlier times have improved, and the dominance of formerly strong teams has diminished.</p>
<p>This is to be expected; something similar is at work in global economies with GDP per capita. Generally, the gap between rich and poor countries <a href="https://doi.org//10.1086/718672">has declined as technologies have spread</a> around the world.</p>
<p>In similar ways, learning and imitation cause both GDP per capita and soccer results to converge. In soccer, less successful nations can close the gap by adopting the techniques and training of the elite nations.</p>
<h2>Playing catch-up</h2>
<p>Given this, then, why have the Europeans and South Americans remained dominant at the World Cup?</p>
<p>Krause and I characterize this as an example of the “<a href="https://doi.org//10.13140/RG.2.1.2968.4080">middle income trap</a>,” a term coined by international macroeconomists. The idea is that developing nations start to catch up with the developed nations, but then they run into obstacles. </p>
<p>The reasons this can happen are multifaceted, but the simple version is that these economies frequently focus on <a href="https://unctad.org/press-material/export-led-development-no-longer-viable-unctad-says-economies-will-perform-better">export-led manufacturing</a> but then struggle to transition to innovation-driven service economies.</p>
<p>This argument is <a href="https://www.adb.org/sites/default/files/publication/161890/ewp-436.pdf">not without its detractors</a>, but it certainly seems to fit soccer when viewing how up-and-coming countries of the past have fared.</p>
<p>When <a href="https://www.aljazeera.com/sports/2022/11/12/profile-fifa-world-cup-1990">Cameroon advanced to the World Cup quarterfinals in 1990</a> and were unlucky to lose to England, it was seen as a turning point – evidence that an African country could compete with soccer’s elite.</p>
<figure class="align-center ">
<img alt="A soocer player is on the ground while another in green jersey looks on." src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/499660/original/file-20221207-24-cnct7g.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/499660/original/file-20221207-24-cnct7g.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/499660/original/file-20221207-24-cnct7g.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/499660/original/file-20221207-24-cnct7g.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/499660/original/file-20221207-24-cnct7g.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/499660/original/file-20221207-24-cnct7g.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/499660/original/file-20221207-24-cnct7g.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">in 1990, Cameroon came close to advancing against England.</span>
<span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://www.gettyimages.com/detail/news-photo/englands-paul-gascoigne-clears-the-ball-away-from-cameroons-news-photo/676323714?phrase=cameroon%201990%20england&adppopup=true">Ross Kinnaird/PA Images via Getty Image</a></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>Nowadays, the African nations are <a href="https://www.aljazeera.com/sports/2022/10/25/can-an-african-team-reach-the-world-cup-semi-finals">treated with more respect</a>. Japan’s success is not as surprising as it might have been 30 years ago given the number of <a href="https://www.besoccer.com/new/top-japanese-football-players-playing-in-europe-1046607">Japanese players that pop up in European leagues</a>, and the rise of the U.S. men’s national team – perhaps the one endeavor in which the U.S. truly is a developing nation – has raised expectations.</p>
<p>But the obstacle to further progress seems clear. Europe in particular continues to dominate the competition in which most footballers participate: club football. Players from European nations regularly play for clubs that include the best players from all over the world, ensuring that they are always up to date with the latest developments. Wealthy clubs also means the best facilities.</p>
<p>Because of their historical ties to Spain, Italy and Portugal, Argentina and Brazil are also hard-wired into this network. </p>
<h2>Moving the goal posts</h2>
<p>So what does this all mean for the final stages of the 2022 World Cup, and the chances of Morocco, this tournament’s last surviving long shot? </p>
<p>Morocco has a World Cup pedigree, being the <a href="https://www.cricketsoccer.com/2020/06/11/the-story-of-morocco-in-mexico-1970/">first African team to qualify for the tournament</a> in the post-World War II era, participating in the 1970 edition. In recent years, it has followed a course that may prove the best option for “middle income trap” countries: tapping into the elite club network of Europe. Most of Morocco’s <a href="https://us.soccerway.com/players/players_abroad/morocco/">starting lineup play for European clubs</a>. The country’s physical proximity to Europe is also an advantage.</p>
<p>Reaching the quarterfinals represents Morocco’s finest soccer achievement – and is well deserved given the team topped its group and defeated its northern neighbor, Spain, on penalties in the round of 16 knockout.</p>
<p><div data-react-class="Tweet" data-react-props="{"tweetId":"1600185711755464704"}"></div></p>
<p>A semifinal is not beyond Morocco’s reach. But progressing beyond a semifinal against either France or England is unlikely. And even if it did, there is every chance it would meet a rampant Brazil in the final – and beating that team looks implausible, at best.</p>
<p>And this encapsulates the problem for teams caught in the “middle income trap”: defeat a top-tier nation, and you only have to face another. Eventually, probability will weigh you down.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/196010/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Stefan Szymanski does not work for, consult, own shares in or receive funding from any company or organization that would benefit from this article, and has disclosed no relevant affiliations beyond their academic appointment.</span></em></p>Shock results happen, but that doesn’t make it any easier for lower-ranked nations to rise up the ranks, a soccer economist explains.Stefan Szymanski, Professor of Sport Management, University of MichiganLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/1954322022-12-07T03:31:23Z2022-12-07T03:31:23ZFIFA’s mirage of unity: why the World Cup is a vessel for political protest<p>Before the Qatar World Cup began, FIFA launched a social campaign called “<a href="https://www.insidethegames.biz/articles/1130464/fifa-unites-the-world-campiagn">Football Unites the World</a>”. FIFA acknowledged “the world is divided […] with conflicts and global crises”, but promised the World Cup “will <a href="https://tr.fifa.com/en/social-impact/campaigns/football-unites-the-world">bring people together</a> to cross borders, unite and celebrate”.</p>
<p>It’s a similar message to that of the International Olympic Committee (IOC), in which the Olympic Games are said to “unify” <a href="https://olympics.com/ioc/news/ioc-president-emphasises-role-of-the-olympic-games-to-unite-the-world-at-g20-summit-in-osaka">the world of nations</a>. Such aspirations aren’t simply about bringing countries together to play sport under agreed rules: these two global bodies also believe they have some capacity to shape international relations.</p>
<p>Indeed, both the FIFA and IOC presidents were invited speakers at the recent <a href="https://www.viva.co.id/english/1523091-jokowi-invites-fifa-and-ioc-presidents-to-present-at-g20-summit">G20 Summit in Bali</a>. The FIFA supremo, Gianni Infantino, drew upon the fabled <a href="http://sportlibrary.org/Olympictruce2000.html">Olympic truce</a>, urging for a ceasefire to the Russian invasion of Ukraine <a href="https://www.insidethegames.biz/articles/1130452/bach-infantino-g20-meeting">for the length of the men’s World Cup in Qatar</a>.</p>
<p>Yet, despite FIFA heralding unity and peace during the 2022 World Cup, the tournament has featured potent examples of political conflict and protest, while Russian attacks against Ukraine have intensified.</p>
<h2>Political football</h2>
<p>At the very time football was supposed to be “uniting the world”, FIFA was scrambling to quell what it saw as unwelcome criticism from some participants and many commentators. This dissent stemmed principally from widespread criticism about <a href="https://theconversation.com/why-is-the-qatar-fifa-world-cup-so-controversial-192627">Qatar as World Cup host</a>, notably the exploitation of foreign labourers, discrimination against LGBTQI+ communities, and constraints around drinking alcohol.</p>
<p><div data-react-class="Tweet" data-react-props="{"tweetId":"1593418290050867202"}"></div></p>
<p>In response, Infantino sent a <a href="https://abcnews.go.com/Sports/wireStory/fifa-urges-world-cup-teams-focus-soccer-politics-92652746">letter to football federations</a> saying: “Please, let’s now focus on the football!” He urged them to “not allow football to be dragged into every ideological or political battle that exists”.</p>
<p>However, while football teams concentrate on winning games, some also promote <a href="https://www.unesco.org/en/sport-and-anti-doping/international-charter-sport">bedrock values in modern sport</a> such as inclusion, and rail against discrimination.</p>
<p>Many football teams – especially those from Western democratic cultures – have a <a href="https://www.msn.com/en-us/sports/fifa-world-cup/lgbtq-how-germany-promotes-tolerance-in-its-soccer-stadiums/ar-AA14JW9T">progressive vision</a> of what “unity” in sport and society should mean.</p>
<h2>Rainbow dispute</h2>
<p>FIFA’s 2017 <a href="https://www.fifa.com/about-fifa/organisation/news/fifa-publishes-landmark-human-rights-policy-2893311">Human Rights Policy</a> prohibits discrimination “in the world of football both on and off the pitch”, with freedom of sexual orientation specifically protected, among other attributes.</p>
<p>In keeping with this, seven European countries informed FIFA they intended to <a href="https://www.reuters.com/lifestyle/sports/world-cup-2022-what-is-onelove-armband-why-did-fifa-ban-it-2022-11-24/">showcase their support</a> for sex and gender diverse communities at the 2022 World Cup. Team captains were to wear the “OneLove” rainbow-coloured armband, as had been done by the Dutch at the <a href="https://www.knvb.com/news/extra/diversity/1225/onelove-football-brings-people-together-not-apart">UEFA Euro 2020</a> championship.</p>
<p>But just hours before the opening game, FIFA announced the OneLove symbols were a “breach” of its rules: no kit should feature “<a href="https://www.reuters.com/lifestyle/sports/world-cup-2022-what-is-onelove-armband-why-did-fifa-ban-it-2022-11-24/">any political, religious or personal slogans, statements or images</a>”.</p>
<p>What’s more, wearing the armband would not merely attract a fine. FIFA warned of on-field punishment in the form of <a href="https://thehill.com/policy/international/3744929-fifa-quashes-lgbtq-armband-support-at-world-cup-with-yellow-card-threat/">yellow cards</a>.</p>
<p>The European teams, while angry, now felt they had little choice other than to <a href="https://abcnews.go.com/Sports/wireStory/european-teams-abandon-plan-wear-armbands-world-cup-93705929">back down</a>. But there were creative responses. The German team offered a symbolic protest before the start of their next match, covering their mouths to denounce being “gagged” <a href="https://www.cbsnews.com/news/germany-world-cup-players-cover-mouths-protest-fifa-ban-one-love-armbands-qatar-human-rights-abuses/">by FIFA</a>. Germany’s Interior Minister, Nancy Faeser, sported the OneLove armband while <a href="https://news.yahoo.com/german-minister-wears-one-love-armband-next-to-fifa-president-despite-ban-160908374.html">setting next to Infantino</a> during that game.</p>
<p><div data-react-class="Tweet" data-react-props="{"tweetId":"1595410502133329923"}"></div></p>
<h2>Clash of values</h2>
<p>FIFA, meanwhile, offered its own “<a href="https://news.yahoo.com/fifa-launches-captain-armband-eve-080907955.html">solution</a>”. The FIFA “No Discrimination” <a href="https://www.fifa.com/social-impact/campaigns/football-unites-the-world/media-releases/fifa-partner-with-united-nations-agencies-to-run-social-campaigns-during">campaign</a> was brought forward from the planned quarter-finals stage, with <a href="https://www.fifa.com/social-impact/campaigns/no-discrimination/media-releases/no-discrimination-campaign-made-available-for-entire-fifa-world-cup-qatar">FIFA-approved armbands</a> endorsing anti-discrimination, albeit without a specific focus on sex and gender diversity.</p>
<p>FIFA’s feeble public relations spin then quickly denigrated into <a href="https://www.thoughtco.com/doublespeak-language-term-1690475">doublespeak</a>. Despite banning the OneLove armbands, FIFA announced it also “supports” OneLove and the LGBTQI+ community, and “Football unites behind [FIFA’s] call for #NoDiscrimination”.</p>
<p>That message would hardly resonate with <a href="https://www.dw.com/en/qatar-human-rights-watch-report-states-security-forces-arrest-abuse-lgbtq-people/a-63533696">Qatari authorities</a>, for whom homosexuality is an affront to Islam and <a href="https://qatarjust.com/common-rules-and-regulation-in-doha-qatar/">forbidden under law</a>. Just prior to the tournament, Qatar’s World Cup ambassador, former footballer Khalid Salman, claimed to a German broadcaster that same sex attraction is “<a href="https://edition.cnn.com/2022/11/08/football/qatar-fifa-world-cup-ambassador-homosexuality-spt-intl/index.html">damage in the mind</a>”.</p>
<p>Two weeks later, panellists on Qatar’s Alkass Sports channel <a href="https://www.thesun.ie/sport/football/9837057/rte-pundit-richie-sadlier-furious-reaction-qatari-mock-germany/">mocked</a> the German football team’s protest gesture, relishing their elimination from the Cup. These Europeans, they said, had <a href="https://edition.cnn.com/2022/12/02/sport/world-cup-qatar-mocks-germany-armband-gesture-intl-hnk/index.html">failed to respect</a> Qatar’s customs.</p>
<p>FIFA, in gifting the World Cup to Qatar as host, was well aware of this <a href="https://theconversation.com/why-is-the-qatar-fifa-world-cup-so-controversial-192627">clash of values</a>, but deferred to local norms.</p>
<p><div data-react-class="Tweet" data-react-props="{"tweetId":"1595273456706326529"}"></div></p>
<p>That said, FIFA occasionally pushed back, most notably to quell the ire of fans prevented from conveying symbolic support for LGBTQI+ communities through their <a href="https://www.bbc.com/news/uk-wales-63710435">clothing</a>. At the entry to stadiums, Qatari security initially refused entry to people wearing clothing with <a href="https://www.abc.net.au/news/2022-11-22/fifa-world-cup-qatar-rainbow-clothing-one-love-armband/101681732">rainbow adornments</a>. However, after “<a href="https://www.thepinknews.com/2022/11/25/qatar-world-cup-u-turn-on-rainbow-ban/">urgent talks</a>” with FIFA, that position was rescinded. In this sense, fans ended up having more freedom of expression than players.</p>
<p>But not completely. When some England fans arrived at the opening match dressed as their country’s patron saint, often replete with faux helmets, plastic swords, and shields featuring the <a href="https://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/2022/11/25/exclusive-england-fans-knight-fancy-dress-accused-muslim-killers/">St George Cross</a>, Qatari police refused them entry. This attire has a long tradition among English sports fans, but FIFA sided with Qatar, deciding that “crusader” costumes could be <a href="https://theconversation.com/understanding-the-crusades-from-an-islamic-perspective-96932">historically offensive to Muslims</a>.</p>
<p>According to FIFA, this position was consistent with it striving to promote “<a href="https://edition.cnn.com/2022/11/25/sport/world-cup-crusader-costumes-offensive-intl-scli/index.html">a discrimination-free environment</a>”.</p>
<h2>National (dis)unity</h2>
<p>Meanwhile, Iranian spectators in Doha were <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/football/2022/nov/28/gianni-infantino-fifa-world-cup-2022-qatar">confronted by security</a> for the “offense” of wearing t-shirts or holding up placards in support of the recent protest movement against the Islamic Republic and its <a href="https://www.aljazeera.com/news/2022/12/4/iran-suspends-morality-police-what-does-it-mean">morality police</a>.</p>
<p>Persian pre-revolutionary flags and items emblazoned with one or all of the words “<a href="https://indianexpress.com/article/trending/trending-globally/fifa-world-cup-iran-fans-denied-entry-into-stadium-8295526/">Woman, Life, Freedom</a>” were <a href="https://www.huffpost.com/entry/protests-iran-world-cup_n_6381bcdfe4b006c42d3ea5eb">routinely seized</a>, either by security forces or pro-government agents and supporters.</p>
<p>FIFA eventually <a href="https://www.rferl.org/a/fifa-allows-banners-iran-protests-world-cup/32157150.html">intervened</a> to assure Iranians that symbols of dissent would no longer be constrained by World Cup authorities, but this only happened after the Iran team had been eliminated from the tournament.</p>
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<p>Elsewhere, Brazilian fans confronted a very different political quandary. In recent years their team’s iconic yellow jersey, the canarinho, has been deployed as an <a href="https://www.huffpost.com/entry/bolsonaro-lula-brazil-election-yellow-soccer-jersey_n_635dcfcfe4b04dfacf80d283">unofficial emblem</a> of former President Jair Bolsonaro’s <a href="https://edition.cnn.com/2020/08/06/football/bolsonaro-brazil-foootball-yellow-shirt-cmd-spt-intl/index.html">right-wing populist movement</a>.</p>
<p>Many supporters of the new left-wing president, known as Lula, have concluded the <a href="https://edition.cnn.com/2020/08/06/football/bolsonaro-brazil-foootball-yellow-shirt-cmd-spt-intl/index.html">yellow jersey is still politically tainted</a>: after all, Bolsanaro and his supporters had used the canarinho in a similar vein to Donald Trump’s <a href="https://www.huffpost.com/entry/bolsonaro-lula-brazil-election-yellow-soccer-jersey_n_635dcfcfe4b04dfacf80d283">MAGA merchandise</a>.</p>
<p>The long-term goal of leftist football fans is to <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/world/2022/nov/24/leftwing-brazilians-reclaim-football-jersey-bolsonaro-world-cup">reclaim and democratise the canarinho</a> as a patriotic but not partisan symbol. For now they encourage wearing the <a href="https://twitter.com/Quicktake/status/1597121389416226816?s=20&t=5R-0SaFNgEo1koLwCt0P6A">lesser-known blue kit</a>, worn when Brazil won the <a href="https://www.bbc.com/news/magazine-27809268">1958 World Cup</a> against Sweden, which donned yellow.</p>
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<h2>FIFA’s fantasy</h2>
<p>Promotional rhetoric either by FIFA or its stakeholders routinely emphasises the unifying and integrative “power” of football and the World Cup.</p>
<p>However, starry-eyed claims such as “<a href="https://www.expatsportfifaworldcuphospitality.com/football-the-universal-salve-fifa-world-cup-qatar-2022-offers-hope-on-the-horizon/">football the universal salve</a>” and “<a href="https://www.fifa.com/social-impact/campaigns/football-unites-the-world/news/dunga-the-world-cup-brings-down-cultural-barriers">the World Cup brings down cultural barriers</a>” simply don’t stand up to scrutiny.</p>
<p>Future World Cups will be obliged to adhere to <a href="https://theconversation.com/why-is-the-qatar-fifa-world-cup-so-controversial-192627">human rights obligations</a> that Qatar (2022) and Russia (2018) weren’t required to follow.</p>
<p>Yet, such is FIFA’s cognitive dissonance that Infantino, on the eve of the cup, fantasised about the possibility of a <a href="https://me.mashable.com/culture/22285/world-cup-fifas-president-is-open-to-hosting-the-tournament-in-north-korea-heres-why">World Cup in North Korea</a>.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/195432/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Daryl Adair does not work for, consult, own shares in or receive funding from any company or organisation that would benefit from this article, and has disclosed no relevant affiliations beyond their academic appointment.</span></em></p>Starry-eyed claims such as “the World Cup brings down cultural barriers” simply do not stand up to scrutiny.Daryl Adair, Associate Professor of Sport Management, University of Technology SydneyLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/1958132022-12-02T05:26:51Z2022-12-02T05:26:51ZWorld Cup: what body type works best for football? A professor of biomechanics explains<p>If you’ve been watching the World Cup, you might have marvelled at the physical fitness and skill of these elite players. </p>
<p>How can they run and run and run for so long? What makes them so good at speedy changes of direction? Biomechanically, is there a certain body type that is perfect for football?</p>
<p>Of course, much of the brilliant play is down to natural talent combined with years of very hard training and practise. But there are certainly some physical features that help a lot when it comes to being able to play football at this level.</p>
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Read more:
<a href="https://theconversation.com/var-and-peace-why-tech-assisted-refereeing-wont-do-away-with-disputed-decisions-at-the-world-cup-194640">VAR and peace? Why tech-assisted refereeing won't do away with disputed decisions at the World Cup</a>
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<h2>Different features for different positions</h2>
<p>There’s no one single perfect body type for this sport; much depends on <a href="https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/16208292/">what position you play</a>.</p>
<p>A central defender, for example, might benefit from a bit of extra height so they can defend against aerial balls in the box. </p>
<p>Midfielders, on the other hand, head the ball less often but need a lot of agility and to run astonishing distances in the game - most will cover <a href="https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/17024626/">more than 10 kilometres</a>, with sprints and direction changes common. That’s where having lighter body mass really helps, and that means not being too tall. When you are tall – even if you are skinny – you weigh more, so being very tall can be a disadvantage for these players. </p>
<p>And being shorter means that our centre of mass is lower, so we have more stability and better balance. That makes technical skills with the ball easier to perform and it makes swiftly changing direction easier too. </p>
<p>There is one fairly consistent physical feature across footballers, which seems to be similar across male and female players: an ability to run and run.</p>
<p>They need to have a big engine, so they are physiologically strong in terms of heart and lungs. In a running test, these players will show up with a <a href="https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/29199782/">very high VO₂ max</a> (a measure of the maximum amount of oxygen your body can use while exercising).
They will also have a <a href="https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/16195006/">high lactate threshold</a>, which means their bodies can cope with high intensity effort for long periods of time. </p>
<p>All this adds up to what we call good <a href="https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/21780851/">repeat sprint ability</a>. That means they can run, then recover, then run, then recover, and so on and so on. Don’t forget, they do spend some time standing or walking, so it’s the repeated effort to go from low intensity to maximum intensity over and over that necessitates this big engine.</p>
<h2>Lighter upper body, strong lower body</h2>
<p>Football players in general are not stocky like, say, rugby players. But while the upper body tends to be fairly light (which saves on mass and helps with speed), they do generally have quite big, strong legs.</p>
<p>That’s because changing direction rapidly – and to accelerate and decelerate almost instantly – takes quite a lot of force. You need muscly legs to do that.</p>
<p>Having a large upper body, on the other hand, would be mostly downside with little upside. There’s no significant requirement for upper body strength in this sport, so if want to increase speed and endurance, you need to maintain a lighter upper body mass. They are not training to get really big in the upper body. </p>
<p>They also generally have very low body fat levels as they need a lighter body mass to run, jump and accelerate. </p>
<h2>What about the goalkeeper?</h2>
<p>One position that does <a href="https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/35157536/">benefit greatly from height</a> is the goalkeeper. The Australian goalkeeper, Mark Schwarzer, used his 1.95 metres frame to great advantage. And most elite goalkeepers stand taller than 1.85 metres.</p>
<p>The job of the ‘keeper is to leap vertically and laterally. Having <a href="https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/22327081/">long legs</a> can help the 'keeper to jump higher and further because they can push off over a larger distance during the jump. And having long arms helps with reach to tip or catch the ball. So being tall can be a real advantage. </p>
<p>All in all, these players are well built to produce elite performances at the highest levels of the game. While years of hard training has surely contributed to their success, they might also thank their parents for the genes they received too. </p>
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Read more:
<a href="https://theconversation.com/why-maradonas-hand-of-god-goal-is-priceless-and-unforgettable-193760">Why Maradona's 'Hand of God' goal is priceless -- and unforgettable</a>
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<img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/195813/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Anthony Blazevich does not work for, consult, own shares in or receive funding from any company or organisation that would benefit from this article, and has disclosed no relevant affiliations beyond their academic appointment.</span></em></p>How can they run and run and run for so long? What makes them so good at speedy changes of direction? Biomechanically, is there a certain body type perfect for football?Anthony Blazevich, Professor of Biomechanics, Edith Cowan UniversityLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/1950692022-11-29T17:33:51Z2022-11-29T17:33:51ZWhen hosting mega-events like FIFA, cities market themselves at the expense of the most vulnerable<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/497778/original/file-20221128-14-c18y6m.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&rect=12%2C0%2C8614%2C5755&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">A construction site in front of a building with a Germany's goalkeeper Manuel Neuer's portrait in downtown Doha, Qatar.</span> <span class="attribution"><span class="source">(AP Photo/Pavel Golovkin)</span></span></figcaption></figure><iframe style="width: 100%; height: 100px; border: none; position: relative; z-index: 1;" allowtransparency="" allow="clipboard-read; clipboard-write" src="https://narrations.ad-auris.com/widget/the-conversation-canada/when-hosting-mega-events-like-fifa--cities-market-themselves-at-the-expense-of-the-most-vulnerable" width="100%" height="400"></iframe>
<p>Few events capture the attention of the globe like the Men’s FIFA World Cup — in 2018, the event boasted a viewership of <a href="https://www.fifa.com/tournaments/mens/worldcup/2018russia/media-releases/more-than-half-the-world-watched-record-breaking-2018-world-cup">3.5 billion people</a>. Yet, despite the enormous popularity of the World Cup, <a href="https://www.aljazeera.com/sports/2022/11/17/do-host-countries-make-money-from-the-world-cup">host cities and countries invariably lose money</a> on the event itself, with FIFA capturing most of the profits despite its non-profit status.</p>
<p>The calculus of host cities is based on the hope that successfully hosting a World Cup (or Olympics) will significantly enhance a city’s urban brand and ultimately lead to long-term increases in tourism and foreign direct investment. </p>
<p>In other words, the argument is that a successful stint as a host city will identify that city as “<a href="https://www.jstor.org/stable/40643231">world-class</a>” and change its economic fortunes. This justification, at least from an economic point of view, relies on <a href="https://doi.org/10.1080/02614360500504628">some pretty fuzzy math and long-term forecasting that rarely gets audited</a>.</p>
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Read more:
<a href="https://theconversation.com/why-countries-should-break-the-crippling-cycle-of-hosting-big-sporting-events-90181">Why countries should break the crippling cycle of hosting big sporting events</a>
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<p>I attended the 2010 World Cup in South Africa to study how various communities attempted to have their voices heard and needs met through the planning process for that event. I continue to research how hosting large-scale events intersect with other trends in global and local urbanization.</p>
<h2>Urban branding</h2>
<p>This mission of improving one’s urban brand to attract tourist and foreign investment leads cities to focus their attention to the perceived needs. Or, more precisely, the perceived desires of potential tourists and investors, as opposed to the needs and desires of the people who already live, work and play in these cities. </p>
<p>This shift in focus is part of larger trends of cities becoming <a href="https://doi.org/10.1080/04353684.1989.11879583">increasingly entrepreneurial in our globalized world</a>.</p>
<p>And to this end, host cities pursue a fairly predictable path to demonstrate their world-classness. As Streetnet International, a South Africa-based international organization of street vendors, put it in their World Class Cities For All campaign:</p>
<blockquote>
<p>“It has become a boringly predictable reality that, when a country prepares to host a high-profile international event, <a href="https://streetnet.org.za/document/world-class-cities-for-all/">the country and its local government authorities prepare to create ‘World Class Cities’ of a particular type</a>, i.e. ‘World Class Cities’ which will attract foreign investment; have modern up-to-date infrastructure; have no visible signs of urban decay; have smooth traffic flows; have no visible poor people or social problems.”</p>
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<figure class="align-center zoomable">
<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/497721/original/file-20221128-4871-ip7vgt.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="overhead view of a building site in the desert" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/497721/original/file-20221128-4871-ip7vgt.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/497721/original/file-20221128-4871-ip7vgt.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=402&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/497721/original/file-20221128-4871-ip7vgt.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=402&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/497721/original/file-20221128-4871-ip7vgt.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=402&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/497721/original/file-20221128-4871-ip7vgt.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=506&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/497721/original/file-20221128-4871-ip7vgt.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=506&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/497721/original/file-20221128-4871-ip7vgt.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=506&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px"></a>
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<span class="caption">In Doha, several stadiums were built to host the FIFA World Cup.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">(AP Photo/Vadim Ghirda)</span></span>
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<h2>Increased policing, decreased social investment</h2>
<p>There are common themes to how cities approach their hosting duties and branding pursuits. However, the particular interventions that each city makes to create this type of world- class city are unique to their particular context.</p>
<p>Unfailingly, cities significantly increase policing, both in the sheer numbers of police, military and surveillance measures as well as the powers afforded to the police and military. These powers are used to police undesirable activities and individuals — those activities and people deemed incommensurate with the desired world-class brand. </p>
<p>Youth, the unhoused or precariously housed, street vendors and racialized individuals <a href="https://doi.org/10.1080/17430437.2010.520938">experience the brunt of these increases</a>.</p>
<p>In South Africa in 2010, FIFA courts were established to exact “<a href="https://www.nytimes.com/2010/06/21/sports/soccer/21iht-wcsoccer.html">swift and severe justice</a>” for crimes committed against tourists and journalists during the 2010 World Cup. In Qatar, there has been <a href="https://www.thestar.com/politics/2022/11/24/lgbtq-and-other-rights-issues-at-world-cup-a-huge-blemish-on-fifa-hall-of-famer.html">targeted policing of LGBTQ+ people and allies</a>.</p>
<p>Additionally, the quest for this type of world-class-city brand also leads to uneven investment and under-investment as cities are forced to make choices about how to invest their municipal budgets. </p>
<p>Tourist areas <a href="https://www.jstor.org/stable/25765282">see significant infrastructure investments while those off the tourist map are often ignored</a>. This is intensified by <a href="https://doi.org/10.1177/0196859905275971">television coverage of these places and events</a>. </p>
<p>In Durban, South Africa, this meant significant investment along the waterfront and the construction of a shiny new soccer stadium (across the street from an existing rugby stadium) while other parts of the city, off the beaten path of journalists and tourists, continued to lack even basic infrastructure. </p>
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<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/497776/original/file-20221128-14-4gf988.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&rect=0%2C0%2C1920%2C1080&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="armed police on horseback watch over a crowd." src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/497776/original/file-20221128-14-4gf988.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&rect=0%2C0%2C1920%2C1080&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/497776/original/file-20221128-14-4gf988.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=338&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/497776/original/file-20221128-14-4gf988.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=338&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/497776/original/file-20221128-14-4gf988.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=338&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/497776/original/file-20221128-14-4gf988.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=424&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/497776/original/file-20221128-14-4gf988.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=424&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/497776/original/file-20221128-14-4gf988.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=424&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px"></a>
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<span class="caption">In this image from video, Qatari police stand by on horseback as other security officials try to control a crowd at a FIFA Fan Zone on Nov. 19, 2022. Authorities turned away thousands of fans from a concert celebrating the World Cup beginning the next day.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">(AP Photo/Srdjan Nedeljkovic)</span></span>
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<h2>Exposes the cracks</h2>
<p>The current approach to hosting a World Cup puts unique and focused pressures on urban systems and infrastructure. In the process, it exposes the already existing cracks in the system and exacerbates existing inequalities. </p>
<p>The World Cup did not create the labour system and working conditions of temporary migrant workers in Doha. However, both the magnitude and speed of construction to meet hosting needs undoubtedly ramped up the exploitation of the system, leading to <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/global-development/2021/feb/23/revealed-migrant-worker-deaths-qatar-fifa-world-cup-2022">thousands of worker deaths</a>.</p>
<p>We need to reframe how a world-class city is defined to one that is more liveable, sustainable and just. This will inspire future host cities to pursue this status in a manner that does not increase policing and exacerbate inequalities.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/195069/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span><a href="mailto:d.roberts@utoronto.ca">d.roberts@utoronto.ca</a> received funding from FIFA. To support my doctoral work, I received the João Havelange Research Scholarship.</span></em></p>Cities vie with each other to present global sporting events as a way to position themselves as world-class cities. However, this marketing often exacerbates social inequalities.David Roberts, Director, Urban Studies, University of TorontoLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/1950872022-11-27T13:09:04Z2022-11-27T13:09:04ZWorld Cup 2022: Men’s soccer must stop silencing activism and allyship<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/497102/original/file-20221123-18-blz16d.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&rect=79%2C67%2C3686%2C2438&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">Men’s soccer has had a problem with allyship long before Qatar was awarded the hosting rights for this year’s World Cup.</span> <span class="attribution"><span class="source">(AP Photo/Ricardo Mazalan)</span></span></figcaption></figure><p>There is a familiar adage reverberating in the stands at the 2022 men’s FIFA World Cup tournament suggesting that winning is really all that matters. But <a href="https://www.routledge.com/Athlete-Activism-Contemporary-Perspectives/Magrath/p/book/9780367690700?gclid=EAIaIQobChMI9frajK_A-wIVlRx9Ch3idQraEAAYASAAEgLty_D_BwE">athlete activism</a> and solidarity reflect a growing trend among athletes publicly displaying <a href="https://theconversation.com/world-cup-provides-plenty-of-drama-but-football-must-not-forget-its-social-responsibility-99061">social responsibility</a> both on and off the pitch. </p>
<p>FIFA, however, remains adamantly opposed to sport activism entering the field. The Danish men’s soccer team message of “<a href="https://worldsoccertalk.com/news/fifa-forbids-denmark-to-wear-training-shirts-supporting-human-rights-20221110-WST-407643.html">Human Rights for All</a>,” for example, is a political statement contravening FIFA regulations, according to the sporting body. </p>
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<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/496905/original/file-20221123-24-rzzjc5.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="A football player in a white shirt wearing a black armband with yellow lettering that reads: No discrimination." src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/496905/original/file-20221123-24-rzzjc5.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=237&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/496905/original/file-20221123-24-rzzjc5.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/496905/original/file-20221123-24-rzzjc5.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/496905/original/file-20221123-24-rzzjc5.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/496905/original/file-20221123-24-rzzjc5.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/496905/original/file-20221123-24-rzzjc5.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/496905/original/file-20221123-24-rzzjc5.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px"></a>
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<span class="caption">England captain Harry Kane wearing a FIFA-approved armband that reads: ‘No discrimination’ during the soccer match between England and Iran at 2022 FIFA World Cup in Doha, Qatar, Nov. 21, 2022.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">(AP Photo/Pavel Golovkin)</span></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>Similarly, hours before England’s opening match, <a href="https://www.bbc.com/sport/football/63699477">it was announced</a> that England captain Harry Kane and the seven other European teams would contravene FIFA regulations if they wore a “One Love” armband. FIFA stated that the players would be cautioned for any political statement. </p>
<p><a href="https://theconversation.com/why-is-the-qatar-fifa-world-cup-so-controversial-192627">These planned protests</a> and the subsequent rowing back on them is indicative of a tension around social activism and allyship in men’s soccer — particularly in matters of sex, gender and sexuality.</p>
<h2>Men’s sport and social activism</h2>
<p>Sport has a long history of political activism. Tommie Smith and John Carlos <a href="https://www.history.com/news/1968-mexico-city-olympics-black-power-protest-backlash">raised their fists</a> at the 1968 Olympics in support of civil rights movements in the U.S. and around the world. Fast forward to 2016 and <a href="https://www.sportingnews.com/ca/nfl/news/colin-kaepernick-kneeling-protest-timeline/1izv8op5qa3hx1dj4ob5z7nt7d">Colin Kaepernick knelt</a> during the U.S. national anthem protesting police brutality and racial inequality. </p>
<p>In men’s soccer, <a href="https://www.reuters.com/article/us-soccer-england-qpr-onuoha-ferdinand-idUSKCN26H07R">teams knelt</a> in support of Black Lives Matter movements which grew following the murder of George Floyd in 2020. On matters of racial inequality, men’s sport and soccer have offered moments of symbolic support.</p>
<p>On matters of gender and sexual diversity, Stonewall’s <a href="https://www.premierleague.com/rainbowlaces">Rainbow Laces Campaign</a> has garnered some traction in the English Premier League. In Canada, the <a href="https://pridetape.com/">Pride Tape Campaign</a> has also demonstrated the willingness of some hockey players to show support for inclusive sporting environments.</p>
<p>This World Cup, Canada competes on soccer’s biggest stage for the first time in 36 years. Canada Soccer has recently <a href="https://amnesty.ca/news/uncategorized/open-letter-to-canada-soccer/">come under fire for a lack of action on issues of human rights</a>. On the eve of the tournament, Canada Soccer announced a partnership with <a href="https://www.ctvnews.ca/sports/canada-soccer-s-earl-cochrane-addresses-human-rights-concerns-at-qatar-world-cup-1.6160892">You Can Play</a> — a group dedicated to tackling homophobia in sport. </p>
<figure class="align-right zoomable">
<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/496908/original/file-20221123-16-gxlzup.JPG?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="A white man wearing a suit." src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/496908/original/file-20221123-16-gxlzup.JPG?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=237&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/496908/original/file-20221123-16-gxlzup.JPG?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=455&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/496908/original/file-20221123-16-gxlzup.JPG?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=455&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/496908/original/file-20221123-16-gxlzup.JPG?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=455&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/496908/original/file-20221123-16-gxlzup.JPG?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=572&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/496908/original/file-20221123-16-gxlzup.JPG?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=572&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/496908/original/file-20221123-16-gxlzup.JPG?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=572&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px"></a>
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">Canada Soccer’s general secretary, Earl Cochrane, announced a partnership with You Can Play on the eve of the 2022 FIFA World Cup.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">THE CANADIAN PRESS/Nathan Denette</span></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>Earl Cochrane, <a href="https://www.cbc.ca/sports/soccer/canada-soccer-partnership-lgbt-project-1.6655530">the secretary-general of Canada Soccer, said</a>, “no matter your sexual orientation, gender identity, or who you choose to love, you have a place in this game.”</p>
<p>However, men’s soccer has had a problem with allyship long before Qatar was awarded this year’s World Cup. Punitive rulings against players and teams wanting to make a display of protest undermine the spirit of sport as a space for all. </p>
<p>Rather than de-politicizing sport, these actions by soccer’s governing bodies draw attention to the ways that sport is embroiled in political games for all to see. The silence and silencing of teams, players and organizations that results from these games is an example of a disturbing culture in FIFA and men’s soccer.</p>
<h2>Soccer, masculinity and homophobia</h2>
<p>Men’s sports have historically been <a href="https://doi.org/10.3389/fpsyg.2021.671586">masculinized spaces</a> where boys become men and <a href="https://doi.org/10.1177/101269029002500303">men prove their manhood</a>. Through powerful acts of resistance, women and other marginalized groups have fought for their sporting spaces <a href="https://www.nytimes.com/2019/06/11/opinion/womens-world-cup-us-gender-pay.html">in the face of inequality</a>. However, sport, particularly <a href="https://www.pedagogiadelledifferenze.it/index.php/pdd/article/view/26">men’s sport</a>, remains an <a href="https://doi.org/10.1177/10126902211014037">exclusionary space</a>.</p>
<p>The lack of openly gay or transgender professional male soccer players attests to this exclusion. Those players who are open about their sexuality are rightly <a href="https://www.bbc.co.uk/newsround/61472174">praised for the courage</a>. But the fact that such courage is required for LGBTIQ+ players only further confirms the entrenched norms in men’s soccer which marginalize men who do not live up to homophobic, transphobic and misogynistic expectations.</p>
<p><a href="https://doi.org/10.1080/13573320801957053">Research has shown</a> the damage that homophobic, transphobic and misogynistic forms of masculinity have on men and boys. We have seen the cost of underexamined <a href="https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jsams.2020.10.018">harmful masculinities</a> in the <a href="https://theconversation.com/hockey-canada-scandal-highlights-toxic-masculinity-in-sports-192712">sexual assaults</a> and ensuing mismanagement of them by Hockey Canada. Conventional codes of manhood and boyhood have permeated sporting spaces, making them exclusionary and not spaces for all to play.</p>
<figure class="align-center zoomable">
<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/496906/original/file-20221123-22-s3637u.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="A woman holds up a sign reading Woman Life Freedom." src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/496906/original/file-20221123-22-s3637u.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/496906/original/file-20221123-22-s3637u.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=404&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/496906/original/file-20221123-22-s3637u.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=404&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/496906/original/file-20221123-22-s3637u.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=404&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/496906/original/file-20221123-22-s3637u.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=508&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/496906/original/file-20221123-22-s3637u.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=508&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/496906/original/file-20221123-22-s3637u.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=508&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px"></a>
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">A woman holds up a sign reading ‘Woman Life Freedom’, prior to the soccer match between England and Iran at the FIFA World Cup in Doha, Qatar.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">(AP Photo/Alessandra Tarantino)</span></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<h2>The consequences of silence</h2>
<p>FIFA president Gianni Infantino, and FIFA secretary general, Fatma Samoura, <a href="https://www.reuters.com/lifestyle/sports/fifa-pleads-with-world-cup-nations-focus-football-qatar-2022-11-04/">responded to criticisms of Qatar’s human rights record</a>, saying soccer should not “be dragged into every ideological or political battle that exists.” Clearly this is an impossibility. Not just because of the political manoeuvres, <a href="https://theconversation.com/world-cup-2022-qatar-is-accused-of-sportswashing-but-do-the-fans-really-care-193485">accusations of sportswashing</a> and a FIFA corruption scandal that rocked soccer’s world governing body, but because the politics and ideology of men’s soccer has left the <a href="https://doi.org/10.1080/00948705.2017.1300538">codes of masculinity</a> within it unexamined. </p>
<p>Men’s soccer has its own questions to answer, not just around the World Cup, but around it’s lack of engagement with social activism and allyship with LGBTIQ+ people and women.</p>
<p>Sports, particularly one as popular as soccer, have the potential to be powerful symbols of inclusivity and acceptance for men and boys. When players and teams are silenced and disciplined for speaking out, it sends a strong message about the culture of sport as well as masculinity. </p>
<h2>Moving beyond Qatar</h2>
<p>There needs to be a shift in priorities in men’s soccer. For soccer’s governing bodies, money is the priority; for teams and players, it is winning. If that remains the case, social activism in men’s soccer will continue to be diminished. Allyship comes with risks. To do otherwise, however, makes not only FIFA, but players, organizations and sport complicit in a damaging culture of silence.</p>
<p>This World Cup will come and go — <a href="https://www.fifa.com/fifaplus/en/tournaments/mens/worldcup/canadamexicousa2026">in four years, the World Cup comes to Canada, in partnership with the U.S. and Mexico</a>. But the sport culture in men’s soccer needs to be challenged and changed for good starting now — and we should not be fooled that moving on from Qatar means moving on from these issues in men’s soccer. </p>
<p>Masculinity and the singular narrative of “we’re in it to win it” should not be allowed to silence athlete activism. Instead, sport should be a culture not only heralding winners, but one that showcases a spirit of competition rooted in inclusion, acceptance and activism.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/195087/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Michael Kehler receives funding from SSHRC.</span></em></p><p class="fine-print"><em><span>Gabriel Knott-Fayle does not work for, consult, own shares in or receive funding from any company or organisation that would benefit from this article, and has disclosed no relevant affiliations beyond their academic appointment.</span></em></p>To make men’s soccer a more inclusive space, organizers and players must put allyship above profits and winning.Gabriel Knott-Fayle, Postdoctoral Scholar of Masculinities Studies in Education, University of CalgaryMichael Kehler, Werklund Research Professor, Masculinities Studies, University of CalgaryLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/1949702022-11-23T13:18:34Z2022-11-23T13:18:34ZThe World Cup puts the spotlight on Qatar, but also brings attention to its human rights record and politics – 4 things to know<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/496587/original/file-20221121-18964-bebq50.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&rect=76%2C71%2C2869%2C1818&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">Fans watch the World Cup opening match between Qatar and Ecuador on Nov. 20, 2022, in Doha. </span> <span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://media.gettyimages.com/id/1443076773/photo/fans-watch-opening-match-of-fifa-world-cup-qatar-2022-around-doha.jpg?s=1024x1024&w=gi&k=20&c=bQZD2nyM5wVvuG8Z0dJwju34oh8stGMAFYWexBEyvLk=">Clive Brunskili/Getty Images</a></span></figcaption></figure><p>With the start of the World Cup on Nov. 20, 2022, soccer teams <a href="https://www.britannica.com/place/Qatar">from 32 countries</a> and <a href="https://www.radiotimes.com/tv/sport/football/world-cup-2022-fans/">tens of thousands of fans</a> have converged on Qatar, a tiny Arab country on a peninsula in the Persian Gulf. But search “Qatar 2022” online, and the first nonsport results are about <a href="https://www.hrw.org/news/2022/11/14/qatar-rights-abuses-stain-fifa-world-cup">the country’s human rights issues</a>.</p>
<p>Like its fellow oil-rich Arab countries, Qatar has enjoyed immense wealth that nurtured grand ambitions of economic growth among rulers and citizens alike. Qatar and its neighbors, including Bahrain and the United Arab Emirates, have brought <a href="https://www.ilo.org/beirut/areasofwork/labour-migration/lang--en/index.htm">in millions</a> of workers from other countries to support their fast-growing cities and businesses over the <a href="https://www.macrotrends.net/countries/QAT/qatar/immigration-statistics">past few decades</a>.</p>
<p>In particular, about <a href="https://www.bbc.com/news/world-60867042">30,000 workers</a> came from Bangladesh, India and Nepal to construct the World Cup stadiums. At least 37 died, according to official Qatari counts, <a href="https://www.nytimes.com/2022/11/16/sports/soccer/world-cup-migrant-workers.html">while building</a> the US$220 billion infrastructure for the games. </p>
<p>I am <a href="https://www.umass.edu/jne/member/david-mednicoff">a political scientist and legal scholar of the Middle East</a> who has lived and <a href="https://www.newswise.com/articles/middle-east-expert-mednicoff-named-lead-investigator-for-1-million-research-study?channel=">worked</a> in Qatar. Given the sudden media focus on the country, I think it helpful for both World Cup fans and people who don’t know a soccer ball from a hockey puck to understand four aspects of Qatar’s politics that relate to its human rights challenges.</p>
<figure class="align-center zoomable">
<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/496589/original/file-20221121-21-zm8ks.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="A row of middle aged, brown skinned men sit on their knees in a line on grass, with water in the background." src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/496589/original/file-20221121-21-zm8ks.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/496589/original/file-20221121-21-zm8ks.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/496589/original/file-20221121-21-zm8ks.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/496589/original/file-20221121-21-zm8ks.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/496589/original/file-20221121-21-zm8ks.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/496589/original/file-20221121-21-zm8ks.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/496589/original/file-20221121-21-zm8ks.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px"></a>
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<span class="caption">Migrant workers pray in Doha, Qatar, on Nov. 20, 2022.</span>
<span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://media.gettyimages.com/id/1244927803/photo/fifa-world-cup-qatar-2022-previews.jpg?s=1024x1024&w=gi&k=20&c=pEAKHf0JRICz6JFmbGiGt9G9Byp7MYhJ34FbflbsPAo=">Simon Holmes/NurPhoto via Getty Images</a></span>
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<p><strong>1. Qatar is ruled by a popular king</strong></p>
<p>A sparsely populated country in a desert, Qatar gained independence from Great Britain in 1971. With its large <a href="https://www.worldometers.info/gas/qatar-natural-gas/">oil and natural gas</a> reserves, Qatar has the <a href="https://data.worldbank.org/indicator/NY.GDP.PCAP.CD?locations=QA">highest income per citizen</a> in the world. </p>
<p>Qatar’s ruler is <a href="https://www.al-monitor.com/originals/2019/01/tamim-the-glorious-portrait-goes-viral.html">popular</a> among <a href="https://bti-project.org/en/reports/country-report/QAT">citizens</a>. <a href="https://www.diwan.gov.qa/hh-the-amir?sc_lang=en#data---">Sheikh Tamim bin Hamad Al Thani</a> is part a family dynasty that has run the area’s politics since the 1800s, even under Ottoman and British control. This makes Qatar one of eight Arab countries governed by hereditary kings.</p>
<p>Hereditary ruling monarchies <a href="https://www.taylorfrancis.com/chapters/edit/10.4324/9781315203195-10/contemporary-kingship-muslim-arab-societies-comparative-context-david-mednicoff">may seem archaic</a> to people living in societies with elected leaders. Yet these systems <a href="https://theconversation.com/middle-eastern-monarchies-how-do-arab-ruling-families-hold-on-to-power-159952">have held onto power, outlasting the Arab uprisings of 2011</a>. The lack of democracy in Arab countries is also part of a broader trend, as <a href="https://freedomhouse.org/report/freedom-world/2022/global-expansion-authoritarian-rule">autocratic governments are generally on the rise globally</a>. </p>
<p><strong>2. Yes – workers’ rights have been a problem</strong> </p>
<p>Doha, the capital of Qatar, has become a major <a href="https://www.aljazeera.com/">media</a>, <a href="https://www.qf.org.qa/education/education-city">educational</a>, <a href="https://raiagroup.org/qatars-tamim-is-leading-diplomacy-in-the-middle-east">diplomatic</a> and recreational hub over the past few decades. Its breakneck development also required workers from all over the world. As a result, foreign workers make up <a href="https://www.onlineqatar.com/visiting/tourist-information/qatar-population-and-expat-nationalities">about 85% of the country’s total population</a>, but they <a href="https://www.state.gov/reports/2021-country-reports-on-human-rights-practices/qatar">do not have the same rights</a> as Qatari citizens. Qatari natives have been reluctant to share their <a href="https://qatarofw.com/qatar-social-security/">extraordinary social welfare benefits</a>, like free medical care, with millions of workers from abroad. This makes for a system that gives many more rights to Qatari nationals than the millions of others who live there.</p>
<p>Unusual, rapid growth like Qatar’s is a magnet for foreign contract workers worldwide. I enjoyed my opportunity to work there myself as a visiting professor and Fulbright scholar 15 years ago. Yet less privileged foreign workers can fare badly.</p>
<p>In Qatar and its oil-rich peers, control by a minority of citizens over millions of workers with fewer rights leads to <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/global-development/2020/jul/15/migrant-workers-in-qatar-face-structural-racism-says-un-report">discrimination and abuse</a>. Human rights groups, journalists and <a href="https://www.pbs.org/newshour/show/migrant-workers-recount-abuse-while-building-stadiums-for-world-cup-in-qatar">migrant workers</a> themselves have <a href="https://www.amnesty.org/en/latest/campaigns/2019/02/reality-check-migrant-workers-rights-with-two-years-to-qatar-2022-world-cup/">sought to change harmful workplace practices</a>, such as withholding wages and forbidding unions. </p>
<p>Qatar’s summer heat, <a href="https://www.weather-atlas.com/en/qatar/doha-climate">averaging 106 degrees Fahrenheit</a> (41 degrees Celsius), can make working conditions especially dangerous for outside construction workers. Since it is hard to know whether the alleged worker deaths are due specifically to bad working conditions, work-related issues, or something else, exact mortality numbers have <a href="https://www.dw.com/en/fact-check-how-many-people-have-died-for-the-qatar-world-cup/a-63763713">been disputed and may be prone to exaggeration</a>. Yet no one doubts that <a href="https://pulitzercenter.org/stories/thousands-migrant-workers-died-qatars-extreme-heat-world-cup-forced-reckoning">conditions have been terrible</a> for many of Qatar’s most vulnerable workers.</p>
<p>Other rights issues in Qatar have also <a href="https://news.northeastern.edu/2022/11/19/world-cup-lgbtq-fans-athletes-safety/">attracted global attention</a>. The conservative form of Islam that is part of Qatar’s identity allows little tolerance for LGBTQ rights. <a href="https://www.hrw.org/news/2022/10/24/qatar-security-forces-arrest-abuse-lgbt-people">Human rights groups have documented</a> detentions and other routine discrimination against LGBTQ people.</p>
<p><strong>3. Yet Qatar has made major reforms</strong></p>
<p>While workers’ rights have received appropriate Western media attention, Qatar’s direct efforts to <a href="https://theathletic.com/3836101/2022/11/17/how-ngos-responded-to-world-cup/">respond to local and international activism</a> are less known. Qatar <a href="https://www.hrw.org/news/2020/09/24/qatar-significant-labor-and-kafala-reforms">enacted the most significant labor rights reforms in the Arab world</a> in 2021. </p>
<p><a href="https://www.ilo.org/beirut/countries/qatar/WCMS_859880/lang--en/index.htm">Working with the International Labor Organization</a>, a United Nations agency that promotes fair and decent work worldwide, Qatar instituted a minimum wage of $275 per month, along with allowances for food and lodging. It also prohibited outdoor work during the peak of summer heat and eliminated many of the laws that gave employers control over their workers’ basic freedoms to leave their job or the country.</p>
<p>Because the reforms are recent, it is hard to know whether they represent <a href="https://www.hrw.org/world-report/2021/country-chapters/qatar">important steps forward</a> or <a href="https://www.amnesty.org/en/latest/news/2022/10/qatar-labour-reform-unfinished-and-compensation-still-owed-as-world-cup-looms/">incremental steps that will change little</a>. </p>
<p>In any case, legislation in and of itself cannot remedy a complicated challenge involving a wide range of companies and other organizations that Qatar’s government does not control. Whether Qatar can and will enforce the new regulations consistently is one concern. </p>
<p>Most foreign migrants arrive in Qatar through foreign-based recruitment companies, which charge them to secure jobs. So even if <a href="https://www.aljazeera.com/news/2022/11/1/qatar-made-progress-in-labour-reforms-ilo">Qatar tries to curb labor abuses</a>, <a href="https://www.ilo.org/infostories/en-GB/Stories/Country-Focus/world-cup-qatar#domestic">recruitment companies</a> based in migrants’ countries of origin would still profit by charging workers expensive placement fees, for example. Such recruiters often work with <a href="https://www.business-humanrights.org/de/von-uns/briefings/wake-up-call-exploitative-recruitment-risk-to-migrant-workers-in-qatars-world-cup-hotels/">multinational companies within Qatar</a> to <a href="https://www.forbes.com/sites/michaelposner/2022/10/28/world-cup-abuses-led-qatar-to-change-labor-laws-but-more-protection-is-needed/?sh=6cb0b28c2062">blunt the force</a> of the kingdom’s recent reforms. </p>
<p><strong>4. And Western critiques may conceal other agendas</strong> </p>
<p><a href="https://www.aljazeera.com/news/2022/11/15/qatari-minister-slams-western-media-coverage-of-world-cup-record">Qatari officials have suggested</a> that international attention to foreign workers’ conditions is part of a broader pattern of Westerners belittling Arabs and Muslims. <a href="https://www.newsweek.com/qatar-world-cup-team-depicted-terrorists-cartoon-sparks-outrage-1758928">One blatant example</a> is an October issue of the French right-wing satirical magazine “Le Canard enchaîné,” which depicted Qatari soccer players as terrorists.</p>
<p>Calls in some parts of Europe for <a href="https://www.axios.com/2022/11/17/qatar-world-cup-broadcasting-boycotts-france">a widespread World Cup boycott</a> add fuel to this and <a href="https://www.economist.com/leaders/2022/11/17/in-defence-of-qatars-hosting-of-the-world-cup">other arguments</a> that the European and American impression of Qatar is <a href="https://www.france24.com/en/middle-east/20221119-fifa-president-blasts-hypocrisy-of-western-critics-of-world-cup-host-qatar">hypocritical</a> and possibly <a href="https://www.middleeastmonitor.com/20221010-qatar-says-french-objections-to-fifa-world-cup-stem-from-islamophobia/">Islamophobic</a>. Though hardly a neutral observer, Gianni Infantino, the president of FIFA, which carries out the World Cup, reflected many Gulf Arabs’ views when he argued that <a href="https://www.cnbc.com/2022/11/19/fifa-chief-accuses-critics-of-qatar-of-hypocrisy-ahead-of-world-cup.html">Europe’s history of exploiting Middle Easterners and others</a> gives it little moral high ground on issues of non-Western rights. </p>
<p>Because no Middle Eastern or Muslim-majority country had hosted the World Cup before 2022, Qatar’s achievement is <a href="https://www.nytimes.com/2022/11/18/opinion/qatar-world-cup-arab-football.html">significant</a>. The Economist <a href="https://www.economist.com/leaders/2022/11/17/in-defence-of-qatars-hosting-of-the-world-cup">argues that</a> Qatar’s responsiveness to pressures to improve its human rights climate may make it a more appropriate host for a global sporting event than other countries with poor human rights records, such as China or Russia. </p>
<p>Yet genuine global concern about rights in countries like Qatar and mistrust between the Middle East and the West will persist. Can new global awareness of Qatar lead to more nuanced understanding of both cross-cultural similarities and differences between Arab Islamic countries and the rest of the world? For the moment, this is as hard to know as which country will win the World Cup.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/194970/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>David Mednicoff received a grant to conduct independent research from 2012-2016 from the Qatar National Research Fund. However, he currently receives no funding from any Qatari or other Middle Eastern research or other organization.</span></em></p>Migrant workers’ rights are indeed an ongoing issue in Qatar – but the country has passed reforms to improve workers’ rights, and it isn’t the only issue to define Qatar.David Mednicoff, Chair, Department of Judaic and Near Eastern Studies, and Associate Professor of Middle Eastern Studies and Public Policy, UMass AmherstLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/1948662022-11-18T18:54:01Z2022-11-18T18:54:01ZWhat to watch for when you are watching the World Cup: Essential reads for on and off the field<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/495982/original/file-20221117-5721-pcb4uc.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&rect=0%2C26%2C5955%2C3961&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">The Qatar World Cup is moving the goalposts.</span> <span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://www.gettyimages.com/detail/news-photo/painted-football-goal-as-part-of-an-exhibition-called-posts-news-photo/1442177468?phrase=world%20cup%20qatar&adppopup=true">Christopher Lee/Getty Images</a></span></figcaption></figure><p>Whether you call it “soccer” or “football,” <a href="https://www.goal.com/en-us/news/explained-why-is-football-called-the-beautiful-game/16ayjoii69lor168ku0gwsd9vd">the beautiful game</a> is enjoyed by fans around the world. And every four years, it is celebrated in a monthlong spectacle: <a href="https://www.fifa.com/fifaplus/en/tournaments/mens/worldcup/qatar2022">the World Cup</a>. </p>
<p>This time around, proceedings will start on Nov. 20 in host nation Qatar – something that has caused understandable consternation among <a href="https://www.hrw.org/news/2022/11/14/qatar-rights-abuses-stain-fifa-world-cup">human rights advocates</a> and <a href="https://www.nbcnews.com/nbc-out/out-news/lgbtq-fans-skip-qatar-world-cup-fearing-hostility-rcna56365">members of the LGBTQ community</a>, given the Arab state’s <a href="https://www.amnesty.org/en/location/middle-east-and-north-africa/qatar/report-qatar/">record on such issues</a>.</p>
<p>In spite of the controversy, the World Cup will be the <a href="https://fredericksburg.com/sports/soccer/world-cup/the-world-cup-is-the-most-watched-sporting-event-internationally-heres-how-it-stacks-up/article_5a948571-ad26-54eb-a333-0a759bb03ea9.html">most-watched sporting event</a> of the year. Here’s a guide to some of what to watch out for.</p>
<h2>1. Backing Team USA (or perhaps not)</h2>
<p>The U.S. men’s national soccer team makes a return to the top stage in Qatar after not making the cut four years ago in Russia. But that doesn’t mean everyone back home will be cheering them on.</p>
<p>As <a href="https://as.vanderbilt.edu/communication/people/john-m-sloop/">Vanderbilt University’s John M. Sloop</a> notes, soccer fans in the United States <a href="https://theconversation.com/american-exceptionalism-at-the-world-cup-why-many-soccer-fans-in-the-us-will-be-cheering-on-another-team-probably-mexico-192545">aren’t necessarily cheering on the team in red, white and blue</a>. The green jerseys of El Tri, as the Mexican national team is known, will get a share of that support. In fact, there is a strong argument to be made that Mexico’s is the most popular soccer team in the United States – especially if you look at TV viewership figures. Mexico’s Liga MX is the most-watched soccer league in the U.S. – more popular than both the domestic MLS and the elite European leagues of England, Spain and Italy.</p>
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<img alt="A man in a 'stars and stripes' hoodie is surrounded by other supporters." src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/496191/original/file-20221118-20-3qqq3d.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/496191/original/file-20221118-20-3qqq3d.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/496191/original/file-20221118-20-3qqq3d.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/496191/original/file-20221118-20-3qqq3d.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/496191/original/file-20221118-20-3qqq3d.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/496191/original/file-20221118-20-3qqq3d.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/496191/original/file-20221118-20-3qqq3d.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
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<span class="caption">Spectators watch a soccer match between Mexico and the United States.</span>
<span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://newsroom.ap.org/detail/WCupMexicoUSSoccer/9639152c86b9474ead77f05f142dea09/photo?Query=Mexico%20US%20Cincinnati%20soccer%20&mediaType=photo&sortBy=arrivaldatetime:desc&dateRange=Anytime&totalCount=335&currentItemNo=49">AP Photo/Julio Cortez</a></span>
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<p>As Sloop writes: “Factors ranging from the relatively low popularity of soccer compared with other sports, familiarity with overseas clubs and perhaps more importantly – especially to Americans of Mexican heritage – an attachment to countries deemed to be more traditional ‘soccer nations’ mean that Americans can find ourselves oddly divided over the nation we support in the global game.”</p>
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<p>
<em>
<strong>
Read more:
<a href="https://theconversation.com/american-exceptionalism-at-the-world-cup-why-many-soccer-fans-in-the-us-will-be-cheering-on-another-team-probably-mexico-192545">American exceptionalism at the World Cup: Why many soccer fans in the US will be cheering on another team (probably Mexico)</a>
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<h2>2. Watching out for those special moments</h2>
<p>Every World Cup has its moment – think <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zWsEuczNj48">David Beckham’s sending-off</a>, <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LvNkkdfNwEg">Zidane’s head-butt</a> and <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vrtWQSqD3A0">Roger Miller’s goal celebration</a>.</p>
<p>During the 1986 World Cup in Mexico, there were two magical moments – and both happened in the same game. Diego Maradona’s “Goal of the Century” was one of them. The other was his “Hand of God” moment.</p>
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<img alt="A soccer player in a blue jersey out-jumps a goalkeeper. A football flies over their heads." src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/495985/original/file-20221117-25-sqelno.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=237&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/495985/original/file-20221117-25-sqelno.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=737&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/495985/original/file-20221117-25-sqelno.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=737&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/495985/original/file-20221117-25-sqelno.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=737&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/495985/original/file-20221117-25-sqelno.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=926&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/495985/original/file-20221117-25-sqelno.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=926&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/495985/original/file-20221117-25-sqelno.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=926&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
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<span class="caption">You have to hand it to Maradona.</span>
<span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://www.gettyimages.com/detail/news-photo/diego-maradona-of-argentina-uses-his-hand-to-score-the-news-photo/1064052402?phrase=maradona%20hand%20of%20god&adppopup=true">Archivo El Grafico/Getty Images</a></span>
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<p><a href="https://www.kines.umich.edu/directory/stefan-szymanski">Stefan Szymanski at University of Michigan</a> explains why the legacy of that “Hand of God” goal, which really shouldn’t have been a goal, <a href="https://theconversation.com/why-maradonas-hand-of-god-goal-is-priceless-and-unforgettable-193760">endures to this day</a>. It is due to a combination of factors including the controversy of the goal itself and the politically charged atmosphere of the game.</p>
<p>But above all, it was due to the man at the center of it all. </p>
<p>“Few players have stamped their presence on a World Cup quite like Maradona. His performance in the England game stands as a memorial to his greatness, and the phrase ‘Hand of God’ neatly puts his name in the same sentence as divinity,” Szymanski writes.</p>
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Read more:
<a href="https://theconversation.com/why-maradonas-hand-of-god-goal-is-priceless-and-unforgettable-193760">Why Maradona's 'Hand of God' goal is priceless -- and unforgettable</a>
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<h2>3. Backing the underdog</h2>
<p>It is already a World Cup that breaks the mold – the first to take place in an Arab country, and the first to happen in November as opposed to a summer month.</p>
<p>Could it also be the first to have an African victor? </p>
<p>History suggests not. As <a href="http://uttyler.edu/directory/hkdept/wycliffe-njororai.php">Wycliffe W. Njororai Simiyu of the University of Texas at Tyler</a> notes, at the World Cup <a href="https://theconversation.com/world-cup-2022-senegal-and-cameroon-carry-africas-best-hopes-194647">African teams have “always promised a great deal … but delivered very little</a>.” This, he explains, is due to “poor preparation, internal controversies, a bad disciplinary record, technical and tactical errors at crucial moments and recruiting foreign coaches at the last minute.” </p>
<p>This time it could be different, and better preparation and stability within African teams could help. Njororai Simiyu’s tip: Senegal and Cameroon have the best chance of the five African nations represented at the finals.</p>
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Read more:
<a href="https://theconversation.com/world-cup-2022-senegal-and-cameroon-carry-africas-best-hopes-194647">World Cup 2022: Senegal and Cameroon carry Africa's best hopes</a>
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<p><a href="https://www.hks.harvard.edu/faculty/matthew-andrews">Harvard Kennedy School’s Matthew Andrews</a> <a href="https://theconversation.com/can-an-african-team-win-the-world-cup-new-football-study-crunches-the-numbers-194824">takes an analytical approach</a> to assessing African teams’ chances. </p>
<p>Looking at various data sources, he concludes that there is a “significant competitive gap between African countries and the world’s best, which seems to have grown over recent generations. This gap is not encouraging for those hoping for an African World Cup win.”</p>
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Read more:
<a href="https://theconversation.com/can-an-african-team-win-the-world-cup-new-football-study-crunches-the-numbers-194824">Can an African team win the World Cup? New football study crunches the numbers</a>
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<h2>4. Marveling at the physics</h2>
<p>Every World Cup sees the rollout of a new soccer ball – and inevitable complaints from fans about how it performs. <a href="https://www.lynchburg.edu/academics/faculty/john-eric-goff/">John Eric Goff</a>, a physics professor at the University of Lynchburg, analyzes the new ball every four years and has <a href="https://theconversation.com/world-cup-this-years-special-al-rihla-ball-has-the-aerodynamics-of-a-champion-according-to-a-sports-physicist-194585">cast his eye over the latest iteration</a>, called the Al Rihla ball.</p>
<p>“Instead of using raised textures to increase surface roughness like with previous balls, the Al Rihla is covered with dimple-like features that give its surface a relatively smooth feel compared to its predecessors,” he writes. It might mean that it moves a little bit faster, but other than that the footballers at the World Cup shouldn’t notice much of a difference.</p>
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Read more:
<a href="https://theconversation.com/world-cup-this-years-special-al-rihla-ball-has-the-aerodynamics-of-a-champion-according-to-a-sports-physicist-194585">World Cup: This year's special Al Rihla ball has the aerodynamics of a champion, according to a sports physicist</a>
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<h2>Not forgetting the concerns</h2>
<p>What happens on the pitch will be only half the story of the 2022 World Cup. </p>
<p>Controversy has dogged the event ever since sport’s governing body, FIFA, handed Qatar hosting duties back in 2010; Daryl Adair
at University of Technology Sydney <a href="https://theconversation.com/why-is-the-qatar-fifa-world-cup-so-controversial-192627">explains why</a>.</p>
<p>First there are the rights issues. Qatar had allowed “vulnerable foreign workers – who were central to building World Cup infrastructure – to be exploited, with employment and living conditions consistent with modern slavery,” <a href="https://theconversation.com/why-is-the-qatar-fifa-world-cup-so-controversial-192627">Adair writes</a>. Incremental reform has taken place in Qatar on the issue, notably a move away from the “<a href="https://www.cfr.org/backgrounder/what-kafala-system">kafala system</a>” under which employers were free to exploit a migrant workforce through low wages, poor working conditions and abuse. Yet concerns remain, especially over the refusal of Qatar to compensate the families of migrant employees killed on World Cup-related projects.</p>
<p>Hosting the World Cup in Qatar also runs counter to the inclusionary efforts of many national soccer bodies, which are keen to stamp out homophobia in the game. The emirate state views homosexuality as an affront to Islam and criminalizes same-sex activity. But here, too, it is bending a little, with reports that public shows of affection by same-sex couples will not result in prosecution.</p>
<p>“The world has come to Qatar and, for a time at least, it’s adjusting its local norms,” Adair notes, adding: “A more enduring World Cup legacy has been incremental reforms to the treatment of foreign workers, though an absence of an effective remedy for the families of deceased workers continues to raise a bloody red card upon Qatar.”</p>
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Read more:
<a href="https://theconversation.com/why-is-the-qatar-fifa-world-cup-so-controversial-192627">Why is the Qatar FIFA World Cup so controversial?</a>
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<img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/194866/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
Staging the spectacle in Qatar has raised rights issues and concerns about the heat. But away from the controversy, there will be the usual mix of sporting moments, supporters’ joy and heartache.Matt Williams, Senior International EditorLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/1925502022-10-19T16:54:26Z2022-10-19T16:54:26ZOoh, ah, up the ‘Ra: why Ireland’s women footballers are under fire for singing after their historic win<p>The Irish women’s football team has qualified for their first Fifa World Cup, <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/football/2022/oct/11/scotland-republic-of-ireland-womens-world-cup-playoff-match-report">beating Scotland 1-0</a>. In the aftermath of the match, the team celebrated by cheering and chanting in the locker room, including the line “Ooh, ah, up the ‘Ra”, from <a href="https://www.irishsongs.com/lyrics.php?Action=view&Song_id=453">The Celtic Symphony</a>. Originally performed by The Wolfe Tones in a tribute to Glasgow Celtic Football Club, the song repeats the allegedly pro-IRA line throughout.</p>
<p>The response to the controversial chant has sadly overshadowed the team’s historic win. Manager Vera Pauw has apologised, and <a href="https://www.bbc.co.uk/sport/football/63242412">Uefa is now investigating</a> “potential inappropriate behaviour”.</p>
<p>In my view, as a researcher of language and identity in Irish culture and politics, the words as a celebratory football chant are not meant to be taken literally. Those who repeat them are probably not consciously glorifying such inexcusable atrocities as the <a href="https://www.irishtimes.com/news/remembering-the-unthinkable-1.124630">Enniskillen bombing</a>, <a href="https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-northern-ireland-62135584">attacks on civilians out shopping</a> and countless other horrors that occurred at the hands of the IRA. </p>
<p>In this instance, “Ooh, ah, up the 'Ra” may well represent nothing more than a statement of counterculture. For better or worse, it has become a slogan of resistance against authority. But the words mean different things to different people, including the <a href="https://www.irishtimes.com/ireland/2022/10/12/irish-team-being-persecuted-and-bullied-for-singing-ooh-ah-up-the-ra-songwriter-says/">song’s composers</a>, who say the words are simply quoted from graffiti that appeared on a wall near Celtic’s Parkhead stadium. </p>
<p>But many of <a href="https://www.newsletter.co.uk/news/national/victims-of-terrorism-appalled-at-pro-ira-chants-from-republic-of-ireland-womens-football-team-3876847">Northern Ireland’s unionists</a> have reacted negatively – and opinion has been mixed in the Republic of Ireland as well. To some, it represents glorification of the modern IRA whose actions have had lingering consequences for many victims of violence and their families, not just in Ireland but in <a href="https://www.warrington-worldwide.co.uk/2022/03/20/remembering-tim-parry-and-johnathan-ball-29-years-after-the-warrington-bombing/">Great Britain too</a>. </p>
<p>But to many on the Irish side, the outcry represents much of the hypocrisy at the heart of sport’s relationship to politics. This includes, for example, <a href="https://theconversation.com/poppies-are-a-political-symbol-both-on-and-off-the-football-pitch-68113">wearing the poppy</a>, a symbol that to some celebrates and even venerates the militarism that colonised lands have endured for centuries. Most British people do not see it the same way. </p>
<h2>A dormant volcano erupts</h2>
<p>From the Belfast “Good Friday” Agreement in 1998 up to the point of Brexit, there was also a sense that the Irish question had become something of a dormant volcano – quiet, but likely to erupt at any time. Unfortunately though, that agreement was but <a href="https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/abs/10.1080/14608944.2017.1397618?cookieSet=1">a sticking plaster on a very deep wound</a>. Many of the issues around language, culture and identity remained largely unresolved. This locker room controversy has caused the volcano of (Northern) Irish politics to erupt afresh.</p>
<p>The idea that these girls were voicing support for a decades-old campaign of violence is a bit far fetched, in my view. More likely, they were chanting a catchphrase detached from context, a throwaway line commonly found in pub singalongs or graffiti. </p>
<p>It is a two-fingered salute to authority, as feasibly popping up in Plumstead as Parkhead or Portadown. I have even seen an instance of the word “IRA” appearing in anti-monarchy graffiti in Woolwich, where the <a href="https://853.london/2020/04/02/kings-arms-finally-set-for-demolition-45-years-after-iras-woolwich-bomb/">IRA once bombed a pub</a>, the type of incident most younger people today probably know very little about. </p>
<p>That though, is not to say the chanting should have happened. It shouldn’t, but not necessarily for many of the reasons being espoused. Social media lends itself to loss of context. In this age of soundbites and snapshots, there’s often a disconnect between surface features of language and deeper meanings beneath. </p>
<p>Jean Paul Sartre, the French writer and philosopher, suggested that words are like <a href="https://thisisidiom.wordpress.com/2013/08/20/words-are-like-weapons-they-wound-sometimes/">loaded weapons</a>. We should use them wisely and use them well. This was a bad case of firing off at the wrong time. The team has genuinely offended some, while possibly giving others a perceived opportunity for <a href="https://www.irishnews.com/news/northernirelandnews/2022/10/15/news/mp_lockhart_calls_for_severe_consequences_for_ireland_players_links_dressing_room_singing_to_1974_bombing-2861937/">political point-scoring</a>. </p>
<p><div data-react-class="Tweet" data-react-props="{"tweetId":"1579980912749858817"}"></div></p>
<p>Situations like this detract from serious debate on Irish unity, which has been <a href="https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-europe-63094415">reenergised since Brexit</a>. The use of language is crucial and even definitive in a time when closer conversation is needed across divides. Personally, I would have no interest in chanting such lyrics in any sporting context, even if at a Celtic match. They are too loaded and <a href="https://sluggerotoole.com/2021/12/16/paddy-keilty-is-an-honest-faithful-story-teller-who-should-be-listened-to/">alternatives are plentiful</a>. </p>
<p>One of the greatest games I ever saw an Irish team play was the <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oJyo1nQU9oE">1988 European Championship win over England</a> when Ray Houghton, a Scotsman, scored the winning goal. Then, the only words I felt like chanting were “C’mon you boys in green.”</p>
<p>Maybe what’s needed is a song for their female counterparts. The girls in green may have accidentally blotted their copybook, but it shouldn’t distract from their achievements. </p>
<p>It also shouldn’t diminish the right that the Irish have to remember their history of colonisation and resistance. All sides suffered in the conflict of past decades. But maybe the time has come to make songs and chants more inclusive, so that everyone can join in the <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KicvV5X4SAY">chorus of a new Ireland</a>.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/192550/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Paul Breen does not work for, consult, own shares in or receive funding from any company or organisation that would benefit from this article, and has disclosed no relevant affiliations beyond their academic appointment.</span></em></p>What should have been a moment of celebration has been overshadowed by political debate.Paul Breen, Senior Lecturer and Senior Digital Learning Developer, UCLLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/1909232022-09-22T18:27:54Z2022-09-22T18:27:54ZHosting the FIFA World Cup brings benefits. But not as many as politicians claim<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/485324/original/file-20220919-12-g3n86a.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption"> Brazilian fans during the 2010 FIFA World Cup hosted by South Africa. The boost to tourism came later.</span> <span class="attribution"><span class="source">Photo by Laurence Griffiths/Getty Images</span></span></figcaption></figure><p>The World Cup <a href="https://www.fifa.com/fifaplus/en/tournaments/mens/worldcup/qatar2022">kicks off</a> on 20 November, when Qatar will host Ecuador in the opening match. It will conclude on 18 December when the final will be played in the 80 000-seater Lusail Iconic Stadium. In the intervening weeks the world’s attention will be on Qatar, the smallest country by land area ever to host the event. Having faced much criticism ever since winning the bid, it is likely that Qatar would want to impress. Expect the spectacular.</p>
<p>But Qatar will not just be on every TV or mobile screen globally. More than 1 million tourists are expected <a href="https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2022-08-28/world-cup-fever-spreads-from-qatar-in-middle-east-tourism-boom">to make the journey</a>, providing a much-needed economic injection. In fact, the Chief Operating Officer of Qatar Tourism, Berthold Trenkel, has made it clear that Qatar aims to wow visitors with far more than just football. Over the last few months, new beaches, theme parks, and water sports hotels have opened. And 1 November will see the opening of the much-anticipated Lusail <a href="https://www.lusailwinterwonderland.com/">Winter Wonderland</a>, an island full of tourist attractions that, according to its website, offer the ‘ultimate entertainment and lifestyle celebration’.</p>
<p>But are these expectations of higher tourist numbers realistic? </p>
<p>Economists have thought about this question for some time. When countries bid for mega-sport events like the FIFA World Cup, their politicians often make bold predictions about the likely tourism effects. They tend to use these same numbers to convince their taxpayers to fork out the additional costs of new infrastructure. And it makes sense: an event that attracts so much global attention must surely increase its appeal, attracting new audiences and future visitors.</p>
<h2>Swings and roundabouts</h2>
<p>Yet, as several economists have pointed out, there are many reasons to doubt these predictions. </p>
<p>One thing to keep in mind is displacement: tourists that would normally visit a destination might decide to stay away because of a mega-event, reducing the net number of arrivals. The displacement size might be affected by many things: the season in which the mega-event is held, for example, or the type of mega-event. Bigger events, like the Summer Olympics, are likely to draw more visitors than the Basketball World Cup. </p>
<p>Sometimes the size of the tourism bonanza is even as bizarre as which countries qualify for the event. In <a href="https://journals.sagepub.com/doi/full/10.1177/1527002515596433">a 2017 paper</a>, we showed that Thierry Henry’s handball in a qualification game between France and the Republic of Ireland for the 2010 FIFA World Cup, which allowed France to qualify for the finals, brought almost 30,000 additional tourists to South Africa, creating more than 6000 additional jobs.</p>
<p>This is because France is a much larger country than Ireland, with far more tourists visiting South Africa - despite France’s dismal performance - than the number of Irish tourists that would have come had Ireland qualified.</p>
<p>Just how much mega-sport events actually boost tourism is a question we first attempted to answer more than a decade ago. Our <a href="https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0261517711000148">first paper</a> published in 2011 showed that hosting an event such as the FIFA World Cup or the Olympic Games increased tourism by about 8%, on average. Although the average was sizeable, it masked some variation across the different events we studied: the Summer Olympics had big effects, the Rugby World Cup, not so much.</p>
<p>We recently published a <a href="https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S2211973622000678">follow-up paper</a>. We updated our time series (now covering all tourist arrivals from 1995 to 2019); we added a wider selection of mega-sport events (from six to eleven); and we incorporated new techniques to estimate the gravity model. We also tested a wider range of hypotheses.</p>
<h2>The findings</h2>
<p>After our updated analysis, we are even more skeptical of the large tourism effect of mega-sport events. While we still find a large and positive effect on hosting the Summer Olympic Games – a sizeable 18.2% – most other events reveal zero or even negative change. </p>
<p>Hosting the Cricket World Cup, for example, reduces the number of tourist arrivals. This is partly explained by the fact that it happens in the peak tourist season and is often hosted by rich countries. The displacement effect is larger than the number of new visitors.</p>
<p>Perhaps, some might say, the main benefit of hosting an event is that tourism numbers increase in the years after an event – not necessarily during the event itself. We tested this and found a very small legacy effect. In fact, we find a larger anticipatory effect: host countries tended to welcome additional tourists a year or two before hosting an event.</p>
<p>This suggests that an important part of hosting a mega-sport event is signalling the country’s openness to tourists, but also to investors and the broader international community.</p>
<p>It is important to keep in mind that our analysis is not a cost-benefit analysis. To properly evaluate the economic benefits of hosting a sport event – of which tourism is one – the benefits must be weighed against the costs, such as building new stadiums or transportation networks.</p>
<p>But given how important tourism is in justifying a new bid, we believe it is valuable to ask whether these hopeful promises are ever fulfilled.</p>
<p>A final finding also has implications for future bids. We found that developing countries see larger increases in tourism than developed countries. The next three Summer Olympic Games will be held in France, the US, and Australia. Qatar and a joint effort by the US, Canada, and Mexico will host the next two FIFA World Cups. </p>
<p>Of the seven host countries for the five largest sporting events, only one is a developing country. We conclude:</p>
<blockquote>
<p>If this trend continues, the returns we have measured above are unlikely to be repeated for future mega-sport events. That would imply that the era of hosting mega-sport events because they increase tourism is over.</p>
</blockquote>
<p>All is not lost, though. Several developing countries are bidding to host the <a href="https://www.sportingnews.com/us/soccer/news/2030-fifa-world-cup-host-countries-bid-europe-africa-america/vb9n2t2h70fnwfiprrlk3qus">2030 FIFA World Cup</a>. These include Morocco, a joint bid from Uruguay, Argentina, Chile, and Paraguay, and an inter-confederation bid from Egypt, Greece, and Saudi Arabia. If boosting tourism is indeed one of the main priorities of host countries, then one of these bids is most likely to increase tourist arrivals, even without a Winter Wonderland.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/190923/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Maria Santana Gallego receives funding from grant PID2019-106738GB-I00 funded by MCIN/AEI/10.13039/501100011033 and by ERDF A way of making Europe</span></em></p><p class="fine-print"><em><span>Johan Fourie does not work for, consult, own shares in or receive funding from any company or organisation that would benefit from this article, and has disclosed no relevant affiliations beyond their academic appointment.</span></em></p>The era of hosting mega-sport events because they increase tourism may be over.Johan Fourie, Professor, Department of Economics, Stellenbosch UniversityMaria Santana Gallego, Associate Professor, Universitat de les Illes BalearsLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/1802772022-03-31T15:02:08Z2022-03-31T15:02:08ZHeading to the FIFA World Cup impacts Canadian identity — and helps us play on a bigger political field<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/455081/original/file-20220329-27-qfex07.JPG?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&rect=0%2C0%2C4792%2C3319&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">Canada's men's soccer team officially qualified for the World Cup after defeating Jamaica in Toronto on March 27, 2022. </span> <span class="attribution"><span class="source">THE CANADIAN PRESS/Nathan Denette</span></span></figcaption></figure><p>On March 27, the Canadian men’s national soccer team defeated Jamaica on a below-freezing afternoon in Toronto. That win <a href="https://www.cbc.ca/sports/soccer/canada-world-cup-the-impossible-dream-chris-jones-march-27-1.6399493">guaranteed the team’s qualification for the 2022 FIFA World Cup</a> in Qatar. </p>
<p>Despite bitterly cold winds blowing through BMO Field, <a href="https://www.theglobeandmail.com/sports/article-canadian-mens-soccer-team-has-captured-the-publics-imagination/">flag-waving, hockey jersey-wearing, tuque-adorned Canadian fans</a> stayed long after the match’s conclusion to celebrate the achievement. </p>
<p>The victory, only months after the <a href="https://olympic.ca/2021/08/06/team-canada-claims-first-ever-gold-medal-in-womens-soccer/">women’s national team captured the gold medal</a> at the Summer Olympics, <a href="https://www.sportsnet.ca/soccer/video/getting-started-herdman-canada-securing-world-cup-berth/">signalled Canada’s full arrival on the global soccer</a>, sorry … I mean football, stage.</p>
<p>The achievement, from an <a href="https://www.britannica.com/sports/football-soccer">association football</a> perspective, <a href="https://www.cbc.ca/sports/soccer/canada-soccer-el-salvador-world-cup-qualifier-analysis-coming-of-age-1.6337974">shows that something is brewing</a> in Canada. </p>
<h2>Hopes of advancement</h2>
<p>The team jumped <a href="https://www.fifa.com/fifa-world-ranking/can">40 spots in the FIFA rankings within the year</a> and has only had one previous appearance at the FIFA World Cup. The team’s first place qualifying performance — ahead of traditional <a href="https://www.concacaf.com/">Confederation of North, Central America and Caribbean Association Football</a> powers Mexico and the United States — raises hopes of advancement beyond the group stages in Qatar. </p>
<p>The women’s national team has <a href="https://nationalpost.com/sports/olympics/the-history-of-the-canadian-womens-soccer-team-from-mens-hand-me-downs-to-gold-medal-game">sustained a level of excellence for most of the century</a> — winning multiple Olympic medals and consistently ranking in the world’s top 10. </p>
<p>Canada hosted the women’s World Cup in 2015 and the country is set to co-host the men’s in 2026 along with the U.S. and Mexico. </p>
<p>With the introduction of the <a href="https://canpl.ca/">Canadian Premier League</a>, three Major League Soccer franchises, the <a href="https://www.sportsnet.ca/soccer/article/canada-soccer-hire-head-womens-professional-soccer-position/">push for professional women’s soccer opportunities</a>, expanding club and academy opportunities and well-established university programs, the sprouts of a sustainable “pyramid” system are evident across Canada.</p>
<h2>Globally recognizable</h2>
<p>Although international achievements are relatively new, especially on the men’s side, soccer can be considered a success in Canada from a grassroots perspective. </p>
<p>Despite the mystique of hockey as Canada’s true sporting pastime, <a href="https://www.macleans.ca/society/the-good-ol-soccer-game/">soccer long ago (and significantly) surpassed it in terms of participation</a>. But for decades soccer was patronizingly viewed as a fun and physical youth activity or a serious <a href="https://www.heritagetrust.on.ca/en/pages/our-stories/exhibits/snapshots-of-ontarios-sport-heritage/impact-of-immigration-on-sport">sport only for immigrant families</a> — not something that “typical” young Canadians might aspire to pursue professionally. </p>
<p>With the emergence of stars such as Christine Sinclair and Alphonso Davies, however, Canadian footballers are now globally recognizable. The success of the national teams has generated mentions on <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/football/audio/2022/mar/28/welsh-wonders-italian-woe-and-harry-kane-record-football-weekly-podcast">popular podcasts</a> and in recognizable <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/football/2022/jan/26/canada-world-cup-olympics-football-team">media outlets in the United Kingdom</a> and <a href="https://www.france24.com/en/sport/20220328-a-legit-football-country-canada-qualify-for-first-world-cup-in-36-years">in Europe</a>. </p>
<p>The hope now for Canadian soccer development moving forward is that the well-established grassroots <a href="https://globalnews.ca/news/8718045/nova-scotia-soccer-world-cup/">foundations of the game will converge with the top-down aspirational benefits</a> derived from mega-soccer success.</p>
<figure class="align-center ">
<img alt="A man in a Team Canada uniform does a backflip with a full crowd in the background." src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/455091/original/file-20220329-13-avd3fd.JPG?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/455091/original/file-20220329-13-avd3fd.JPG?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=410&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/455091/original/file-20220329-13-avd3fd.JPG?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=410&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/455091/original/file-20220329-13-avd3fd.JPG?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=410&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/455091/original/file-20220329-13-avd3fd.JPG?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=515&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/455091/original/file-20220329-13-avd3fd.JPG?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=515&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/455091/original/file-20220329-13-avd3fd.JPG?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=515&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">Canada’s Tajon Buchanan does a backflip after scoring against Jamaica during the first half of the qualifying action in Toronto, on March 27, 2022.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">THE CANADIAN PRESS/Nathan Denette</span></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<h2>Soccer as a representation of Canada</h2>
<p>The layers of meaning generated by recent Canadian soccer success go beyond the game’s past, present and future. Both senior national teams represent the <a href="https://dailyhive.com/vancouver/john-herdman-canada-immigrant-players">emerging diverse features</a> of Canada’s identity. </p>
<p>Despite earnest efforts, hockey has mostly failed to overcome its <a href="https://doi.org/10.1353/ces.2021.0023">diversity challenges</a> while <a href="https://doi.org/10.1353/ces.2021.0024">soccer and basketball</a> — plainly evident in “<a href="https://theconversation.com/we-the-north-the-toronto-raptors-playoff-success-represents-a-shift-in-canadian-identity-117962">Jurassic Park</a>” during the Raptors run to the 2019 NBA championship — reflect a more diverse Canadian population.</p>
<hr>
<p>
<em>
<strong>
Read more:
<a href="https://theconversation.com/fifas-suspension-of-russia-is-a-rarity-but-one-that-strips-bare-the-idea-that-sport-can-be-apolitical-178131">FIFA's suspension of Russia is a rarity – but one that strips bare the idea that sport can be apolitical</a>
</strong>
</em>
</p>
<hr>
<p>This idea of soccer as a representation of contemporary Canada goes beyond demographics and into moral identity. For decades, influential CBC hockey pundit Don Cherry effectively championed <a href="https://doi.org/10.3138/jcs.44.2.194">hockey as the ideal expression of Canadian morality</a>. </p>
<p>Following a criticism of NHL star Alex Ovechkin’s goal celebrations, for example, <a href="https://www.nhl.com/news/alex-ovechkin-laughs-off-don-cherrys-on-air-criticism-of-celebrations/c-411709">Cherry condemned the Russian’s soccer-inspired antics</a> and instead pointed to <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=d2kxTouc58I">Canadian (male) hockey stars as real role models who could help “teach the kids the Canadian way.”</a> In the same rant, Cherry remarked “We’ve got to watch that we don’t start acting like those goofy soccer guys.” </p>
<p>In 2022, however, soccer is embraced as a positive reflection of Canadian character, with athletes like <a href="https://theathletic.com/1028053/2019/06/14/as-canada-tries-to-win-the-gold-cup-how-will-atiba-hutchinson-one-of-the-countrys-best-be-remembered/">Atiba Hutchinson</a> and <a href="https://www.cbc.ca/sports/pride-month-canadian-olympic-love-story-truly-something-of-which-to-be-proud-1.6047254">Stephanie Labbé</a> as the embodiment of moral Canada. </p>
<p>But in the age of polarization, it is safe to say calling soccer or basketball the ideal representation of modern-day moral Canada will be met with resistance among <a href="https://doi.org/10.1080/09523361003714347">traditionalist “hockey is our national sport” defenders</a>.</p>
<h2>International affairs implications</h2>
<p>Canada’s emergence onto the world football stage also has broader implications for international affairs. Football is <a href="https://www.huffingtonpost.co.uk/entry/the-global-game-how-football-is-seen-across-the-world_uk_5b715046e4b0530743cb5b59">the true global game</a> — played and followed in every corner of the world. </p>
<p>Viewership of the 2018 FIFA World Cup, for instance, was estimated to have <a href="https://www.fifa.com/tournaments/mens/worldcup/2018russia/media-releases/more-than-half-the-world-watched-record-breaking-2018-world-cup">exceeded 3.5 billion</a>. Hockey, referred to as “ice hockey” outside North America, cannot match the international scope of football. </p>
<p>Beyond Cold War infused events like the <a href="https://bookstore.wolsakandwynn.ca/products/coming-down-the-mountain-rethinking-the-1972-summit-series">‘72 Summit Series</a> or the <a href="https://www.history.com/this-day-in-history/u-s-hockey-team-makes-miracle-on-ice">1980 Miracle on Ice</a>, ice hockey’s wider socio-political influence pales in comparison to the “soft power” of football. </p>
<p>To punish Russia for invading Ukraine, the British government froze the <a href="https://www.nytimes.com/2022/03/10/sports/soccer/abramovich-chelsea-sanctions.html">assets of Russian oligarch Roman Abramovich</a> — most notably owner of London-based club Chelsea F.C. Plus <a href="https://theconversation.com/fifas-suspension-of-russia-is-a-rarity-but-one-that-strips-bare-the-idea-that-sport-can-be-apolitical-178131">FIFA eventually removed Russia’s</a> national football squad from World Cup qualifying, which generated <a href="https://www.aljazeera.com/news/2022/2/28/russia-expelled-from-world-cup-clubs-banned-from-competitions">international headlines</a> and drew the <a href="https://www.si.com/soccer/2022/03/03/russia-appeal-fifa-uefa-ban-cas-world-cup-qualifying">ire of Russian officials</a>.</p>
<figure class="align-center ">
<img alt="Putin reaches to the right and grabs the World Cup trophy." src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/455093/original/file-20220329-22-a5efi9.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/455093/original/file-20220329-22-a5efi9.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=418&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/455093/original/file-20220329-22-a5efi9.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=418&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/455093/original/file-20220329-22-a5efi9.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=418&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/455093/original/file-20220329-22-a5efi9.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=526&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/455093/original/file-20220329-22-a5efi9.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=526&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/455093/original/file-20220329-22-a5efi9.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=526&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">In a 2018 photo, Russian President Vladimir Putin touches the World Cup trophy as FIFA President Gianni Infantino stands beside him.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">(AP Photo/Petr David Josek)</span></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>And of course, Canada re-enters the men’s World Cup picture just as FIFA’s <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/football/2021/dec/15/former-qatar-world-cup-worker-jail-term-angers-human-rights-groups-abdullah-ibhais">most controversial host — Qatar</a> — readies for the November mega event. </p>
<p>The Arab Gulf nation’s <a href="https://www.amnesty.org/en/latest/news/2018/12/human-rights-in-the-gulf-under-renewed-scrutiny-ahead-of-gcc-summit/">checkered human rights record</a> has sparked discussions regarding sportswashing and <a href="https://www.independent.co.uk/sport/football/world/qatar-world-cup-boycott-2022-fifa-b1821574.html">elicited calls for boycotts</a>.</p>
<p>Canada, described in international relations as a “<a href="https://doi.org/10.1080/19187033.1995.11675349">middle power</a>” state, now enters into this political fray as a recognizable “middle power soccer nation.” </p>
<p>Canada’s men’s team will inescapably become <a href="https://theconversation.com/get-caught-up-in-the-olympic-spirit-but-keep-your-political-eyes-wide-open-174223">soft power instruments</a> and <a href="https://balsilliepapers.ca/wp-content/uploads/2021/07/Balsillie-Paper-Elcombe-DOI.pdf">tools of disruptive diplomacy</a>, expected to challenge the inequities and atrocities happening in a Middle Eastern nation 11,000 kilometres away. And all this will be magnified when Canada becomes the co-host in 2026 with raised performance expectations.</p>
<p>It’s fair to say the team’s victory on Sunday meant something, eh?</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/180277/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Tim Elcombe does not work for, consult, own shares in or receive funding from any company or organisation that would benefit from this article, and has disclosed no relevant affiliations beyond their academic appointment.</span></em></p>It’s fair to say the Canadian men’s national soccer team’s victory on Sunday meant something, eh?Tim Elcombe, Associate professor, Kinesiology & Physical Education; Fellow, Balsillie School of International Affairs, Wilfrid Laurier UniversityLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/1698302021-10-15T03:09:13Z2021-10-15T03:09:13ZWill the Evergrande crisis doom China’s grandiose, big-spending football dreams?<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/426604/original/file-20211015-13-r41fa.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&rect=278%2C26%2C2250%2C1702&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">
</span> <span class="attribution"><span class="source">Imaginechina/AP</span></span></figcaption></figure><p>A well-known Chinese idiom asks, “Can the eggs remain unbroken if the nest is destroyed?” (覆巢之下安有完卵). This saying implies that in a great disaster, no one escapes unscathed. </p>
<p>The question is quite pertinent for the ailing Evergrande Group – the second-largest property developer in China – and the ripple effects of its financial troubles for China’s grand ambitions in the sport of football. </p>
<p>Evergrande is owner of the football (soccer) team Guangzhou Evergrande FC, by far the most successful club in China. As such, the company and Chinese football have become intertwined – both financially and politically – and will rise and fall together. </p>
<p>This has flow-on effects for the government and its reliance on football to boost national pride to deflect criticism and achieve its broader goals. The Evergrande crisis suggests trouble is on the horizon.</p>
<h2>The Evergrande effect</h2>
<p>China has long used sport as a way to instill a sense of social cohesion, encourage patriotic citizenship and forge a shared national identity. </p>
<p>In recent decades, China has become a dominant force at the Olympics, and hosting the Summer Games in Beijing in 2008 was seen as one of the crowning achievements for the nation.</p>
<p>However, China has long been a laggard in the world’s most popular sport, football, which has been a source of constant embarrassment. China has <a href="https://www.scmp.com/sport/football/article/3151493/china-marks-20-years-reaching-its-only-fifa-world-cup-long-wait?module=hard_link&pgtype=article">only qualified for the FIFA World Cup once</a> and has never scored a goal. Its chances of making the expanded field in the 2022 World Cup in Qatar appear slim. </p>
<figure class="align-center ">
<img alt="China sits near the bottom of the World Cup qualifying table." src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/426602/original/file-20211015-22-17ykrwc.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/426602/original/file-20211015-22-17ykrwc.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=432&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/426602/original/file-20211015-22-17ykrwc.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=432&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/426602/original/file-20211015-22-17ykrwc.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=432&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/426602/original/file-20211015-22-17ykrwc.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=543&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/426602/original/file-20211015-22-17ykrwc.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=543&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/426602/original/file-20211015-22-17ykrwc.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=543&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">China sits near the bottom of the World Cup qualifying table after losing its third match to Saudi Arabia this week.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">Amr Nabil/AP</span></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>To remedy this, the State Council, China’s cabinet, launched a <a href="http://www.gov.cn/zhengce/content/2015-03/16/content_9537.htm">major football development plan</a> in 2015 aimed at boosting the country’s programs from the grassroots to elite levels. Evergrande Group has been the most passionate supporter of this campaign.</p>
<p>The company entered the football world in 2009 by taking over a club in the southern city of Guangzhou previously owned by a pharmaceutical company. Evergrande invested enormous financial resources in recruiting top domestic and international players and coaches, developing youth academies and upgrading its club facilities. </p>
<p>The club peaked in 2013 when it clinched titles in the Chinese Super League and the <a href="https://www.wsj.com/articles/BL-CJB-19505">Asian Champions League</a> under the leadership of legendary Italian coach Marcello Lippi. </p>
<p>The “Evergrande effect” boosted public interest in the league and laid the foundation for the central government to include football development as a key project of President Xi Jinping’s <a href="http://www.chinanews.com/gn/2015/02-27/7085853.shtml">comprehensive economic, social and political reforms</a> towards <a href="http://www.xinhuanet.com/english/2020-10/11/c_139431888.htm">national rejuvenation</a>. </p>
<p>Since then, the government has invested significant financial and reputational capital in the sport.</p>
<hr>
<p>
<em>
<strong>
Read more:
<a href="https://theconversation.com/chinas-problem-with-property-the-domino-effect-of-evergrandes-huge-debts-168601">China's problem with property: the domino effect of Evergrande's huge debts</a>
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</em>
</p>
<hr>
<h2>A football arms race</h2>
<p>Guangzhou Evergrande’s success led other tycoons to invest in teams to boost their profile with both the Chinese public and the government. This triggered an intensified “arms race” to challenge Guangzhou Evergrande, with teams spending record transfer sums and outrageous wages to lure foreign talent to China. </p>
<p>Jiangsu Suning FC, owned by a major electronics retailer, for instance, <a href="https://www.thesun.co.uk/sport/football/3774884/fabio-capello-jiangsu-suning-england-zlatan-ibrahimovic-chinese-super-league/">hired ex-England coach Fabio Capello</a> and <a href="https://edition.cnn.com/2016/02/05/football/alex-teixeira-jiangsu-suning-china-football/index.html">signed Brazilian players Alex Teixeira and Ramires</a> for nearly US$100 million (A$138 million) combined.</p>
<p>Altogether, the Chinese Super League spent 529 million euros (A$772 million) on players in the <a href="https://www.transfermarkt.com/chinese-super-league/transferbilanz/wettbewerb/CSL/s_w/leihe/1/intern/1/plus/1">transfer market</a> in the 2016-17 season – the <a href="https://www.ft.com/content/f976aaae-e31f-11e6-8405-9e5580d6e5fb">most of any league in the world</a> – while bringing in income of just 147 million euros (A$215 million).</p>
<figure class="align-center ">
<img alt="Brazilian footballers Talisca and Paulinho." src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/426598/original/file-20211015-15-o6w5e4.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/426598/original/file-20211015-15-o6w5e4.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/426598/original/file-20211015-15-o6w5e4.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/426598/original/file-20211015-15-o6w5e4.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/426598/original/file-20211015-15-o6w5e4.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/426598/original/file-20211015-15-o6w5e4.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/426598/original/file-20211015-15-o6w5e4.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">Brazilian footballers Talisca and Paulinho take part in a training session for Guangzhou Evergrande in 2019.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">Zhong Zhenbin/AP</span></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>Despite the increased competition, Guangzhou Evergrande maintained its position at the top of the league for the past decade. It has won the Chinese championship every year since 2011, bar two seasons in which it finished runner-up. </p>
<p>This caused a degree of hubris. In a postgame speech, the former CEO of the club, Liu Yongzhuo, asserted that “<a href="https://sports.huanqiu.com/article/9CaKrnJYVdD">no other team can take the championship unless Evergrande gives it to you</a>”. </p>
<p>In recent years, the club also started building a <a href="https://www.businessinsider.com.au/evergrandes-lotus-shaped-football-stadium-half-built-in-shambles-2021-9?r=US&IR=T">$US1.8 billion ($A2 billion) lotus-shaped stadium</a> that would seat 100,000 fans – touted as the largest in the world. Construction on the half-built stadium appears to have <a href="https://www.scmp.com/video/economy/3150325/few-workers-china-evergrandes-half-built-guangzhou-fc-football-stadium-amid">stalled</a>. </p>
<p><div data-react-class="Tweet" data-react-props="{"tweetId":"1253369794989928452"}"></div></p>
<h2>The bubble bursts</h2>
<p>There is little doubt Chinese recruitment of elite players from the European leagues has <a href="https://www2.deloitte.com/content/dam/Deloitte/cn/Documents/technology-media-telecommunications/deloitte-cn-tmt-chinese-football-association-super-league-zh-200729.pdf">raised the commercial value of the Chinese league</a>. However, the expenditures quickly reached unhealthy levels. </p>
<p>With clubs running huge deficits, the Chinese Football Association stepped in with a <a href="https://www.bbc.com/sport/football/42954937">100% tax</a> on foreign signings and then a <a href="https://www.bbc.com/sport/football/55317928">salary cap</a> this year. But it wasn’t enough to prevent the bubble from bursting.</p>
<p>This unsustainable spending made the Chinese clubs more vulnerable to the economic slowdown brought by COVID-19 than any other global football league. </p>
<p>Jiangsu FC, the reigning Super League champion, has been the biggest victim thus far, <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/football/2021/feb/28/chinese-super-league-in-disarray-as-champions-jiangsu-cease-operations">shutting down operations</a> in March, just months after winning the title. It hadn’t <a href="http://www.xinhuanet.com/english/2021-01/15/c_139670947.htm">paid its players</a> for months. </p>
<p><div data-react-class="Tweet" data-react-props="{"tweetId":"1366440598123798528"}"></div></p>
<p>In addition, <a href="https://www.bjnews.com.cn/detail/161648686115979.html">16 football clubs</a> shut down operations in the lower-tier leagues in 2020 for financial reasons, with another six joining them so far in 2021.</p>
<p>Now, Guangzhou Evergrande is on the <a href="https://supchina.com/2021/09/20/evergrandes-financial-troubles-threatens-its-soccer-club-guangzhou-fc/">verge of collapse</a> and is seeking a government bailout. </p>
<p>Evergrande’s crisis marks the end of a golden era in Chinese professional football history. It also vividly shows the abnormal political and commercial environment that has defined the Chinese league for the last decade. </p>
<hr>
<p>
<em>
<strong>
Read more:
<a href="https://theconversation.com/why-the-era-of-chinese-football-clubs-splashing-big-money-on-international-stars-is-over-110112">Why the era of Chinese football clubs splashing big money on international stars is over</a>
</strong>
</em>
</p>
<hr>
<h2>China’s national ambitions thwarted</h2>
<p>China’s grand football ambitions on the international stage now appear to be doomed, as well.</p>
<p>In the early this year, Guangzhou coach Fabio Cannavaro admitted in a postgame press conference the club’ current objective is to “<a href="https://www.chinadailyhk.com/article/164870#CSL:-Shandong-beat-Guangzhou-Cangzhou-hold-Henan">train players to provide strength to the Chinese national team</a>” (为国养士), rather than compete for a title. </p>
<p>It is highly unusual for a football club to offer such extraordinary support to the national team. A statement like this would be inconceivable coming from the manager of a European team, where there is always a certain level of conflict of interest between clubs and national sides. </p>
<p>But, due to the political environment in Chinese football, it was unsurprising coming from Guangzhou Evergrande.</p>
<p>Guangzhou has always privileged the interests of the national team over its own corporate interests. In 2013, the club introduced <a href="https://www.globaltimes.cn/content/795668.shtml">new rules</a>, which rewarded or fined players based on their performance with the national team. Evergrande Group also <a href="https://www.sohu.com/a/311690958_515187">voluntarily subsidised part of Lippi’s salary</a> when he was the head coach of China’s national team from 2016–19.</p>
<hr>
<p>
<em>
<strong>
Read more:
<a href="https://theconversation.com/can-chinas-super-league-help-spur-its-global-ambitions-55322">Can China's Super League help spur its global ambitions?</a>
</strong>
</em>
</p>
<hr>
<p>Furthermore, the club has been a major sponsor of China’s program to <a href="https://www.sixthtone.com/news/1007602/can-naturalized-athletes-save-chinas-sporting-dreams%3F">naturalise foreign players</a> to compete for the national team. In 2019 alone, Evergrande <a href="https://www.163.com/sports/article/FBETCAU400058780.html">paid 870 million renminbi (A$182 million)</a> in transfer fees, salaries and resettlement costs for five naturalised players, contributed heavily to the club’s <a href="https://www.163.com/sports/article/FBETCAU400058780.html">1.94 billion renminbi (A$400 million)</a> loss in 2019.</p>
<p>No other clubs were willing to shoulder such a burden for the national cause.</p>
<p>China’s football reform has, until now, resembled a sort of “Great Leap Forward”, with crony capitalist characteristics. Evergrande’s crisis likely signals the end of this experiment, which could have implications beyond sporting fandom.</p>
<p>The central government has made a point of prioritising and promoting Chinese football as a significant component of its efforts to strengthen social and national bonds. The failure of its most successful champion in this enterprise will inevitably damage this larger goal, compounding the political fallout of the Evergrande crisis.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/169830/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Ye Xue does not work for, consult, own shares in or receive funding from any company or organisation that would benefit from this article, and has disclosed no relevant affiliations beyond their academic appointment.</span></em></p>One major Chinese football club has already collapsed. With Evergrande’s current financial crisis, the country’s most successful – and biggest-spending – club could be next.Ye Xue, Research Associate, Australian National UniversityLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/1679162021-09-17T09:30:00Z2021-09-17T09:30:00ZA football World Cup every two years? An expert runs the numbers<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/421589/original/file-20210916-19-17w8nyl.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&rect=62%2C31%2C2527%2C1695&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">
</span> <span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://www.shutterstock.com/image-photo/moscow-russia-july-15-2018-france-1134685748">Shutterstock/A.RICARDO</a></span></figcaption></figure><p>In May 2021, Fifa began <a href="https://www.bbc.co.uk/sport/football/57205872#:%7E:text=Football%27s%20world%20governing%20body%20Fifa%20is%20to%20launch,look%20at%20the%20qualifying%20competitions%20for%20these%20tournaments.">exploring the idea</a> of holding a men’s football World Cup every two years instead of four. Further plans have since been unveiled, and the proposal, which <a href="https://youtu.be/RI1k3EcVSE4">originally came from Saudi Arabia</a>, has received support from some international organisations. </p>
<p>Fifa’s chief of global football development and former Arsenal manager Arsène Wenger says he is “<a href="https://www.bbc.co.uk/sport/football/58506448">100% convinced</a>” it is the right way forward for the sport. </p>
<p>Others, including <a href="https://www.skysports.com/football/news/11095/12401555/fifa-world-cup-fans-groups-oppose-idea-to-host-tournament-every-two-years">fan groups</a>, have quickly called foul on the proposal. Uefa, responsible for governing football in Europe, has <a href="https://www.insidethegames.biz/articles/1112817/ceferin-boycott-threat-fifa-world-cup">threatened a boycott</a>, with its president Aleksander Ceferin <a href="https://www.thetimes.co.uk/article/uefa-president-aleksander-ceferin-europe-and-south-america-prepared-to-boycott-biennial-world-cup-bj3jzmzgh">commenting</a>: “We can decide not to play in it … So good luck with a World Cup like that.” </p>
<p>Arguments in favour of the scheme include more frequent quality football entertainment and the chance to raise more funds for player development in poorer countries. Those against complain of a loss of novelty value and the need to look after the health of players. </p>
<p>But like most decisions taken in the world of business, be it banking or sport, this is not just about pros and cons. It is about financial benefits and costs.</p>
<p>For Fifa, the <a href="https://www.fifa.com/about-fifa/organisation/finances">majority of its revenue</a> comes from the broadcasting fees, licensing rights and ticket sales of the men’s World Cup tournament, held every four years since 1930. In fact, there is a clear financial cycle in which losses accrue in three out of every four years. More World Cups could bring in more income.</p>
<p>So why isn’t Uefa keen to do the same? Potentially, the change could lead to it hosting the Euros more frequently (also currently held every four years) and also benefiting from increased revenue. </p>
<p>The main difference is that Uefa simply is not as financially dependent on a single event. Instead, it has something Fifa does not have: more than one major event that generates money. These include the Champions League (men’s and women’s) and Europa League competitions. </p>
<h2>Shared goals?</h2>
<p>As a result, Uefa makes much more money than Fifa does. Over the last four years, <a href="https://www.uefa.com/insideuefa/documentlibrary/about-uefa/financialreports/">UEFA’s revenues</a>, at US$12.5 billion (£9.4 billion), were almost double those of Fifa, which brought in US$6.4 billion (£4.6 billion).</p>
<figure class="align-center ">
<img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/421591/original/file-20210916-27-1ri8j4n.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/421591/original/file-20210916-27-1ri8j4n.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=360&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/421591/original/file-20210916-27-1ri8j4n.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=360&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/421591/original/file-20210916-27-1ri8j4n.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=360&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/421591/original/file-20210916-27-1ri8j4n.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=453&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/421591/original/file-20210916-27-1ri8j4n.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=453&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/421591/original/file-20210916-27-1ri8j4n.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=453&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">Revenue comparison for FIFA and UEFA.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">Author provided</span>, <span class="license">Author provided</span></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>It is also a much smoother revenue year-on-year, whereas Fifa is more dependent on a large boost every four years. Clearly, Fifa needs the men’s World Cup more than Uefa needs the Euros. </p>
<p>In fact, the majority of Uefa’s annual revenue comes from club competitions, which they would not be keen to disrupt. In 2016, (Euro 2020 figures are not yet available) Uefa generated <a href="https://editorial.uefa.com/resources/0238-0f842c842efc-3e95e7aaf3d9-1000/2015_16_uefa_financial_report.pdf">€293 million (£249 million) more</a> from club competitions that year than it did from the international tournament. </p>
<p>So for Uefa, as well as for the European clubs that play in those club competitions, maintaining those revenues is more important from a financial standpoint. Both Uefa and Fifa are, after all, governing bodies looking after their members’ needs – and plans for development and growth of the game at all levels costs money.</p>
<figure class="align-center ">
<img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/421592/original/file-20210916-15-ma50o8.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/421592/original/file-20210916-15-ma50o8.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=360&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/421592/original/file-20210916-15-ma50o8.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=360&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/421592/original/file-20210916-15-ma50o8.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=360&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/421592/original/file-20210916-15-ma50o8.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=453&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/421592/original/file-20210916-15-ma50o8.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=453&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/421592/original/file-20210916-15-ma50o8.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=453&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">UEFA’s revenue sources.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">Author provided</span>, <span class="license">Author provided</span></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>As for the clubs, there are potentially serious costs of making their players available for more international duty, such as the risks of player fatigue and injury. Large clubs are more likely to have a number of national team players and therefore more likely to face greater overall risk to their squad. Smaller clubs may have a national player as their star performer. </p>
<h2>Spending power</h2>
<p>Currently Fifa’s largest outgoing – about US$500 million (£362 million) a year – is on what it terms “development and education”. It sounds like a laudable aim, and few would argue against <a href="https://www.bbc.co.uk/sport/football/58506448">Wenger’s aim</a> to “provide an incentive to invest in youth programmes”. </p>
<p>But it is worth thinking seriously about where extra funds would come from. Doubling the number of World Cups does not necessarily mean double the money. </p>
<p>Income is generated from a number of sources, and in <a href="https://digitalhub.fifa.com/m/337fab75839abc76/original/xzshsoe2ayttyquuxhq0-pdf.pdf">the last World Cup year</a> (2018), TV broadcast rights made up the largest (55%) source of Fifa’s revenue (ticket sales made up only 15%). </p>
<p>But what broadcasters pay for rights depends on demand from the prospective audience. The more people want to watch something, the more they are willing to pay to outbid their competitors. </p>
<p>Making a major event less rare (and therefore perhaps less major), by having it occur twice as often, and clashing with other sporting events that people want to watch (<a href="https://www.thetimes.co.uk/article/i-hope-arsene-wengers-world-cup-plan-dies-olympic-stars-deserve-their-moment-in-sun-njl8xs58x">such as the Olympics</a>) can easily dilute value to broadcasters, making them less willing to pay. </p>
<p>This is the gamble. With more events but potentially less money per event, will the overall effect be a positive one for Fifa’s income? And is any extra money worth risking the wrath of Uefa, some of the world’s biggest clubs, and crucially, the fans?</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/167916/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Christina Philippou does not work for, consult, own shares in or receive funding from any company or organisation that would benefit from this article, and has disclosed no relevant affiliations beyond their academic appointment.</span></em></p>More cups, more goals, more money?Christina Philippou, Principal Lecturer, Accounting and Financial Management, University of PortsmouthLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/1659822021-08-11T15:10:15Z2021-08-11T15:10:15ZLionel Messi: why his arrival in Paris is a key part of Qatar’s game plan<p>Lionel Messi’s <a href="https://news.sky.com/story/lionel-messi-in-tears-as-he-confirms-hes-leaving-barcelona-12376385">emotional</a> though <a href="https://www.skysports.com/football/news/11833/12373952/lionel-messi-agrees-to-join-paris-saint-germain-on-two-year-contract-after-leaving-barcelona">lucrative</a> move to Paris Saint-Germain is now complete. After scoring <a href="https://www.independent.co.uk/sport/football/lionel-messi-barcelona-goals-record-b1897701.html">672 goals for Barcelona</a>, the football world eagerly awaits what he can bring to the French league.</p>
<p>His new club’s owners, meanwhile, will be looking slightly further ahead, with a focus on 2022. Since Qatar Sports Investments (QSI) first <a href="https://www.bbc.co.uk/sport/football/14393012">bought a majority stake</a> in Paris Saint-Germain (PSG) in 2011, they have spent <a href="https://www.goal.com/en-ie/lists/how-much-have-psg-spent-on-transfers-since-qatar-takeover/hz1zvwykh4mv11vep6qdtygex">large amounts of money</a> seeking domestic dominance and European success. </p>
<p>The former has since become routine — save for an upset last season, when they were <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/football/2021/may/23/european-roundup-lille-win-at-angers-to-seal-first-ligue-1-title-in-10-years">runners up to Lille</a>. But the Uefa Champions League trophy has so far proved elusive.</p>
<p>Messi’s arrival brings a sense that the coming season is crunch time. Having already signed the likes of Italian goalkeeper (and Euro 2020 winner) <a href="https://www.bbc.co.uk/sport/football/57390443">Gianluigi Donnarumma</a> from AC Milan, and former Real Madrid defender <a href="https://www.skysports.com/football/news/11820/12351017/sergio-ramos-paris-saint-germain-sign-former-real-madrid-captain-on-two-year-deal">Sergio Ramos</a>, anything short of lifting the Champions League trophy next May will widely be considered a failure.</p>
<p>If they do manage to win it, the symbolism of such a victory will be striking, as just five months later the small Gulf state will play host to the <a href="https://www.fifa.com/tournaments/mens/worldcup/qatar2022">2022 Fifa World Cup</a>. It would be quite a year for Qatar and its investments in football, which will be seen as a big win off the pitch as well as on it. </p>
<p>For ever since 1971, when Qatar <a href="https://www.britannica.com/place/Qatar/History">ceased to be a British protectorate</a>, the country’s ruling family has been working out how best to use its wealth of natural resources. Faced with the need to diversify its economy away from a dependence on gas and oil, in 2008 the country launched its <a href="https://www.gco.gov.qa/en/about-qatar/national-vision2030/">2030 national vision</a>.</p>
<p>The aim was to “transform Qatar into an advanced society capable of achieving sustainable development”. This gave rise to a development strategy of which sport and football are important elements. </p>
<p>Staging the World Cup is as much about promoting infrastructural development and long-term tourism as it is a four-week tournament. Acquiring PSG also became part of the plan – it makes money and extends Qatari influence across the world.</p>
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Read more:
<a href="https://theconversation.com/the-world-cup-in-qatar-in-winter-it-might-not-be-all-bad-38005">The World Cup in Qatar, in winter – it might not be all bad</a>
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<p>This means that, rather than being the main event, Lionel Messi is essentially incidental to the broader ambitions of Qatar. That said, the <a href="https://www.cnbc.com/2021/08/11/messi-psg-president-says-world-will-be-shocked-by-revenues.html">shirt sales, sponsorships and other commercial deals</a> the Argentinian helps to secure will still count as important revenue streams.</p>
<p>Yet Qatar is not simply in the business of national strategic development, it also retains grand political ambitions. Indeed, its government is not afraid to use football as the means to achieving other political ends, of which PSG’s signing of Messi’s former Barcelona teammate Neymar is a prime example.</p>
<h2>Scoring opportunity</h2>
<p>Qatar used that <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2017/sep/01/neymar-transfer-barcelona-soft-power-asian-governments">record breaking £198 million deal</a> in 2017 to show the world (and its immediate neighbours, Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates) its financial muscle and independence. It also symbolised how the government in Doha sees football as part of its soft power armoury, a way of engaging global audiences intrigued by the signing of football’s best talent.</p>
<p>Some will view Lionel Messi signing for PSG in the same way. His expected contribution to the club’s success will ensure that Qatar’s projection of soft power continues, while the status, image and reputation of “brand Qatar” are further burnished.</p>
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<p>Even so, there is already debate about how PSG appear able to stay one step ahead of Uefa’s financial fair-play regulations. Yet here, too, the political and economic planning and power of Qatar is evident. QSI’s chairman and PSG’s president, Nasser Al-Khelaifi, is also <a href="https://www.ecaeurope.com/about-eca/structure/executive-board/nasser-al-khelaifi/">chairman of the European Club’s Association</a>, a position which gives him a place on <a href="https://www.cbssports.com/soccer/news/psgs-al-khelaifi-re-elected-to-uefa-executive-committee-rebuffs-super-league-and-mbappe-to-real-rumors/">Uefa’s Executive Council</a>.</p>
<p>Al-Khelaifi is therefore someone who knows how to navigate a world of crunching tackles, most notably in ensuring that PSG remains onside with Uefa’s rules. He’s also <a href="https://www.rfi.fr/en/sports/20210420-psg-president-al-khelaifi-takes-uefa-s-side-in-war-over-european-super-league-football-sport">a man who stood by Uefa</a> during the Super League debacle, as he refused to ally PSG with <a href="https://www.marca.com/en/football/ligue-1/2021/05/30/60b3b921e2704e6b878b4568.html">its European rivals</a>, another soft power win for Doha. </p>
<p>As we approach 2022, Al-Khelaifi will stand alongside Messi and the World Cup in Qatar’s starting line-up. But while Messi’s move to France has grabbed the spotlight, for once he is not the main event. The government in Doha wants 2022 to be all about Qatar, and the Argentinian has been enlisted to play his part in their highly tactical game plan.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/165982/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Simon Chadwick does not work for, consult, own shares in or receive funding from any company or organisation that would benefit from this article, and has disclosed no relevant affiliations beyond their academic appointment.</span></em></p>It’s all about winning in 2022.Simon Chadwick, Global Professor of Eurasian Sport | Director of Eurasian Sport, EM Lyon Business SchoolLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/1539892021-02-07T09:05:47Z2021-02-07T09:05:47ZAfrica at the Football World Cup: 10 defining moments<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/382291/original/file-20210203-13-grms8t.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">Cameroon's Roger Milla held aloft at the 1990 FIFA World Cup in Italy.</span> <span class="attribution"><span class="source">RENARD eric/Corbis via Getty Images</span></span></figcaption></figure><p>Growing up in Sirisia on the slopes of Mount Elgon in Bungoma, Western Kenya, soccer was and remains a major pastime for young boys, whether herding livestock or in school. </p>
<p>Their conversations at dinner tables and busy markets focus on match outcomes, the on-field brawls, assaults on rival fans or on the referee, the controversial goal from an offside position, the penalty that was not supposed to be a penalty, the rivalry between local teams. These conversations are at the core of the culture and evolution of association football or soccer in Africa.</p>
<p>Indeed, it is the memories that people take away from the game that spice conversations and deepen peoples’ connection to the sport. And that’s particularly true of a FIFA Football World Cup tournament, held every four years.</p>
<p>As FIFA World Cup Qatar 2022 draws near, the 40 African nations battling for a spot have to plan <a href="https://www.fifa.com/worldcup/news/africa-s-dreamers-learn-paths-on-road-to-qatar-2022">beyond</a> just making it. Some of the favourites include Algeria, Côte d'Ivoire, Senegal, Cameroon, Egypt and Morocco – given their large contingent of professionals in top European leagues. The pairings in the <a href="https://www.fifa.com/worldcup/preliminaries/africa/matches/#282647">qualifiers</a> look exciting. </p>
<p>Past performances by African teams at the FIFA World Cup have not yielded a trophy. However, as I outline in a research <a href="https://doi.org/10.1080/14660970.2019.1680497">paper</a>, there have been memorable and defining moments at each FIFA World Cup tournament that inspire hope for a breakthrough, perhaps even at the <a href="https://www.fifa.com/worldcup/">2022 tournament</a> in Qatar.</p>
<h2>Africa and the world cup</h2>
<p>Despite the enormity and diversity of the African continent, home to 54 countries that are <a href="https://www.fifa.com/associations/">members</a> of <a href="https://www.fifa.com">FIFA</a> (the Fédération Internationale de Football Association), the passion for the beautiful game is universal. </p>
<p>This tournament brings together the best players from around the world representing their national teams. It has grown from eight teams that gathered in Uruguay in 1930 for the <a href="https://www.footballhistory.org/world-cup/1930-uruguay.html">inaugural edition</a> to 32 nations in Russia in 2018 and is set to <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/football/2017/jan/10/48-team-world-cup-fifa-plan-2026">increase</a> to 48 in 2026. </p>
<p>To date, only 13 African nations have qualified and participated in the World Cup Final tournament: Cameroon (7 times), Nigeria (6), Morocco (5), Tunisia (5), Algeria (4), Côte d'Ivoire (3), Egypt (3), Ghana (3), South Africa (3), Senegal (2), Zaire (1), Angola (1) and Togo (1). Egypt were first, in <a href="https://www.footballhistory.org/world-cup/1934-italy.html">1934</a>, the rest followed from 1970 onward.</p>
<p>Africa’s participation in the tournament is characterised by numerous challenges, unexpected victories and dramatic failures. Indeed, the performance on the field has provided great moments of excitement, athleticism, talent and skill – but also moments of tactical naivety and indiscipline.</p>
<p>There are, of course, others, but I <a href="https://doi.org/10.1080/14660970.2019.1680497">outline</a> 10 defining and memorable moments in my paper. In this context, “memorable” means moments in the tournament that stood out in terms of attraction, style of play and legacy. On the other hand, “defining moments” are characteristics that revealed, tested and shaped the perception and trajectory of the African and global game of football. </p>
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<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/382431/original/file-20210204-16-112cj85.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="A man stands with two fists in the air, wearing a shirt comprised of the colours of the flag of Senegal - green, yellow and red, behind him a sports stadium." src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/382431/original/file-20210204-16-112cj85.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/382431/original/file-20210204-16-112cj85.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/382431/original/file-20210204-16-112cj85.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/382431/original/file-20210204-16-112cj85.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/382431/original/file-20210204-16-112cj85.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/382431/original/file-20210204-16-112cj85.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/382431/original/file-20210204-16-112cj85.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px"></a>
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<span class="caption">A Senegal fan celebrates his team’s upset of world champions France at the 2002 FIFA World Cup in South Korea.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">Neal Simpson/EMPICS via Getty Images</span></span>
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<h2>10 significant moments</h2>
<ol>
<li><p>The <a href="https://www.cafonline.com/about-us/caf-history/">formation</a> of CAF, the Confederation of African Football, in 1957, and with it the solidarity that led to the <a href="https://www.bbc.com/news/world-africa-36763036">boycott</a> of the 1966 World Cup tournament. This was due to just one final spot being available for the whole of Africa and Asia.</p></li>
<li><p>1970 FIFA World Cup: Morocco becomes the <a href="https://www.cricketsoccer.com/2020/06/11/the-story-of-morocco-in-mexico-1970/">first team</a> post the 1966 boycott to qualify and represent Africa. </p></li>
<li><p>1974: Zaire becomes the first sub-Saharan country to qualify and represent Africa – even as they <a href="https://www.history.co.uk/article/the-dark-story-of-zaires-9-nil-defeat-in-the-1974-world-cup">concede</a> a record nine goals in one match.</p></li>
<li><p>1978: Tunisia registers the <a href="https://www.theafricareport.com/9146/tunisia-1978-a-first-african-world-cup-win/">first</a> African win at the tournament – defeating Mexico.</p></li>
<li><p>1982: Algeria <a href="https://www.nytimes.com/1982/06/17/sports/algeria-stuns-west-germany-2-1-in-world-cup.html">beats</a> West Germany and Cameroon remains <a href="https://www.cameroon-tribune.cm/article.html/30500/fr.html/world-cup-1982-the-lions-glorious">unbeaten</a>, leading to additional slots for Africa at future Football World Cups. It takes Austria and West Germany colluding to have Algeria <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/football/2010/jun/13/1982-world-cup-algeria">eliminated</a>.</p></li>
<li><p>1986: Morocco <a href="https://thesefootballtimes.co/2018/04/23/how-moroccos-1986-world-cup-campaign-changed-african-football-forever/">leads the table</a> in a pool including England, Portugal and Poland but lose in the second round to West Germany.</p></li>
<li><p>1990: Cameroon’s “<a href="https://www.britannica.com/topic/Indomitable-Lions">Indomitable Lions</a>” <a href="https://africa.espn.com/football/club/cameroon-crm/656/blog/post/3859286/1990-when-cameroon-rocked-the-world">qualify</a> for the quarter-final and <a href="https://www.britannica.com/biography/Roger-Milla">Roger Milla’s</a> individual <a href="https://www.fifa.com/worldcup/news/behind-the-world-cup-record-roger-milla-2901386">exploits</a>.</p></li>
<li><p>2002: Senegal’s “<a href="https://www.denverpost.com/2018/06/20/senegal-world-cup-2018-dominique-badji/">Lions of Teranga</a>” show up to <a href="https://www.fifa.com/worldcup/news/diouf-inspired-senegal-stun-france-1641573">beat</a> defending world champions <a href="https://thesefootballtimes.co/2015/07/28/frances-failure-at-world-cup-2002/">France</a> and qualify for the quarter finals.</p></li>
<li><p>2010: South Africa <a href="https://www.fifa.com/worldcup/archive/southafrica2010/">host</a> the Football World Cup, inspire the world with <a href="https://www.bbc.com/news/10312794">the vuvuzela</a> and a missed penalty in the 90th minute that <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/sport/2020/mar/18/my-favourite-game-uruguay-v-ghana-world-cup-2010-quarter-final">cost</a> Ghana a place in the semi–final.</p></li>
<li><p>2014 and 2018: indiscipline, naivety, and technical retrogression <a href="https://theconversation.com/why-african-teams-fell-short-at-the-world-cup-again-99571">characterise</a> the African teams.</p></li>
</ol>
<h2>Will Africa ever win the cup?</h2>
<p>The occasional brilliance, technical display and aggressive physical expression of African football talent at the cup has earned admiration, enthralled spectators and drawn many African children to soccer. However, as the 2018 FIFA World Cup <a href="https://www.aljazeera.com/features/2018/7/19/why-africas-best-was-not-good-enough-at-world-cup-2018">showed</a>, Africa still <a href="https://www.bbc.com/news/world-africa-44658709">lags</a> in the development of the game. </p>
<p>The question on many fans’ minds is: will an African team ever win the tournament? Egypt, Morocco, Tunisia, Senegal and Nigeria gave it a shot in 2018 in Russia but none made it to the second round. A combination of injuries to key players, indiscipline, poor game management, tactical naivety and lack of disciplined organisation led to their <a href="https://theconversation.com/why-african-teams-fell-short-at-the-world-cup-again-99571">poor showing</a>. </p>
<p>Moving forward, Africa has a long way to go. Indeed, African players need to be reminded that they stand on the shoulders of those who resiliently battled to continually expand the opportunities of future generations of African players. A few battles have been won, but the war still rages. </p>
<p>African players have proven that their skill and natural ability are on par with the best; they need a cohesive and stable footballing system to realise their potential. Addressing that elusive tactical naivety and discipline deficit at the highest levels of national sports governance and team management are issues begging for solutions for the continent to break the hitherto ceiling at the quarter final stage of the FIFA Football World Cup.</p>
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Read more:
<a href="https://theconversation.com/meet-the-five-teams-hoping-to-change-africas-world-cup-story-97954">Meet the five teams hoping to change Africa's World Cup story</a>
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<p><a href="https://theconversation.com/meet-the-five-teams-hoping-to-change-africas-world-cup-story-97954">Looking to 2022</a>, many memorable and defining moments in each tournament indicate there is hope for a breakthrough. The fact that the FIFA World Cup was successfully hosted by the African continent gives extra motivation for aspiring African teams. Indeed, the 2010 tournament demonstrated Africa’s progress on and off the field, passion for the sport and commitment to play a bigger role on the world stage. However, Africa must put structures and operational mechanisms in place to scale new heights. The fans deserve it.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/153989/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Wycliffe W. Njororai Simiyu does not work for, consult, own shares in or receive funding from any company or organisation that would benefit from this article, and has disclosed no relevant affiliations beyond their academic appointment.</span></em></p>Will an African nation ever win the Football World Cup? Key moments in past tournaments offer hope – and a warning that the continent needs to invest in the game.Wycliffe W. Njororai Simiyu, Professor, Health and Kinesiology, University of Texas at TylerLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/1411582020-08-03T14:58:13Z2020-08-03T14:58:13ZFootball and politics: when Algeria won the 2019 Africa Cup of Nations<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/350476/original/file-20200730-17-8i069g.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">
</span> <span class="attribution"><span class="source">ISLAM SAFWAT/NurPhoto/Getty Images</span></span></figcaption></figure><p>With African football on hold and the Africa Cup of Nations (Afcon) <a href="https://www.cafonline.com/news-center/news/decisions-of-caf-executive-meeting-30-june-2020">rescheduled</a> because of the COVID-19 pandemic, there’s plenty of nostalgia to go around. But memories of the Algeria’s biggest football wins can offer more than just nostalgia. The 2019 Afcon win in Egypt also offers insights into how governments co-opt the game.</p>
<p>Algeria’s <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/football/2010/jun/13/1982-world-cup-algeria">victory</a> against West Germany in the 1982 FIFA World Cup, still in Algeria’s post-<a href="https://africasacountry.com/2017/05/the-past-flows-into-the-future">independence</a>, was an iconic moment. As was their first Afcon win in <a href="https://africanfootball.com/tournament/84/1990-Africa-Cup-of-Nations">1990</a> in Algiers.</p>
<p>A decade later the country entered one of its darkest times since independence. Under Abdelaziz Bouteflika – who would serve as president for <a href="https://theconversation.com/bouteflika-steps-aside-as-algerians-push-to-reclaim-and-own-their-history-114380">20 years</a> from 1999. Political violence caused the deaths of thousands and deeply affected Algerian society.</p>
<p>The 2019 Afcon trophy would be lifted 29 years after the first. This game, in Egypt, is especially worth recalling because of the political circumstances surrounding it. All the elements of a Greek tragedy were in place that day.</p>
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Read more:
<a href="https://theconversation.com/bouteflika-steps-aside-as-algerians-push-to-reclaim-and-own-their-history-114380">Bouteflika steps aside as Algerians push to reclaim and own their history</a>
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<h2>On the streets</h2>
<p>On Friday 22 February 2019, after a campaign on social media following the announcement by the ruling National Liberation Front that an ailing Bouteflika would stand for a <a href="https://www.aljazeera.com/news/2019/02/algeria-bouteflika-confirms-presidential-run-term-190210155112057.html">fifth term</a>, hundred of thousands of demonstrators took to the street to express their discontent. The prospect of enduring another five years of Bouteflikism was too dire.</p>
<p>Since then, every Tuesday for students, and every Friday after the prayer, Algerians of all ages and regions have <a href="https://theconversation.com/why-after-one-year-protests-continue-to-rock-algeria-133238">returned</a> to the streets. The peaceful protesters want real change, including the end of the army-backed establishment that has ruled since independence in 1962. On March 8, Women’s Day, the number of demonstrators, men and women of different age and class in the <em>hirak</em> (the Arabic word for “movement”), reached an unprecedented level. </p>
<p>The army, led by General Major Gaïd Salah, Minister of Defense, pushed for Bouteflika’s resignation and the postponement of the election. This led to the disintegration of Bouteflika’s high profile entourage, called the <em>essaba</em> (gang), who accumulated colossal fortunes in exchange for financially backing political manoeuvres to maintain Bouteflika’s regime.</p>
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<span class="caption">Demonstrators in Algiers in October 2019.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">Mustafa Hassona/Anadolu Agency/Getty Images</span></span>
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</figure>
<h2>In the stadia</h2>
<p>This money was also used to co-opt sport, football in particular. Each election, photos of Bouteflika would adorn football stadia and be displayed at the opening of matches. It was not unusual for club bosses and former players to be seen at political rallies for Bouteflika, who famously claimed during a 2009 <a href="http://www.dzfoot.com/video/bouteflika-lalgerie-peut-accueillir-deux-coupes-du-monde-avril-2009-x2lei7b">speech</a> that Algeria “has the means to organise two football World Cups”.</p>
<p>One example of this interplay between football, business and politics is a long-time backer of Bouteflika, construction magnate Ali Haddad, who purchased the football club USM Alger in 2010 and became its president. Interestingly, the club’s <a href="https://repository.lboro.ac.uk/articles/Football_sub-culture_and_youth_politics_in_Algeria/9625070">fans</a> continued with their chanting attacks on the symbols of Bouteflika’s privileged class or “<em>les nouveaux riches</em>” who controlled the networks of politics, media and business in Algeria.</p>
<p>Football fans have been active in the hirak from the beginning, and their politicised football chants have been embraced as an expression of popular resentment with political systems and socio-economic conditions.</p>
<p>Following on the heels of Bouteflika’s resignation amid massive protests and the nomination of a caretaker president, the <a href="https://www.cafonline.com/total-africa-cup-of-nations/">2019</a> Africa Cup of Nations came in the right time. It was for the new decision makers, led by General Salah, an opportunity to reconcile with the population and rebrand the new ruling elite as guarantors of stability and the fight against corruption. </p>
<p>For the Algerian national football team, after years of instability and management changes, it was another opportunity to reconcile with supporters at home and among the large Algerian diaspora in Europe and in North America.</p>
<h2>On the Afcon field</h2>
<p>In 2014, Algeria experienced its first time in a knockout round at the FIFA World Cup. But when Djamel Belmadi <a href="https://www.bbc.com/sport/football/45035424#:%7E:text=Algeria%20appoint%20former%20international%20Djamel%20Belmadi%20as%20new%20coach,-By%20Maher%20Mezahi&text=Djamel%20Belmadi%20led%20Al%2DDuhail,agreed%20a%20four%2Dyear%20deal.">was appointed</a> as new coach in August 2018, the team had plunged into a crisis of confidence. Results were absent and critics were present and acerbic. So when Belmadi announced that Algeria would go to Egypt to lift the cup, few took him seriously.</p>
<p>The tournament was being played in Egypt, one of the favourites for the title. For Algeria, Egypt was a rather hostile sporting environment. The two countries had been <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/football/blog/2009/oct/10/egypt-algeria-repeat-hate-match">football</a> <a href="http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/8369983.stm">foes</a> for decades – and at political loggerheads over the Libyan conflict – and the animosity was tangible. The hostility continued especially after Egypt failed to reach the second qualifying round. Yet opposition to Algeria’s opponents in the final, Senegal, was also <a href="https://africasacountry.com/2019/07/sport-history-and-politics-at-the-african-cup-of-nations">great</a>.</p>
<p>With the logistic support of the army, the new Algerian leadership organised the airlifting of Algerian supporters from different regions of the country into Egypt, even offering them free tickets once in Cairo.</p>
<p>In the stadium Algerian fans cheered a team that was “<a href="https://www.newframe.com/what-does-an-afcon-final-mean-to-algeria/">reborn alongside the hirak</a>”.</p>
<h2>Back on the streets</h2>
<p>And so the celebrations of Algeria’s second Afcon cup happened in a unique context. They extended to the Algerian community around the world, in Europe, Canada and the US, and in France in particular. </p>
<figure class="align-center zoomable">
<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/350478/original/file-20200730-27-ltf7xe.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/350478/original/file-20200730-27-ltf7xe.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/350478/original/file-20200730-27-ltf7xe.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/350478/original/file-20200730-27-ltf7xe.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/350478/original/file-20200730-27-ltf7xe.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/350478/original/file-20200730-27-ltf7xe.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=502&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/350478/original/file-20200730-27-ltf7xe.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=502&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/350478/original/file-20200730-27-ltf7xe.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=502&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px"></a>
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">Algeria’s supporters in France celebrate after Algeria beat Senegal 1-0 in the final.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">Estelle Ruiz/NurPhoto/Getty Images</span></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>And, as always, raising the Algerian flag in French cities fuelled the debate on French identity and the question of alliance with Algeria’s former colonisers. </p>
<p>Algeria’s captain Ryad Mahrez, after scoring a winning free kick against Nigeria to qualify for the final, had <a href="https://twitter.com/Mahrez22/status/1150536510640406528">tweeted</a> “the free kick was for you, we are together” with Algerian and French flag emojis. There were a number of French-Algerian dual nationals on the team. </p>
<p><div data-react-class="Tweet" data-react-props="{"tweetId":"1150536510640406528"}"></div></p>
<p>The tweet was in <a href="https://www.essentiallysports.com/riyad-mahrez-silences-french-politician-following-afcon-heroics/">response</a> to a far-right tweet “to avoid the tide of Algerian flags, to preserve our national holiday … Trust the 11 Nigerian players.” </p>
<p><div data-react-class="Tweet" data-react-props="{"tweetId":"1150117079045066752"}"></div></p>
<p>You could also <a href="https://www.france24.com/en/20190720-algeria-afcon-title-sparks-street-parties-across-france-football">read</a> how around 2,500 police officers had been mobilised in Paris to “prevent street clashes”. The situation led French-Algerian coach Belmadi to urge Algerian supporters in France to celebrate in an “<a href="https://www.france24.com/en/20190719-africa-cup-nations-algeria-football-coach-belmadi-fans-france-celebrations-orderly">orderly</a>” way – a reference to the peaceful and orderly hirak protests. </p>
<p>A number of supporters were nonetheless <a href="https://english.alaraby.co.uk/english/news/2019/7/15/hundreds-detained-in-france-riots-following-algerian-afcon-win">arrested</a> after clashes with police. </p>
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<strong>
Read more:
<a href="https://theconversation.com/why-after-one-year-protests-continue-to-rock-algeria-133238">Why, after one year, protests continue to rock Algeria</a>
</strong>
</em>
</p>
<hr>
<p>Looking back, the 2019 Afcon win underscores how the Algerian regime has long understood how to mobilise the national football team victories for its own agenda. But the regime is also now very aware of the liberty football can bring. </p>
<p>For years young Algerians have understood that stadiums are the ideal venue to freely voice their socio-political and economic discontent. These football chants and slogans reached their zenith when they were eventually repeated by thousands every Friday during hirak marches.</p>
<p><em>Abdelkader Abderrahmane contributed to this article. He is a geopolitical researcher and international consultant on African peace and security issues.</em></p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/141158/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Mahfoud Amara does not work for, consult, own shares in or receive funding from any company or organisation that would benefit from this article, and has disclosed no relevant affiliations beyond their academic appointment.</span></em></p>The Algerian regime has long understood how to mobilise the national football team’s victories for a political agenda.Mahfoud Amara, Associate Professor in Sport Policy & Management, Qatar UniversityLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.