tag:theconversation.com,2011:/id/topics/world-cup-2014-6107/articlesWorld Cup 2014 – The Conversation2018-07-18T20:39:56Ztag:theconversation.com,2011:article/1000802018-07-18T20:39:56Z2018-07-18T20:39:56ZWhat businesses can learn from teamwork at the World Cup<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/228122/original/file-20180717-44085-1hb8s9s.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">Mario Mandzukic celebrates during Croatia's victory over England in the World Cup semifinal. Croatia's emphasis of team over individual goals was crucial to its success.</span> <span class="attribution"><span class="source">AP Photo/Frank Augstein)</span></span></figcaption></figure><p>Sport and business often seem to share common ground when it comes to performance. It’s not uncommon for businesses to use sports metaphors such as “down for the count,” “the ball’s in their court,” or “full court press.” As an Olympian, I’m often invited to speak at corporate events to inspire employees on setting goals or resiliency.</p>
<p>But only recently has there been a burgeoning body of researchers in the field of sport psychology and organizational psychology <a href="https://www.researchgate.net/publication/232974032_Applying_sport_psychology_in_business_A_narrative_commentary_and_bibliography%20%22%22">exploring the parallels between sports and businesses.</a></p>
<p>One study <a href="https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/abs/10.1080/10413200290103563">compared and contrasted the perceived factors of organizational success</a> from the viewpoints of leaders in the fields of sport and business. The results revealed sport and business leaders identified more similar factors (e.g., leadership, communication and team cohesion) than differences.</p>
<p>Many parallels exist between sports and business when it comes to success. The recent FIFA World Cup provides a unique opportunity to examine some of these parallels and provide lessons for both business and sport.</p>
<p>Few would have predicted France versus Croatia in the final match. If you glanced at the FIFA world rankings a week before the first match, you may have anticipated the 2018 World Cup champion to be <a href="https://www.fifa.com/fifa-world-ranking/ranking-table/men/index.html">Germany or Brazil, respectively ranked first and second</a>.</p>
<p>It would have also been easy to assume the two teams with the greatest players in the game — Argentina with Lionel Messi and Portugal with Cristiano Ronaldo — might also be contenders for the title.</p>
<p>However, true to the nature of sport, this year’s World Cup delivered unpredictable results.</p>
<h2>The Team, The Team, The Team</h2>
<blockquote>
<p>“No man is more important than The Team. No coach is more important than The Team. The Team, The Team, The Team, and if we think that way, all of us, everything that you do, you take into consideration what effect does it have on my Team?”
<strong>Bo Schembechler, former University of Michigan football coach</strong></p>
</blockquote>
<p>One of the most powerful lessons from the 2018 World Cup is the positive relationship team cohesion had with performance.</p>
<p>More than 40 years ago, Canadian sports psychologist Albert Carron wrote that team cohesion is “<a href="http://psycnet.apa.org/record/1982-31426-001">a dynamic process which is reflected in the tendency for a group to stick together and remain united in the pursuit of its goals and objectives.</a>” It still holds true today.</p>
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<img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/228124/original/file-20180717-44079-d21rp5.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/228124/original/file-20180717-44079-d21rp5.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/228124/original/file-20180717-44079-d21rp5.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/228124/original/file-20180717-44079-d21rp5.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/228124/original/file-20180717-44079-d21rp5.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/228124/original/file-20180717-44079-d21rp5.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/228124/original/file-20180717-44079-d21rp5.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">The Canadian women’s hockey team that won gold at the 2014 Olympics. Successful Olympic teams have cited unity and trust as key components of a winning effort.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">(AP Photo/Petr David Josek)</span></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p><a href="https://doi.org/10.1123/tsp.2014-0027">There’s evidence that better team cohesion results in better performance, </a> and better performance results in better team cohesion.</p>
<p>Studies on Olympians in team sports <a href="https://journals.humankinetics.com/doi/10.1123/tsp.13.4.371">have identified team unity and trust</a> among the most important factors for success, while teams that failed to achieve their expected results attributed it to planning and team cohesion problems. </p>
<hr>
<p>
<em>
<strong>
Read more:
<a href="https://theconversation.com/how-olympians-train-their-brains-to-become-mentally-tough-92110">How Olympians train their brains to become mentally tough</a>
</strong>
</em>
</p>
<hr>
<p>Belgium surprised many World Cup fans by making it to the semifinals and eventually winning the third-place match. Team manager Roberto Martinez attributed Belgium’s success to “<a href="https://www.reuters.com/article/us-soccer-worldcup-fra-bel-martinez/team-spirit-can-carry-belgium-to-world-cup-final-martinez-idUSKBN1JZ11C">the notion of being a team. Individual skills and talent are important, but in these tournaments, it’s absolutely necessary to play as a team</a>.”</p>
<h2>Shared goals</h2>
<p>Integral to team cohesion is a shared goal among all group members.</p>
<p>While each team consists of individuals with different roles and interests, their individual goals must support the team goal and not supersede it. Teams will struggle when an individual within the team places their needs above the rest.</p>
<p>Recognizing the importance of the team’s needs, Croatia’s coach, Zlatko Dalic, made a difficult decision when he sent striker Nikola Kalinic home after their opening game in the World Cup. Kalinic had refused to go on the field in the 85th minute of the game, saying he had back pain. However, it’s believed he may have been <a href="http://www.espn.com/soccer/croatia/story/3565504/croatia-players-to-decide-if-nikola-kalinic-will-receive-world-cup-medal">demonstrating his displeasure</a> for being benched in the game.</p>
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<figcaption>
<span class="caption">Croatia head coach Zlatko Dalic watching his players warming up before the World Cup final against France.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">(AP Photo/Thanassis Stavrakis)</span></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>Acknowledging some problems in the camp, Dalic refused to elaborate or discuss Kalinic, simply stating “…<a href="https://www.theguardian.com/football/2018/jun/18/croatia-send-reluctant-substitute-nikola-kalinic">since I need my players fit and ready to play, I have made this decision.</a>”</p>
<p>In this example, the coach took action to preserve the team chemistry and commitment to their shared goal by removing a player who appeared to place his own wants ahead of the team. Croatia was an example of a team in which the whole was greater than the sum of its parts.</p>
<p>When team members understand their role as it relates to the team goal, it can assist with buy-in and commitment. In business, it has been found to be associated with greater <a href="https://www.jstor.org/stable/20159585">job satisfaction</a>.</p>
<h2>The importance of resiliency</h2>
<p>Researchers have established resiliency to be a characteristic demonstrated by successful athletes and teams. <a href="https://www.researchgate.net/publication/265044147_Understanding_team_resilience_in_the_world%27s_best_athletes_A_case_study_of_a_rugby_union_World_Cup_winning_team">A British study in 2015</a> of a rugby union World Cup-winning team found team resilience to be supported by five main psychosocial processes: Transformational leadership, shared team leadership, team learning, social identity and positive emotions.</p>
<p>This was also a theme cited by soccer analysts in the 2018 World Cup — most notably when <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/football/2018/jul/02/belgium-japan-world-cup-last-16-match-report">Belgium overcame a 2-0 deficit to defeat Japan in the quarter-final match</a>. Belgium scored three goals in the final 30 minutes. Such a comeback means the players stayed focused and avoided getting down on themselves. Additionally, controlling one’s composure and providing positive feedback to teammates can further bolster the teams’ collective confidence. </p>
<p>Anchored in their pursuit of excellence, it is easy to see the link between sport and business. Understanding your role on a team, aligning behind a common objective and putting team goals ahead of individual needs are strategies that work on the field of play — in the boardroom.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/100080/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Nicole W. Forrester is a mental performance consultant. She is a registered member with the Canadian Sport Psychology Association..</span></em></p>The importance of the team is fundamental in sport – and in business. A look at how some over-achieving squads performed in the recent World Cup can provide a valuable lesson for business leaders.Nicole W. Forrester, Assistant Professor, School of Media, Toronto Metropolitan UniversityLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/995712018-07-09T15:27:44Z2018-07-09T15:27:44ZWhy African teams fell short at the World Cup - again<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/226718/original/file-20180709-122280-t706j1.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">Nigeria's players react after the loss to Argentina in the 2018 world cup.
</span> <span class="attribution"><span class="source">EPA-EFE/Tolga Bozoglu</span></span></figcaption></figure><p>At every World Cup tournament since 1986, at least one team from Africa has made it to the second round of the World Cup finals. That record unceremoniously ended in Russia 2018, after all five countries – Egypt, Tunisia, Morocco, Nigeria and Senegal - were knocked out in the preliminary round. </p>
<p>There were high hopes as the quadrennial tournament started that Africa could build on its display in Brazil in 2014 when two teams – Nigeria and Algeria – reached the second round <a href="http://thecolonialchronicle.com/world-cup-2018-what-went-wrong-for-african-teams-in-russia/">for the first time</a>.</p>
<p>Instead, the African continent, and its soccer adoring fans are wondering how teams boasting of European based players, who play at the highest level could suffer 10 defeats, two draws and a mere three wins out of 15 games played in Russia?</p>
<p>Indeed <a href="http://thecolonialchronicle.com/world-cup-2018-what-went-wrong-for-african-teams-in-russia/">one writer</a> wondered whether the early elimination could be bad luck, or a lack of flair. But the circumstances characterising the exit of each of the African teams were in many respects quite unique.</p>
<h2>Egypt</h2>
<p>Egypt bounced back into the World Cup after a 28-year absence. A lot was expected from them given that they’ve won the African Cup of Nations a record seven times. The World Cup was ideal to demonstrate their prowess, first because they were in a manageable group and secondly, in Mohammed Salah, they had one of the world’s best players.</p>
<p>Salah’s injury on the eve of the tournament proved too costly to overcome and the rest of the players failed to raise their game to fill the void in the loss to Uruguay in the opening game. Note that Salah dominated Egypt’s campaign – ultimately scoring seven, and assisting two, of the 10 goals they scored both in qualifying and in Russia.</p>
<p>They returned home from Russia having lost all their three games.</p>
<h2>Morocco</h2>
<p>Morocco’s campaign started with a painful own goal in stoppage time of their opening game to gift Iran a 1-0 win. It was a huge and costly defensive error against a beatable opponent given that Portugal and Spain were coming up next on their schedule.</p>
<p>Indeed, Morocco competed impressively in all their matches. Against the European champions Portugal, the team impressed with their offensive approach, passing, and fluidity as they sought to equalise. But conceding goals either very early or late can cost a team heavily and Morocco were twice on the losing end.</p>
<p>The game that brought the best and worst in Morocco was their final game against Spain. The Atlas Lions came close to beating the 2010 World Champions but conceded, yet another stoppage-time goal to draw 2-2.</p>
<p>Morocco’s performance, like other African teams, raises questions about game tactics when leading or trailing or early and late phases of the game.</p>
<h2>Nigeria</h2>
<p>Nigeria showed promise given that they were the youngest team in the tournament featuring 18 players who had never played at a World Cup before. Unfortunately, this young squad learnt the hard way as they were just four minutes away from qualifying for the knockout rounds when Argentina scored a goal that knocked them out.</p>
<p>The BBC Sport quoted their coach Gernot Rohr saying:</p>
<blockquote>
<p>I think the future is for Nigeria because there is a big solidarity – you saw in the difficult moments how great the spirit in the team is.</p>
</blockquote>
<p>But Nigeria paid the price for starting slowly in the tournament especially in the first match against Croatia. </p>
<p>There’s hope if this young squad is sustained and nurtured into maturity. </p>
<h2>Tunisia</h2>
<p>Tunisia managed to beat Panama. But they were simply not good enough to progress from a difficult group featuring both Belgium and England.</p>
<p>Captain Wahbi Khazri <a href="http://thecolonialchronicle.com/world-cup-2018-what-went-wrong-for-african-teams-in-russia/">admitted</a> that his side found the level against both top-drawer European opponents to be,</p>
<blockquote>
<p>too high, too elevated.</p>
</blockquote>
<p>Like Egypt, Morocco and Nigeria, the Carthage Eagles lost their opening game to England in stoppage time. Next, Tunisia were mercilessly hammered by a hungry Belgium 5-2. </p>
<p>The only consolation is that Tunisia left the competition as Africa’s top scorers with five goals from three games and a sense of satisfaction after beating Panama.</p>
<h2>Senegal</h2>
<p>Ahead of the tournament I picked Nigeria and Senegal <a href="https://theconversation.com/meet-the-five-teams-hoping-to-change-africas-world-cup-story-97954">to do well</a>. Senegal started on a high note when they beat Poland 2-1, raising hopes that they would shine.</p>
<p>But the dropped points against Japan in a 2-2 draw exposed their game management deficiencies while leading in a close game. The fact that they picked up unnecessary yellow cards in their first two games rendered them vulnerable against Colombia. Indeed, their tied points with Japan led to Japan progress because Japan had a better disciplinary record – four yellow cards while Senegal had six. </p>
<p>Their inferior disciplinary record led coach Aliou Cisse to <a href="http://dailypost.ng/2018/06/28/senegal-vs-colombia-didnt-deserve-qualify-aliou-cisse/">declare</a> that the team “didn’t deserve” to make the second round. </p>
<p>Poor disciplinary records are a characteristic that African teams have struggled with even in past competitions. </p>
<h2>Hopes for next time</h2>
<p>So why was Russia 2018 such a disaster for African teams? A great deal of hope was being placed on a few outstanding talents that were either injured or whose abilities did not blossom due to tactical limitations and tight marking by opposing teams. </p>
<p>It was also evident that African teams conceded goals either too early or very late. This speaks of inadequate game management skills on the side of the coaching crews. </p>
<p>It was also clear that most of the African players <a href="http://www.sportingnews.com/ca/soccer/news/world-cup-2018-why-did-africas-five-fail-in-russia/12ek01iksdcn41vd8k9584bej9">failed to raise their game</a> to match the level expected at World Cup. </p>
<p>But most conclusively is the fact that the teams were outmatched <a href="http://www.sportingnews.com/ca/soccer/news/world-cup-2018-why-did-africas-five-fail-in-russia/12ek01iksdcn41vd8k9584bej9">technically and tactically</a>.</p>
<p>The teams never managed to score enough goals, while the defences conceded goals at crucial moments. It did not help that midfield play was also devoid of creative play.</p>
<p>Once more the continent has to wait for another shot in 2022. Preparations had better start in earnest if any breakthroughs are going to happen. One thing is clear, successful club careers for African players in Europe don’t necessarily translate into success for their home teams at World Cup level.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/99571/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>A great deal of hope was placed on a few outstanding African players whose abilities did not blossom at the World Cup.Wycliffe W. Njororai Simiyu, Professor, Health and Kinesiology, University of Texas at TylerLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/988722018-06-26T13:36:13Z2018-06-26T13:36:13ZRevisiting the bang African teams get for the bucks they spend on the World Cup<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/224927/original/file-20180626-112598-1inz0zm.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">Morocco will be going home after coming last in their group in Russia.</span> <span class="attribution"><span class="source">Martin Divisek/EPA</span></span></figcaption></figure><p>Each World Cup year African football teams arrive with renewed hopes of making remarkable progress and breaking the vise grip that Europe and South America have had on this quadrennial tournament for nearly 100 years. Each time, that hope <a href="http://dailypost.ng/2018/06/23/world-cup-2018-north-african-teams-eliminated-tournament/">invariably implodes</a>. That surely has to leave African teams with some critical questions.</p>
<p>The biggest is whether <a href="https://theconversation.com/the-world-cup-is-a-chance-to-talk-about-african-identities-and-unity-98391">African teams</a> – at the 2018 World Cup finals in Russia they were Egypt, Morocco, Tunisia, Nigeria and Senegal – getting the best bank for the bucks they invest in their teams and coaches attending the competition. Some football fans may see football as recreational, while some politicians use it as a tool for national building. But football is without question a business: the players are professionals, the coaches are paid a king’s ransom, and governments and umbrella body, FIFA, dole out huge sums to support federations and their teams. </p>
<p>Taking part in the world cup involves both spending money, as well as earning money. Teams spend millions of dollars preparing for the month-long tournament. The funds go to paying coaches, many of whom are the highest paid professionals in the countries they serve. For example, a top government official in Egypt <a href="http://www.egyptindependent.com/new-law-on-ministers-salaries-not-to-affect-state-budget-official/">earns</a> an estimated annual salary of USD$ 28,294 while Egypt’s current football manager Hector Cuper <a href="https://www.mirror.co.uk/sport/football/news/world-cup-2018-managers-wages-12507879">gets</a> a reported USD$1.7 million annually. Egypt didn’t make it past the group stage in Russia.</p>
<p>Players also earn well. In some teams foreign based players – for example a Senegalese who plays for a European club – can earn more. And they’re camped in five star hotels and their programme is supported by huge budgets. In the case of Nigeria, the annual budget is <a href="http://www.goal.com/en-ng/news/4093/nigerian-football/%202015/%2012/19/%2018537032/nff-budgets-n59-billion-for-football-in-2016">USD$16.2 million</a>. This is not a candy budget by any means.</p>
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<figcaption>
<span class="caption">A sad Egypt supporter after his team lost against lowly ranked Saudi Arabia at the world cup.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">Zurab Kurtsikidze/EPA</span></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>On top of this, FIFA pays countries that qualify handsomely. And the longer they stay in the tournament, the more they get.</p>
<p>But is this money being managed wisely? Are the funds being invested in African teams worth it? And are there wiser ways to manage the loot that comes from the game?</p>
<h2>Big bucks</h2>
<p>There is seriously good money in the World Cup – and we’re not even talking rights and sponsorships.</p>
<p>FIFA pays each team that make it to the World Cup <a href="http://www.goal.com/en-za/news/world-cup-2018-prize-money-how-much-do-the-winners-get-countries-/h9rstxkx3z6k1c8eonct5g1xa">USD$9.5million</a> – USD$8million for taking part in the group stage and USD$1.5 million for tournament costs.</p>
<p>FIFA’s distribution of funds is based on how far each of the 32 teams is able to go in the tournament. Thus, by going further a team returns with more money. Just by progressing to the second round of 16 teams brings in an additional USD$4 million from FIFA. Getting into the quarterfinals brings a further USD$4 million to each team, while the third placed team gets USD$24 million and the fourth USD$22 million.</p>
<p>The winner of the 2018 World Cup final gets USD$38 million, with the runners-up paid USD$28 million. This is up from 2014 when winners Germany received USD$35 million and beaten finalists, Argentina, got USD$25 million.</p>
<p>On top of this teams can land seriously lucrative sponsorships. Take <a href="https://www.npr.org/sections/thetwo-way/2017/10/12/557253458/how-the-u-s-men-missed-the-world-cup-and-what-it-means-for-soccer-in-america">US soccer</a> for example - it qualified for the 2014 tournament and received USD$49.7 million in sponsorships, television, licensing and royalties, according to their football federation’s <a href="https://www.ussoccer.com/about/federation-services/resource-center/financial-information">tax form filing</a> for 2015.</p>
<h2>Options</h2>
<p>One of the ways in which teams can make better use of the money that gets invested in national teams is by spending less. An easy way to cut costs would be for countries to decide to hire local managers and coaches since they cost quite a bit less than expatriates. </p>
<p>There’s a strong case to be made for this. Several local ones have done as well as the expatriates. Take the example of Nigeria. Four years ago at the World Cup tournament in Brazil Nigeria’s Stephen Keshi was <a href="https://www.telegraph.co.uk/sport/football/world-cup/10889731/World-Cup-2014-coaches-and-managers.html">paid less</a> than his expatriate counterparts but took the Nigerian team to the second phase. It was a feat only a few expatriate Nigerian coaches have been able to achieve with the country’s team. </p>
<p>But there’s also a case to be made in investing big, particularly if a country decides that it wants to make it past the first round of the tournament. If the money that’s being spent on managers, in particular, isn’t getting them through to the second round, why keep them? Why not go for the very best managers and perhaps pay them a bit more. In addition, extra money can be put into creating a better working environment to increase the probability of going beyond the first phase.</p>
<p>Governments and football associations should go back to their spreadsheets and do some serious recalculating in preparation for the next World Cup in Qatar in 2022. Serious investment might ultimately be the path to a better payout and it may provide additional money to spend on sport development. </p>
<p>The recent spate of early World Cup exits might just signal that the best time to reevaluate the investment is now.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/98872/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Chuka Onwumechili 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>African governments and football associations need to do some serious recalculating for the Qatar world cup in 2022.Chuka Onwumechili, Professor of Communications, Howard UniversityLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/889032017-12-15T14:39:36Z2017-12-15T14:39:36ZHow Brazil’s sex workers have been organised and politically effective for 30 years<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/199434/original/file-20171215-17845-1fsugr0.JPG?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">Sex worker art.</span> <span class="attribution"><span class="source">Amanda De Lisio</span>, <span class="license">Author provided</span></span></figcaption></figure><p>Sex work is a controversial form of income. It is a subject much discussed by experts in feminism, religion, law and politics. And its popular portrayal is often left to people far removed from the realities of sexual commerce. Those who (wrongly) conflate sex work with human trafficking and exploitation would like to see it abolished.</p>
<p>In Brazil, sex work remains politically and socially contentious. But thanks to a <a href="https://www.opendemocracy.net/beyondslavery/sws/thaddeus-blanchette-laura-murray/power-of-putas-brazilian-prostitutes-movement-in-time">staunch sex worker movement</a> in the country, the people who actually do the work have made themselves key contributors to the debate. It is a movement which has informed political policy, affected legislation in urban reform and sexual healthcare and fought tirelessly for the full recognition of sex work as a profession. </p>
<p>This year marks the 30th anniversary of that movement. As part of the celebrations, an international exhibition is being held which features photographs taken by sex workers. Entitled <a href="https://whatyoudontsee.hotglue.me">“O Que Você Não Vê” (What You Don’t See)</a>, it centres on sexual commerce during the 2016 Olympic Games in Rio de Janeiro. But it also provides an opportunity to reflect on the lessons that can be learned from three decades of an organisation representing the best interests of sex workers.</p>
<h2>Standing together</h2>
<p>As in many countries around the world, the legal status of prostitution in Brazil is vague. The criminal code issued in 1940 criminalised prostitution-related activities such as recruitment and facilitation, but not the direct sale of sex. </p>
<p>In the late 1970s, police raids on sex-related businesses in places such as São Paulo forced many sex workers to find work on the streets. A more precarious and isolated environment, it increased the need and appetite for some kind of organisation among the people working there.</p>
<p>In July 1987, sex workers Gabriela Leite and Lourdes Barreto held the first national meeting for Brazil’s prostitutes. It resulted in the Brazilian Network of Prostitutes (BNP) as well as the publication of a newsletter “<a href="http://www.unicentro.br/redemc/2015/anais/DT5/DT5-19.pdf">Beijo da Rua</a>” (Kiss from the Street). The BNP’s mission was to build a new discourse of prostitution, not tied to crime or victimisation. </p>
<p>Conversation focused on state repression, health, collective identity and female sexual desire. Working with the Brazilian Ministry of Health, the BNP became instrumental in the creation of internationally applauded strategies to prevent the spread of HIV and AIDS. </p>
<figure class="align-center ">
<img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/198697/original/file-20171212-9392-bm3xr2.JPG?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/198697/original/file-20171212-9392-bm3xr2.JPG?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/198697/original/file-20171212-9392-bm3xr2.JPG?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/198697/original/file-20171212-9392-bm3xr2.JPG?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/198697/original/file-20171212-9392-bm3xr2.JPG?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/198697/original/file-20171212-9392-bm3xr2.JPG?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/198697/original/file-20171212-9392-bm3xr2.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">The Beijo da Rua (Kiss from the Street) newsletter is displayed on a bed.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">Amanda De Lisio, Bournemouth University</span></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>Then in 2002, a group led by Leite influenced the Brazilian government to issue “<a href="https://prostitution.procon.org/sourcefiles/BrazilLaborAndEmploymentMinistryPrimerOnSexProfessional.pdf">Ordinance 397</a>” – which recognised sex work as an “official” occupation. Those registered as “sex professionals” would be taxed as autonomous workers and entitled to regular employment benefits including maternity pay, a state pension fund and medical care. It was a crucial moment of increased social tolerance. </p>
<p>Some years later, in the lead up to two huge sporting events due to be held in the country – the 2014 FIFA World Cup and the 2016 Olympic Games – Brazilian public discourse once again focused on anti-trafficking strategies, which further conflated forced migration and sexual exploitation with adult, consensual sex work – and served to reignite the abolitionist agenda. </p>
<h2>A window into a sex worker’s world</h2>
<p>After the <a href="https://www.citylab.com/equity/2014/06/brazils-ugly-world-cup-sex-worker-crackdown/371996/">closure of several sex-related businesses</a>, a report entitled “<a href="http://www.nswp.org/sites/nswp.org/files/UPR%20Submission%2C%20Davida%20-%202016.pdf">Human Rights Violations of Sex Workers in Brazil</a>” was compiled by sex worker support groups and submitted to the United Nations. The photographic project, “O Que Você Não Vê” was also launched as a platform to present a counter-narrative to the sensationalist stories of sex work during the Olympics. </p>
<figure class="align-center ">
<img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/198686/original/file-20171212-9410-1e7an5i.JPG?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/198686/original/file-20171212-9410-1e7an5i.JPG?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/198686/original/file-20171212-9410-1e7an5i.JPG?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/198686/original/file-20171212-9410-1e7an5i.JPG?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/198686/original/file-20171212-9410-1e7an5i.JPG?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/198686/original/file-20171212-9410-1e7an5i.JPG?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/198686/original/file-20171212-9410-1e7an5i.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">Visitors watching Laura Murray’s documentary on Gabriela Leite, founder of the prostitution movement in Brazil.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">Amanda De Lisio, Bournemouth University</span></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>The exhibition (which is funded by the <a href="http://www.esrc.ac.uk">Economic and Social Research Council</a>) provides an insight into the mundane, everyday experiences of those working far away from the slick and glamorous portrayal of an international sporting spectacle. The exhibits reveal sarcasm and humour, and play on the mythologies that surround the sex worker’s profession. There is a dominatrix in her “pain” room, a woman posing with her “puta” family. </p>
<figure class="align-center ">
<img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/199431/original/file-20171215-17869-1qh5p77.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/199431/original/file-20171215-17869-1qh5p77.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/199431/original/file-20171215-17869-1qh5p77.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/199431/original/file-20171215-17869-1qh5p77.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/199431/original/file-20171215-17869-1qh5p77.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/199431/original/file-20171215-17869-1qh5p77.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/199431/original/file-20171215-17869-1qh5p77.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">Exhibition selfies.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">Sabrina, Indianara Siqueira and Evelym Gutierrez</span>, <span class="license">Author provided</span></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>Each photographic perspective is unique. But collectively, there is a clear appreciation of the chance for their voices to be heard (albeit in visual form). The exhibition represents yet another step forward for this historic workers’ movement. It is a reflection of resilience, a commitment to civic involvement. It is another attempt to reframe stigmatised bodies as human – worthy of non-exploitative labour, self-expression and care.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/88903/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Amanda De Lisio is funded through the Economic and Social Research Council (ESRC) project, "Sex work in the context of the sport mega-event" (ES/NO18656/1) with M. Silk (Principal Investigator, Bournemouth University), P. Hubbard (King’s College London), C. Fusco (University of Toronto), and T. Blanchette (Federal University of Rio de Janeiro). She is also a member of the Prostitution Policy Watch (Observatório da Prostituição), an extension project of the Institute for Urban and Regional Planning at the Federal University of Rio de Janeiro. </span></em></p>A unified voice that gets heard.Amanda De Lisio, Post-Doctoral Research Assistant, Bournemouth UniversityLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/620312016-07-05T16:50:19Z2016-07-05T16:50:19ZMoney ball: the often overlooked object at the heart of Euro 2016<p>As we enter the closing stages of the UEFA Euro 2016 finals, here’s a curiosity about major football tournaments. The thing at the very centre of the action gets the least attention – the ball itself.</p>
<p>Not that this stops Adidas from <a href="http://www.smh.com.au/fifa-world-cup-2014/world-cup-news-2014/adidas-set-to-sell-more-than-14-million-brazuca-balls-as-sales-spike-20140625-zskne.html">selling millions</a> of them. Where one commemorative football is normally enough per tournament, this time the German sports giant went one better. <a href="https://theconversation.com/football-aerodynamics-of-the-perfect-free-kick-61700">Having unveiled</a> the “Beau Jeu” (“Beautiful Game”) for the opening rounds, it <a href="http://www.footyheadlines.com/2016/05/adidas-fracas-euro-2016-final-ball.html">introduced</a> a new ball called the Fracas for the knockout stages. <a href="http://www.mirror.co.uk/sport/football/news/new-adidas-euro-2016-fracas-8244320">According to</a> the marketing blurb, it has a “more disruptive” red and black design and “represents the noise of the crowd and the excitement around a winner-takes-all mentality on the pitch”. </p>
<p>You have to read carefully to appreciate that only the labelling is different. The Fracas has the same six-panel design as the Beau Jeu and also the <a href="http://www.telegraph.co.uk/sport/football/world-cup/10493715/World-Cup-2014-Brazils-football-unveiled.html">Brazuca 2014</a> ball from the World Cup. They are all designed for “true flight, accuracy and control” (and certainly not bursting, though a <a href="http://www.mirror.co.uk/sport/football/news/new-adidas-euro-2016-fracas-8244320">Beau Jeu did</a> during the France v Switzerland game a couple of weeks ago). </p>
<p>The launch and rhetoric reminds us just how much the modern football is central to the business strategies of mega sports corporations like Nike and Adidas that mass-produce them. Adidas expects to sell €2.5 billion (£2.1bn) of balls, boots and other products on the back of the tournament. </p>
<p>These manufacturers benefit from the fact that footballs are also intensely scrutinised by sport scientists looking to optimise player performance. It helps them present the football as a larger than life, endlessly moving commodity that empowers players with extra skills, perception and talent. </p>
<h2>Mud and pigskin</h2>
<p>In truth, the size and weight of a football has changed little since 1872 when regulations began – even production in poor countries <a href="http://www.columbia.edu/%7Eev2124/research/ACCKRV-WBER_2016.pdf">goes back</a> to the 19th century. Yet manufacturers often claim the original was an elliptical, water-hogging, eight-panelled creation made out of the skins, skulls and bladders of various animals. </p>
<figure class="align-center zoomable">
<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/129382/original/image-20160705-807-13f31cf.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/129382/original/image-20160705-807-13f31cf.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/129382/original/image-20160705-807-13f31cf.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=356&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/129382/original/image-20160705-807-13f31cf.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=356&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/129382/original/image-20160705-807-13f31cf.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=356&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/129382/original/image-20160705-807-13f31cf.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=448&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/129382/original/image-20160705-807-13f31cf.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=448&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/129382/original/image-20160705-807-13f31cf.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=448&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px"></a>
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">‘I say, they forgot to remove the snout.’</span>
<span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Great_Britain_Olympic_football_team#/media/File:1912_Stockholm_Football_Final.jpg">Wikimedia</a></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>The changes in the intervening decades, they claim, have been nothing short of “revolutionary”. They tell a <a href="http://www.designfax.net/cms/dfx/opens/article-view-dfx.php?nid=4&bid=149&et=featurearticle&pn=01">story of</a> the triumph of capital investment and intellectual labour in developing 21st-century bonded/six-panelled balls made from polyurethane layers and gas-filled Impranil foam. They present a perpetual quest to achieve optimum roundness, drag coefficient, energy transfer, flight accuracy, side and lift force and all-weather performance. </p>
<p>On top of all this “science bit”, the marketers treat the ball as an independent spectacle in itself. They <a href="http://quality.fifa.com/en/Footballs/Football-facts/The-footballs-during-the-FIFA-World-Cup/">have used</a> the past three World Cup events to launch the latest instalment of “the story of football so far”. When the Adidas +Teamgeist match balls <a href="http://www.soccerballworld.com/Teamgeist.htm">were unveiled</a> for the 2006 German World Cup, they were inscribed with the details of the teams, date and time of the game in question. This culminated in a special gold ball for the final. </p>
<p>The official match ball for the 2010 World Cup in South Africa was <a href="http://www.soccerballworld.com/Jabulani_2010.htm">the Jabulani</a>. Billed as the perfect ball for the perfect players, created with team spirit to enhance team spirit, and it was ceremoniously unveiled on the occasion of the final draw. Its 11 colours were meant to symbolise the 11 languages and communities hosting the event. </p>
<p>As for the Brazuca, it remains the high point in the perpetual quest for football perfection – the <a href="http://www.helmholtz.de/en/science_and_society/on-the-physics-of-the-world-cup-ball-2720/">object of</a> two years of intensive scientific wind testing that used wind tunnels, “kick robots” and trajectory analysis. </p>
<p>Each new ball is marketed to represent the stereotypical traits of the host nation. The +Teamgeist symbolised German efficiency, team spirit and organisation. The Jabulani was about colour, exuberance, energy and quirkiness. The Brazuca <a href="http://www.telegraph.co.uk/sport/football/world-cup/10493715/World-Cup-2014-Brazils-football-unveiled.html">represented</a> the role of soccer in brandishing Brazil’s global and national identity. </p>
<h2>Marx out of ten</h2>
<p>So what to make of all this? From the vantage point of pundits and fans the football is hardly ever the subject of discussion. They only talk about the ball in relation to players winning it, kicking it, saving it or whatever. During the game the ball is merely what it is – a useful object for playing football. As long as the it does not go flat or missing, it is for practical purposes almost invisible. </p>
<p>Few will spare a moment’s thought for its “pristine aerodynamic qualities” as it ping-pongs around the field of play. As the Wales and Real Madrid star Gareth Bale <a href="http://www.uefa.com/uefaeuro/news/newsid=2301400.html">would have it</a>: “I tested Beau Jeu in training with long shots, passes and running at pace. It performed brilliantly.”</p>
<figure class="align-right zoomable">
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<figcaption>
<span class="caption">‘It’s all marketing balls.’</span>
<span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Karl_Marx.jpg#/media/File:Karl_Marx.jpg">Wikimedia</a></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>The marketing speak is an example of what <a href="https://www.marxists.org/archive/marx/works/1867-c1/">Karl Marx called</a> “commodity fetishism”. We often hear about people fetishising inanimate objects by treating them as larger than life and we usually take this to mean they are obsessing about them. But Marx meant something more than just obsession. </p>
<p>He was talking about how people express their social relations indirectly through the objects they produce and exchange. To sell us these objects – to turn them into a consumer fetish – manufacturers have to imbue them with a status way beyond their basic value. They make them symbolise the things we are told to value, such as national identity, technological power and physical capacity. By doing this they transform it from a simple object to subject in itself. </p>
<p>Marx didn’t take much interest in watching football as far as we know, but he explained how we are sold the modern ball and all the rest of the kit and equipment more than a century before the event. Few are likely to care when they sit down to watch the Euro 2016 final on July 10. But for those who can’t resist the fetish of the “disruptive” design and “winner-takes-all mentality on the pitch”, be warned that it comes at a price. Adidas is retailing this subject of wonder at £99.95.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/62031/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Peter Kennedy 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 marketing wizardry used by sports multinationals to sell these little round things by the truckload.Peter Kennedy, Senior Lecturer in Sociology, Glasgow Caledonian UniversityLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/602442016-06-09T00:46:43Z2016-06-09T00:46:43ZSpeed networking: how to win Euro 2016<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/124737/original/image-20160601-1959-1qsdm8y.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">Reigning World Cup winners Germany will prove hard to beat at this year's European football championships.</span> <span class="attribution"><span class="source">Reuters/Darren Staples</span></span></figcaption></figure><p>Later this week, host nation <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/France_national_football_team">France</a> will face <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Romania_national_football_team">Romania</a> in the opening game of the <a href="http://www.uefa.com/uefaeuro/">Euro 2016 football championships</a>. Over the following four weeks, 24 nations will attempt to dethrone Spain and take home the coveted Henri Delaunay Trophy. </p>
<p>Refreshingly, the Euros have a history of turning up the unexpected. Surprise package Denmark won in 1992; the unfancied Greeks took the spoils in 2004. Reigning champions Spain have bucked this trend, though, winning the last two tournaments via their possession-dominating <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tiki-taka">tika-taka approach</a>.</p>
<p>Now the squads have been announced, attention has turned to what country will win and how teams should play to optimise their chances. Based on a new way of looking at how teams create goals, we think we have some pointers. They are based on a social network analysis of the 171 goals scored during the <a href="http://www.fifa.com/worldcup/archive/brazil2014/">2014 World Cup</a>.</p>
<h2>Why a social network analysis?</h2>
<p><a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Social_network_analysis">Social network analysis</a> is used to understand network structures via description, visualisation and statistical analysis. It involves looking at people and the connections between them. </p>
<p>In recent times, it has been used to examine all manner of issues – ranging from <a href="http://www.digitaltonto.com/2013/how-the-nsa-uses-social-network-analysis-to-map-terrorist-networks/">terrorism</a> and <a href="https://www.google.com.au/url?sa=t&rct=j&q=&esrc=s&source=web&cd=1&cad=rja&uact=8&ved=0ahUKEwiDxOL43YrNAhXCJ6YKHXXEC3IQFggbMAA&url=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.peeranalytics.com.au%2FLiteratureRetrieve.aspx%3FID%3D150632&usg=AFQjCNFVdXebWgGMlEN4xloSP5rmyjTNNQ&bvm=bv.123664746,d.dGY">serial killers</a> to <a href="http://gauss.ececs.uc.edu/Courses/c6055/pdf/cc_emer_srvs.pdf">emergency response</a> and social structures. </p>
<p>Our analysis was driven by the fact we see significant gaps in the current methods of assessing the performance of football teams. </p>
<p>In the case of <a href="http://www.fifa.com/worldcup/matches/round=255959/match=300186501/statistics.html">passing</a>, we felt there is much more of interest than just a team’s share of possession and players’ successfully completed pass rates. Instead, we were interested in the “network” of passes that lead to goals, the contribution to that network of different players, and the network’s speed, shape, size and origin.</p>
<p>We believe adopting the right kind of passing networks is one of the secrets to winning games of football. By viewing players and the passes between them as a “social network”, we can understand and interrogate these networks in detail.</p>
<h2>Small, quick networks are key</h2>
<p>We transformed each of the goals from the 2014 World Cup into a network comprising players and the passing connections between them. The World-Cup-winning goal is presented in the form of a network below. The circular numbered nodes represent players. The connections between the nodes represent passes. </p>
<figure class="align-center zoomable">
<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/125057/original/image-20160603-23261-46g8pl.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/125057/original/image-20160603-23261-46g8pl.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/125057/original/image-20160603-23261-46g8pl.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=49&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/125057/original/image-20160603-23261-46g8pl.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=49&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/125057/original/image-20160603-23261-46g8pl.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=49&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/125057/original/image-20160603-23261-46g8pl.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=61&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/125057/original/image-20160603-23261-46g8pl.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=61&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/125057/original/image-20160603-23261-46g8pl.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=61&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="source">Supplied</span></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<figure>
<iframe width="440" height="260" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/jHuadg_ZPfQ?wmode=transparent&start=8259" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen=""></iframe>
<figcaption><span class="caption">Mario Gotze’s winning goal in the 2014 World Cup final.</span></figcaption>
</figure>
<p>Once constructed, the networks were analysed using various network analysis metrics. The findings are compelling:</p>
<ul>
<li><p>the passing networks that produced a goal were small. The average “size” of the networks was three-and-a-half passes (including the strike on goal) and around four players; </p></li>
<li><p>the goalscoring networks had a short lifespan. The average time from gaining possession to scoring a goal was just under nine seconds; and </p></li>
<li><p>around 80% of the goals were created through “chain” networks; that is, player A would pass to player B who in turn would pass to player C and so on. They rarely involved one player giving and receiving the ball multiple times, and rarely involved many different players. </p></li>
</ul>
<p>The message here is goals emerge when teams develop small and rapid passing networks comprising only a few players.</p>
<p>Next, we looked at the differences between the passing networks associated with successful (finalists and semi-finalists – Germany, Brazil, Argentina and the Netherlands) and unsuccessful teams (those knocked out in the first round). </p>
<p>A notable difference was that when the successful teams scored goals, the passing networks were on average almost three seconds shorter than the unsuccessful teams’ networks. They were also smaller; they contained on average fewer passes and fewer players. The longer a network continues, the less likely it is to result in a goal.</p>
<p>Finally, we looked at the key players for each team. Through network analysis metrics it is possible to identify key nodes based on their connectedness (or, in this case, delivery and receipt of passes) within the network. </p>
<p>For the four finalists, this identified <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Neymar">Neymar</a> (Brazil), <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lionel_Messi">Lionel Messi</a> (Argentina) and <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Thomas_M%C3%BCller">Thomas Muller</a> (Germany) as the key players. The Netherlands had more of a spread of important contributors to their networks. </p>
<h2>Lessons for Euro 2016</h2>
<p>A key implication of our findings is that, irrespective of playing style, teams that are able to build rapid and direct attacks based on only a few passes will likely be successful. </p>
<p>In tactical terms this could involve pressing high up the pitch when not in possession, attempting to turn over possession, and then mounting rapid and direct attacks on goal. “Speed networking” should be the tactic of choice. </p>
<p>Also, teams will need a clever attacking player(s) with the ability to initiate or finish off rapid attacks – exactly as Neymar, Messi and Muller did during the World Cup.</p>
<p>Defensively, the key lies in countering these rapid attacks by having a fast transition into defence when losing the ball in dangerous areas. Allowing the opposition longer periods of possession can also be OK so long as their networks are broken up eventually and possession is restored.</p>
<p>The inevitable question to be posed is this: who, based on this view, will win Euro 2016? The findings suggest teams with pace, power and a high-pressing style will likely enjoy success. The smart money then would be on <a href="http://www.bbc.com/sport/football/teams/germany">Germany</a>, <a href="http://www.bbc.com/sport/football/teams/portugal">Portugal</a> or <a href="http://www.bbc.com/sport/football/teams/france">France</a>. And for a surprise package, how about Roy Hodgson’s youthful and pacy <a href="http://www.bbc.com/sport/football/teams/england">England</a>? </p>
<p>Defending champions <a href="http://www.bbc.com/sport/football/teams/spain">Spain</a> will be dangerous, but they may have to change their style to make it three in a row.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/60244/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Paul Salmon receives funding from the Australian Research Council.</span></em></p><p class="fine-print"><em><span>Nicholas Stevens and Scott McLean 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>Based on goals scored at the 2014 World Cup, goals emerge when teams develop small and rapid passing networks comprising only a few players.Paul Salmon, Professor, Human Factors, University of the Sunshine CoastNicholas Stevens, Lecturer, Regional and Urban Planning, University of the Sunshine CoastScott McLean, Football Research Student, University of the Sunshine CoastLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/451252015-08-05T05:32:54Z2015-08-05T05:32:54ZRio 2016: with one year to go, how has Lula’s legacy fared?<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/90762/original/image-20150804-11999-dbr89o.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">
</span> <span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/3/33/Anuncio_Rio2016.jpg">Agência Brasil/Wikimedia Commons</a>, <a class="license" href="http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/">CC BY</a></span></figcaption></figure><p>In August 2016, the Games of the 31st Olympiad will officially open in the Estadio do Maracanã in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil. For the host nation, Rio 2016 is the culmination of a range of political, economic, social, and cultural ambitions. </p>
<p>The foremost advocate of Rio 2016 – former populist president Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva – said of the games during the <a href="http://www.telegraph.co.uk/sport/olympics/6255448/Rio-de-Janeiro-wins-right-to-stage-2016-Olympic-Games.html">bid process</a>: “For others it is just another games. For us it will be an unparalleled opportunity.” But whether da Silva’s populist legacy is enough to see the games through to success is open to question. </p>
<h2>Lula’s legacy</h2>
<p>Da Silva – popularly referred to as Lula – is a man of humble beginnings. Working class by birth, upbringing, and profession, the <a href="http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/world/americas/5346744.stm">former machine operator</a> is widely recognised as a man of the people. Considered the most prominent member of the Partido dos Trabalhadores (PT) when coming into power, Lula derived his political support from a widespread dissatisfaction with the inequalities of Brazilian society, and a disillusionment with the political leaders who failed to address them. Lula was swept into power on the wave of progressive populism in 2003, and served two terms. </p>
<p>Once in office, Lula moderated his anti-capitalist tone. He strategically engaged with global capitalist forces, as well as embarking on his more widely anticipated social welfare agenda. Continuing the policies of his predecessor, <a href="http://www.britannica.com/biography/Fernando-Henrique-Cardoso">Fernando Henrique Cardoso</a>, Lula observed an economic orthodoxy, while distinguishing his administration through large-scale social initiatives, most notably the <a href="http://www.theguardian.com/global-development/2013/dec/17/brazil-bolsa-familia-decade-anniversary-poverty-relief">Bolsa Família</a>. </p>
<p>On the left, he was criticised for maintaining <a href="http://assets.opencrs.com/rpts/RL33456_20100305.pdf">market-oriented economic policies</a>. Meanwhile, the right was wary of him enacting a more overt <a href="http://www.ucpress.edu/book.php?isbn=9780520261556">socialist agenda</a>. The centre-left Lula government balanced its moderate agenda against its interest in maintaining a parliamentary majority. Upholding a broad and unstable set of alliances imposed puzzling contradictions on Lula, his government, and <a href="http://labor.dukejournals.org/content/2/3.toc">the PT</a>. Even so, the party remains in power today under <a href="http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-latin-america-11446466">Dilma Rousseff</a> – Brazil’s first woman president.</p>
<h2>The promise of Rio 2016</h2>
<p>Unlike other candidate cities such as Chicago, Madrid, and Tokyo – whose funding relied heavily on private capital – the Rio 2016 bid pledged unrivalled use of public funding <a href="http://www.olympic.org/documents/reports/en/en_report_1317.pdf">at city, state, and federal levels</a>. </p>
<p>In addition to the US$2.82bn budget for the Organising Committee of the Olympic Games, US$11.1bn was pledged toward capital investments to Rio’s urban condition. Planned improvements include enhancements to public transport, a high-speed rail system and approximately 300km of new traffic lanes. There are also plans to upgrade Rio Galeão International airport, put in place better environmental management systems, power and security equipment, and enable city-wide Wi-Fi access. </p>
<p>These ambitious plans are a sure sign that the games are being used by Rio and Brazil as a springboard to rebrand. Rio’s bid to the International Olympic Committee was led by four short films, created by Academy Award-nominated director Fernando Meirelles. The films represented a “New Rio” as emblematic, and symptomatic, of a “New Brazil”, while also positioning Rio as a destination which would further globalise the Olympic community and “unite the world like never before”. </p>
<figure>
<iframe width="440" height="260" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/xucJTdUTMzA?wmode=transparent&start=0" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen=""></iframe>
<figcaption><span class="caption">One of Meirelles’ depictions of the “New Rio”</span></figcaption>
</figure>
<p>Brazil continues to draw in tourists through stereotypical images of samba, sun, sea, and futbol. But when it comes to “brand Brazil”, there’s a thin line between <a href="https://theconversation.com/by-sticking-to-stereotypes-brazil-is-missing-its-chance-to-rebrand-27412">sticking to the stereotypes</a>, and getting stuck in them. The Olympics <a href="http://www.theguardian.com/world/2009/oct/04/brazil-2016-olympics-economy">was heralded as Brazil’s moment</a> to gain reputation and influence beyond Carnival and the football pitch. </p>
<p>But preparations for the games are overshadowed by some of the same dark clouds that plagued the 2014 FIFA World Cup – namely, a lack of transparency and vagueness around costs. The estimated cost of the World Cup stadiums ranges from slightly over US$3.6 billion more than planned to <a href="http://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2014-05-22/corruption-to-blame-for-some-brazil-world-cup-cost-rises">three or four times the initial amount</a>. Worse, the stadiums built across the country have been referred to as <a href="http://www.bbc.co.uk/sport/0/football/26223651">white elephants</a>. While they looked the part for the World Cup, these developments are seen to do little for the people, communities, and cities in which they were constructed at considerable cost to the government. </p>
<p>Currently, construction for the Olympic Games is behind schedule. Political corruption appears <a href="http://www.latinpost.com/articles/26386/20141123/corruption-probe-into-energy-giant-raises-concerns-ahead-of-2016-olympics-in-brazil.htm">widespread</a>, in line with the stereotypes of Brazilian politics and business practices. The <a href="http://www.theguardian.com/world/2015/mar/20/brazil-petrobras-scandal-layoffs-dilma-rousseff">latest incident involves Petrobas</a>, the state-owned oil company, and several other companies contributing to the preparations for the games. </p>
<p>The games have also come under scrutiny for environmental reasons. Testing <a href="http://www.theguardian.com/sport/2015/jul/30/athletes-at-rio-olympics-to-compete-in-basically-raw-sewage-study-reveals">has shown</a> that the competitive waters of Guanabara Bay are so contaminated with animal carcasses, rubbish, and human fecal matter that boating athletes training in the waters are liable to fall ill. The Brazilian government <a href="http://www.theguardian.com/sport/2015/jan/23/rio-pledge-cut-pollution-official">later admitted</a> that although efforts were underway to address the issue, it may not reach its goal of reducing water pollution by 80% ahead of the games. </p>
<p>And so it would seem that political populism has its limits. Now one year away, Rio 2016 appears less a catalyst for a “New” Brazil or a “New” Rio, and more a short-term theatre production. The preparations so far have not adequately addressed the long-standing issues of poverty and inequality, crime and violence, environmental degradation, and political corruption – all of which <a href="http://www.theguardian.com/world/2015/jan/19/brazil-rio-protests-bus-fares-olympic-golf-rousseff">have been raised</a> by the movements (such as <a href="http://www.copaparaquem.com">copa para quem?</a> and <a href="https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/worldviews/wp/2014/06/11/the-streets-in-brazil-are-full-of-colors-but-not-everything-is-pretty/">Movimento Anti-Copa de Decoração de Ruas</a>) opposing the 2014 FIFA World Cup and 2016 Olympic Games. In the end, Lula’s legacy may prove to be one from which President Rousseff wishes she could escape.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/45125/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Bryan C. Clift 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>Rio 2016 promised much, but with just one year to go Brazilians are still waiting for it to deliver…Bryan C. Clift, Lecturer of Physical Culture, University of BathLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/355802014-12-24T06:15:33Z2014-12-24T06:15:33ZThe sporting year that was 2014, and the one that lies ahead<p>It was a massive year for sport – a winter Olympics, a summer World Cup, the <a href="http://www.standard.co.uk/sport/football/world-cup-bidding-scandal-fifa-faces-fresh-allegations-as-england-russia-and-qatar-are-accused-of-corruption-9893779.html">FIFA World Cup scandal</a> that won’t die, and reforms afoot at the International Olympic Committee. Here are some of my highlights from the business of sport in 2014 and what to look out for in the year ahead.</p>
<h2>Winter Olympics</h2>
<p>The Winter Olympic Games kicked off 2014, and what we anticipated at the start of February was exactly what we had got by the start of March: cynicism about the <a href="https://theconversation.com/olympic-costs-always-overrun-but-nobody-really-cares-22514">cost of the games</a>, criticism of the <a href="https://theconversation.com/sochi-olympics-have-left-a-trail-of-environmental-destruction-23112">environmental destruction</a> they caused, and concerns about Russia’s <a href="https://theconversation.com/academics-should-stand-with-fry-against-anti-gay-russia-16914">stance on gay and lesbian rights</a>. This all made for a contentious backdrop to Vladimir Putin’s showcase event. </p>
<p>A general belief that Putin was using the Olympics for the purposes of self-aggrandisement and political capital was hardly dispelled when Russia then annexed the Crimea, <a href="http://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2014/mar/25/crimea-cold-war-vladimir-putin-russia">no doubt buoyed by an Olympics feelgood factor</a>. What should have been a sporting showcase left many across the world seriously questioning what exactly the Olympic Games, and indeed sporting mega-events in general, are for.</p>
<h2>The World Cup</h2>
<p>As a sporting spectacle, the World Cup was a success for hosts Brazil this year. The build up to the tournament had many worried that <a href="https://theconversation.com/there-would-be-no-shame-in-brazil-ditching-the-olympics-26204">news from off the pitch would overshadow events on it</a>. Numerous accidents took place in the building of infrastructure, most notably at the Sao Paolo stadium and the collapse of a viaduct in Belo Horizonte, and there were various cases of civil unrest too. But once the tournament began, things generally went off without too many problems – off the pitch at least. On it, the Brazilian football team nearly matched the humiliation of the <a href="http://sites.duke.edu/wcwp/world-cup-2014/world-cup-2014-fan-guide/anglophone-version/the-1950-world-cup-brazilian-tragedy/"><em>Maracanazo</em></a> – a humiliating home defeat by Uruguay – in 1950, with their <a href="https://theconversation.com/truth-in-engineering-how-germany-beat-brazil-and-won-a-fanbase-in-china-28985">drubbing by Germany</a>. </p>
<p>One view is that the tournament’s apparent success was testament to its security management and contingency planning, but many would alternatively say <a href="http://www.amnesty.org/en/for-media/press-releases/brazil-human-rights-under-threat-ahead-world-cup-2014-04-11">draconian policing</a> and the strict management of communications became a symbol of Brazil’s month in the sun that should be highlighted – and not celebrated. Somewhat unpalatable lessons from 2014, then, for every event organiser in 2015 seeking to ensure their projects: remain “on message” and under control.</p>
<h2>FIFA</h2>
<p>FIFA has been persistently dogged by <a href="https://theconversation.com/serious-about-fixing-corruption-whichever-way-you-look-at-it-fifa-doesnt-come-out-well-27532">accusations of corruption</a> this year, perhaps more so than ever. The results of FIFA’s investigation into the World Cup bidding process (that saw Russia and Qatar named hosts of the 2018 and 2022 tournaments), were published in November, producing <a href="https://theconversation.com/promises-promises-but-fifa-just-cant-admit-it-has-a-problem-34251">more controversy than conclusion</a>. The report’s lead author resigned and the full report still hasn’t been published.</p>
<p>This matter is not going away any time soon. Adding to the drama, we have a deeply inquisitive European media, the FBI involved, governments that are prepared to spy on bid rivals, some disaffected sponsors that are now beginning to voice their concerns, and Sepp Blatter, a FIFA president who is preparing himself for a fifth re-election at the end of May 2015.</p>
<h2>Olympics and the IOC</h2>
<p>The new year will bring further challenges for Brazil, as Rio de Janeiro gears-up for the 2016 Olympic Games. With the country’s economy struggling and preparations for the Games racking up hefty bills, 2015’s test events will challenge both the nation’s preparedness to host the world’s biggest sporting event, as well as its willingness to pay for the privilege. </p>
<p>As the Brazilian economic miracle falters, China’s growing strength continues. It’s Beijing vs Kazakhstan’s largest city, Almaty, left in the running to host the 2022 Winter Olympics. Competition between them will intensify in 2015, with the decision due on July 31.</p>
<p>Indeed, 2015 will be a crucial year for the growth of non-traditional sporting countries. Azerbaijan will host the inaugural <a href="http://www.baku2015.com/">European Games</a> (a kind of continental Olympics) in June, and the country will likely continue to press for an F1 Grand Prix to be staged there too. </p>
<figure class="align-center ">
<img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/67977/original/image-20141223-18402-de136q.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/67977/original/image-20141223-18402-de136q.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=347&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/67977/original/image-20141223-18402-de136q.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=347&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/67977/original/image-20141223-18402-de136q.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=347&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/67977/original/image-20141223-18402-de136q.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=436&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/67977/original/image-20141223-18402-de136q.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=436&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/67977/original/image-20141223-18402-de136q.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=436&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">Could the Olympics return to Beijing for a winter 2022 offering?</span>
<span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Beijing_National_Stadium#mediaviewer/File:Beijing_national_stadium.jpg">Peter23</a>, <a class="license" href="http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/">CC BY</a></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>The IOC will also hold briefings for candidate cities that are likely to bid for the right to stage the 2024 Olympic Games. The name of Baku in Azerbaijan is likely to appear again, as too may Doha in Qatar. These bids will do little to address concerns that these nations are unsuitable event hosts, and that they are using their newly found wealth to buy a place at the sporting world’s top table.</p>
<p>Clearly this is a debate that will rumble on for some time after 2015. But, in the ongoing furore surrounding FIFA and the World Cup bidding processes, the IOC’s upcoming decisions are likely to be viewed through the lens of Russia 2018 and Qatar 2022.</p>
<h2>Other sports too</h2>
<p>How professional cycling must love the weekly fare of intrigue, deceit and skulduggery served up by the football world. It’s shielded them in many ways. But <a href="http://www.dailymail.co.uk/sport/othersports/article-2864667/UCI-publish-doping-report-cycling-sets-example-FIFA-follow.html">cycling too was investigated in 2014</a> (by its governing body, the UCI), in a similar way that football has been by FIFA, with findings expected to emerge next year. </p>
<p>The pertinence of this investigation is particularly acute given November’s announcement that 11 professional cycling teams are <a href="http://www.cyclingweekly.co.uk/news/latest-news/what-is-velon-what-will-it-do-146645">launching an organisation called Velon</a> to provide more commercial and marketing opportunities, as well as engage with fans. Watch out for developments next year. </p>
<p>With a UCI and FIFA investigation double-whammy to look forward to next year, the issue of governance in sport will take on an even sharper focus. It may be somewhat idealistic to hope that these bodies begin to seriously address the issue of who their sports are for and, therefore, on what basis they should be governed. But with geopolitical change, public scrutiny, commercialisation and global economic pressure posing a challenge to many sports, we have to hope 2015 provokes a debate about governance in a more constructive way than has hitherto been the case.</p>
<h2>Financial trouble ahead</h2>
<p>While 2007 may seem like a long time ago, the effects of the global financial crisis are still being felt. This is especially the case in Formula 1. In spite of winning the world championship, during the last financial year the Mercedes F1 team made a loss of US$100m. While the team hemorrhaged cash in the pursuit of ultimate success, further back the Marussia and Caterham teams high tailed into oblivion, as both were liquidated.</p>
<figure class="align-center ">
<img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/67979/original/image-20141223-32197-47ulyn.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/67979/original/image-20141223-32197-47ulyn.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/67979/original/image-20141223-32197-47ulyn.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/67979/original/image-20141223-32197-47ulyn.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/67979/original/image-20141223-32197-47ulyn.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/67979/original/image-20141223-32197-47ulyn.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/67979/original/image-20141223-32197-47ulyn.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">F1: shiny but expensive.</span>
<span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/mike_elleray/8090952491/in/photolist-c1h3vq-cfbiay-boDXFd-djYfhT-bNFXYK-dri6HG-c1fDhN-a2BS8m-a2BSXu-a2yZfV-cLTpy7-bo8hJe-bSL9Er-81FgWs-5cNDsd-5cJmLt-5cJn5X-bg7uqt-8kLuVa-8kLv5H-8kLvFR-9aeZJq-c1g5vJ-a6xzDY-c1h5jq-bo8m94-ckB6xy-7WNog-cLSTYA-8kPFhG-8kPEyG-8kLu2i-8kLug6-8kPFym-bu2nGs-bQrNDF-6be7EY-6be3WS-6b9Ucc-3czpa-782USW-6b9XKH-6JVXhS-pTghz-bQrPjZ-7ELbgA-pTg9F-6zJcWE-RiRt7-bYL4GW">Michael Elleray</a>, <a class="license" href="http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/">CC BY</a></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>With too many economies around the world struggling, the rampant costs of success could well pose sport’s biggest challenge next year. Noises coming out of F1 suggest that we are close to a tipping point in the <a href="http://www.bmmagazine.co.uk/news/formula-1-must-change-unsustainable-business-model/">need for a new operating model</a>. </p>
<p>It is hard to believe that we will see an equivalent to football’s <a href="http://www.financialfairplay.co.uk/financial-fair-play-explained.php">UEFA Financial Fair Play rules</a> being introduced in F1. However, 2015 is likely to be an economically uncomfortable year, not just in motor racing but in many sports. How teams, clubs, governing bodies and event owners respond may well become a spectator sport in itself. </p>
<h2>Don’t forget the fans</h2>
<p>Somewhere in the midst of all this drama are the fans. Remember them – the individuals, groups and communities whom many people believe are the lifeblood of any sport? As was the case this year, so it will be next year; the big issue for many sports organisations will be fan engagement. With so much competition for their spending, both from within and outside the industry, getting fans and keeping them has become a big issue.</p>
<p>And yet, for all the claims about how social media, the match-day experience and ticketing bundles are the key to effective fan engagement, it would be good to think that over the next 12 months economic, political and moral good sense will prevail and give fans a reason to fall in love with sport all over again. </p>
<p>Will 2015 be the year of ethical organisations in sport, when success is earned and not bought, and when equality and competitive balance are preserved, making sport an innocent pleasure once more? A Christmas miracle may be required.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/35580/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
It was a massive year for sport – a winter Olympics, a summer World Cup, the FIFA World Cup scandal that won’t die, and reforms afoot at the International Olympic Committee. Here are some of my highlights…Simon Chadwick, Professor of Sport Business Strategy, Coventry UniversityLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/342642014-11-17T03:21:34Z2014-11-17T03:21:34ZWhy stamping out corruption in FIFA won’t be easy<p>The <a href="https://theconversation.com/scandals-are-forever-for-fifa-as-world-cup-hosting-saga-drags-on-34240">limited release of FIFA’s investigation into corruption</a> allegations surrounding the awarding of the 2018 and 2022 FIFA World Cup was supposed to allay the ever-increasing perception that corruption pervaded the football’s governing body.</p>
<p>However, the <a href="http://www.fifa.com/aboutfifa/organisation/news/newsid=2474201/index.html">scathing attack</a> by its own chief investigator into the issue has achieved the opposite, and demonstrated that FIFA is itself either in cover-up mode or extremely delusional. </p>
<p>It’s pretty clear that there are global governance problems, so the question is how do we deal with them.</p>
<h2>Case-study in corruption</h2>
<p>Conditions encouraging corruption include a high level of discretionary power, large sums of money and weak detection and enforcement. The case of FIFA (and indeed many other governing bodies in sport) is almost a textbook example of the conditions under which corruption will flourish.</p>
<p>Organisations such as FIFA exert almost complete control over their sports, setting the rules, determining the voting mechanisms and deciding who plays. They also decide where events such as the World Cup are held. The fact there is no shortage of bidders generally leads to the economic gains from hosting being largely captured by FIFA itself. For instance, FIFA retains many of the revenues from marketing and broadcast rights but requires all infrastructure construction costs to be picked up by the host. Commentators estimated FIFA pocketed more than US$2 billion profit from the World Cup in Brazil.</p>
<p>Intense bidding is key. Whether perceiving it as offering economic or political gain, national governments are prepared to spend large amounts on bids with low probability of success. Moreover, they are prepared to then trade away many of the possible gains through tax exemptions for FIFA and by covering all costs. </p>
<p>This intense competition acts as a magnet to corrupt practice, exacerbated by the fact that the bidding process itself is very non-transparent. There is no set of definitive rules which seem to identify what a winning bid should look like. </p>
<p>The amounts spent on bids that are disclosed - such the $45 million spent by Australia in its unsuccessful bid against Qatar for the 2022 World Cup - do not capture the full costs of consultants employed, or “grants” made, such as the one from the Australian government to the FIFA Oceania region. </p>
<h2>“We receive watches”</h2>
<p>Moreover, there is a clear expectation of gifts of all kinds to be made to officials of FIFA. Recent revelations of the “watchgate” scandal, which concerned $US25,000 watches being handed to officials at the World Cup in Brazil was initially brushed aside by UEFA President Michel Platini as nothing out of the ordinary because “we receive many watches”. Such views may well demonstrate how entrenched corruption may become in organisations such as FIFA.</p>
<p>One constraint against corruption should be the apparent democratic structure of FIFA. In the FIFA Congress, each country receives one vote. Hence, in principle, even the smallest national association receives the same weight in decision-making as very large associations. In practice, however, these smaller nations could be easily bought off with money for facilities, allocation of minor FIFA events and the like. </p>
<p>Patronage can also be gained by allocating prized VIP tickets for desirable events (such as the 2014 FIFA World Cup final, which reportedly sold for <a href="http://www.cnbc.com/id/101750395">around US$50,000</a>). Politically, it is argued that this ensures that the President can safely maintain power. Indeed, challenges are rare – there have been only eight presidents of FIFA in its 100-year history (and only 2 since 1974). </p>
<h2>Judging itself</h2>
<p>In terms of enforcement, FIFA conducts its own investigations into corruption allegations itself. It also decides its own penalties. This is similar to the accused sitting in judgement on their own case. In any other setting, this would be unimaginable. </p>
<p>Change from within seems unlikely. Any internal challenge to the president, who seemingly controls sufficient evidence to bring corruption charges against insubordinate senior officials (such as occurred when <a href="http://www.theguardian.com/football/2014/jun/01/mohamed-bin-hammam-timeline">Bin Hammam</a> and former FIFA executive committee member Jack Warner mounted a challenge in 2011), is likely to fail. </p>
<p>So the impetus to tackle entrenched corruption must come from external forces, such as from governments contemplating taxpayer funded bids for FIFA World Cup events. Bidders must now not only consider the paucity of actual economic gains which flow their way, but the likelihood that they are not in a level playing field. The rational response for any honest bidder should be not to bid. </p>
<p>This will ultimately reduce the discretionary power that FIFA enjoys in the same way as was the case for the LA Olympic Games in 1984, when for a variety of political reasons, LA was the only bidder. Unsurprisingly, these were the last games estimated to have delivered a real economic gain to its host.</p>
<h2>Hard to stamp out</h2>
<p>Entrenched leadership characterises many sports. Formula 1 manufacturers are unwilling to challenge the power of Bernie Ecclestone. Power shifts are underway in international cricket (ICC) as large countries (in particular India) appear to be gaining a greater share of the pie, but these merely redistribute the rents achieved by governing bodies and don’t constitute a reform. </p>
<p>It seems certain that nations will continue to compete to host the World Cup. FIFA retains the right to allocate these prized hosting rights and the process remains non-transparent. Even when transgressions occur, they can be brushed aside using secrecy and internal review. In such circumstances, corruption will continue to flourish in FIFA. It is possible that the changes could come from the establishment of rival, breakaway leagues or from greater scrutiny over the bidding for events by nations. However, at this point in time, neither appears likely. </p>
<p><em>John Wilson’s book, Public Policy and Professional Sports: International and Australian Experiences (co-authored with Richard Pomfret),is published by Edward Elgar.</em></p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/34264/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>John Wilson 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 limited release of FIFA’s investigation into corruption allegations surrounding the awarding of the 2018 and 2022 FIFA World Cup was supposed to allay the ever-increasing perception that corruption…John Wilson, Senior Lecturer in Economics, University of South AustraliaLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/342232014-11-14T06:19:13Z2014-11-14T06:19:13ZMorocco lost the Cup of Nations over irrational fears about Ebola<p>The Africa Cup of Nations, the continent’s mini-World Cup, is played every two years by the national teams of 16 African countries who have competed in a series of qualifiers to play in the final tournament. </p>
<p>Like the World Cup, the tournament site moves between various host countries and, until earlier this week, the 2015 games were scheduled to kick off in Morocco on January 17. On Tuesday, however, fears that the Ebola outbreak in west Africa would spread to Morocco led the country to abandon its plans to host the upcoming event after having its request to postpone the competition by a year denied by the Confederation of African Football (CAF). Now Equatorial Guinea has been <a href="http://www.bbc.co.uk/sport/0/football/30053859">named new host of the tournament</a>.</p>
<p>CAF is now scrambling to find another country to hold the finals and has <a href="http://www1.skysports.com/football/news/11095/9560364/africa-cup-of-nations-scheduled-hosts-morocco-expelled-from-2015-tournament">expelled the Moroccan team</a> from further participation in the tournament. Morocco’s refusal to host the tournament, which pandered to the worst fears about this disease, is based both on bad science and bad economics. </p>
<p>It is completely reasonable for any country to want to take appropriate steps to prevent the spread of the Ebola epidemic which has so far <a href="http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-africa-30028859">killed more than 5,000 people</a>, primarily in the west African countries of Liberia, Sierra Leone, and Guinea. The Africa Cup of Nations, however, is an unlikely candidate to promote the further spread of the disease.</p>
<p>From an epidemiological standpoint, since Ebola victims are contagious <a href="https://theconversation.com/why-people-without-symptoms-arent-going-to-give-you-ebola-33500">only once they show symptoms</a>, the disease is not likely to be spread through attendance at football matches. Those showing symptoms will be too sick to travel, and those well enough to travel will not be contagious. Even if a fan travelled to Morocco during the 21-day incubation period for the disease and then began to show symptoms, the fact that the disease is only spread through contact with bodily fluids, not casual contact with other fans, means is unlikely to be a significant source of transmission.</p>
<p>The case against a delay in the tournament is even stronger. Thus far, the overwhelming majority of victims are either those living in poverty with little or no access to sanitation or routine medical care, or people engaged in primary health care provision. Neither group is likely to have the time or the resources to make the 2,000 mile journey from the disease epicentre to Morocco this coming January. </p>
<p>Finally, like most boosters’ claims about the economic impact of major sporting events, Morocco’s estimates of the number of visitors that the event would bring were wildly optimistic. Morocco’s sports minister Mohamed Ouzzine said the country was <a href="http://www.bbc.co.uk/sport/0/football/29902680">expecting an influx of between 200,000 and 1m fans</a>. The idea of one million arrivals from infected countries is scary indeed but also completely laughable. </p>
<p>The 2006 World Cup in South Africa, a tournament with twice the number of teams, a much higher level of prestige, and entrants from the wealthiest, most populous, and most football-mad countries in the world, resulted in an increase of <a href="https://ideas.repec.org/p/ant/wpaper/2012015.html">roughly 200,000 visitors to the country</a>. There is simply no way a minor continental tournament will draw even close to the same number of fans as the world’s premier sporting event. </p>
<p>And in footballing terms, of the three countries at the centre of the outbreak, Liberia has already been eliminated, and both Sierra Leone and Guinea are longshots to make the final slate of 16 teams. Without their teams in the tournament, there is little reason for fans from the infected countries to make the long and expensive trip to the Cup of Nations. Even if Guinea, the team with the best chance to advance, were to make it to Morocco, the number of additional arrivals from this afflicted country is more likely to measure in the dozens than in the thousands. </p>
<p>In the end, hats off to the Confederation of African Football for not succumbing to an irrational fear of the disease. Now the hard work of organising a new tournament in another country in less than two months begins.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/34223/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 organisation that would benefit from this article, and have disclosed no relevant affiliations beyond their academic appointment.</span></em></p>The Africa Cup of Nations, the continent’s mini-World Cup, is played every two years by the national teams of 16 African countries who have competed in a series of qualifiers to play in the final tournament…Victor Matheson, Professor of Economics and Accounting, College of the Holy CrossAnn Sheehy, Assistant Professor, College of the Holy CrossLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/315402014-09-16T05:17:56Z2014-09-16T05:17:56ZMega-sized sporting events too often fail to deliver health legacy<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/59034/original/twg9m6sn-1410780441.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">What has changed?</span> <span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="http://www.shutterstock.com/en/pic.mhtml?id=187488458&pl=44814-43068">World Cup by Shutterstock</a></span></figcaption></figure><p>Prince Harry’s Invictus Games is <a href="http://www.newhamrecorder.co.uk/news/invictus_games_injured_cyclists_hoping_for_games_legacy_1_3769071">raising awareness of the achievements</a> of injured armed forces personnel and the games have once again spurred conversations about the legacy of big sporting events – in this case how the event might benefit injured personnel in years to come. <a href="http://www.pwc.co.uk/who-we-are/invictus-games.jhtml">One leading consultancy firm</a> has already pledged that the games will change the way they hire and include injured personnel in their business. </p>
<p>The potential for mega-events such as the World Cup and the Olympics to deliver benefits and messages is huge, and yet, despite the piles of money <a href="http://www.fifa.com/aboutfifa/footballdevelopment/medical/footballforhealth/index.html">and the promises</a>, all too often they fail on this promise. </p>
<p>The sporting world, and especially football, is in a commercially indulgent era of mega-events. But despite increasing talk of legacies and importantly, <a href="https://theconversation.com/olympic-style-mega-events-reach-new-frontiers-at-a-cost-22446">whether the money in matches the money out</a>, some have argued that the <a href="https://theconversation.com/the-legacy-fallacy-the-olympics-doesnt-increase-sport-participation-8810">2012 Olympics Games</a> didn’t increase participation in sport. Perhaps the biggest miss of the <a href="https://theconversation.com/will-the-world-cup-leave-a-positive-legacy-in-brazil-27397">World Cup in 2014</a> in Brazil was the absence of any aligned social welfare or health-promotion strategy.</p>
<p>It’s a shame. With such investment, they have the potential to help tackle some big health issues linked to lifestyle-related diseases such as obesity and coronary heart disease. One good example was the European Championship in 2012. A <a href="http://bit.ly/1APRYcA">study into its health legacy</a> found a number of impressive potential health outcomes in host countries Poland and Ukraine. It found health promotion, vaccination awareness and better emergency preparedness were achieved through increased partnership between the World Health Organisation, governments and hospitals. Yet many of us are still sceptical about the ability of mega-events to always do this.</p>
<h2>Unhealthy profits matter more</h2>
<p>On <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DlJEt2KU33I">his HBO talkshow</a>, comedian John Oliver lampooned the tactics of FIFA, football’s governing body, for pressuring Brazil into lifting a ban on alcohol sales at stadiums during the World Cup – the so-called “Budweiser Bill”, named after one of the major sponsors. In the British Medical Journal, journalist Jonathan Gornall criticised FIFA’s so-called “festival of football”, instead likening it to a <a href="http://www.bmj.com/content/348/bmj.g3772">festival of alcohol</a>. </p>
<figure>
<iframe width="440" height="260" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/DlJEt2KU33I?wmode=transparent&start=0" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen=""></iframe>
</figure>
<p>This shows the potential impact FIFA and mega-events can have in the way they influence major law and policy change in countries. Unfortunately, this example paid little attention to the health legacy of the event. </p>
<p>The fact is that health promotion is often neglected at mega-events. Despite the positive rhetoric around events <a href="http://www.tandfonline.com/toc/fsas20/.VBNgLhaA31o">like the World Cup</a>, the story afterwards tends to be disappointing.</p>
<h2>Wasn’t always the case</h2>
<p>Gone are the early days of the health promotion that featured on the players shirts, such as West Bromwich Albion’s Health Education Council messages or encouraging safe sex at Millwall. </p>
<p>But let’s not despair, there is a <a href="http://www.tandfonline.com/toc/fsas20/.VBK_5haA31o#.VBb2gvldXsY">growing body of evidence</a> that football – at least at grassroots and club level – can and is making a difference. This includes football helping communities and fans lose weight, as seen in the <a href="http://bit.ly/1fhG5lO">Scottish Premier League</a>, football engaging with those who would be labelled “hard to reach” – like promoting better health engagement in older men as seen at <a href="http://dx.doi.org/10.1080/14660970.2014.920624">Everton Football Club</a>, and improving lifestyles in the <a href="http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/23219262">English Premier League Men’s Health programme</a> to help prevent the onset of diseases such as obesity in later life.</p>
<figure class="align-center zoomable">
<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/58934/original/9vv3t4sq-1410559555.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/58934/original/9vv3t4sq-1410559555.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/58934/original/9vv3t4sq-1410559555.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=336&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/58934/original/9vv3t4sq-1410559555.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=336&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/58934/original/9vv3t4sq-1410559555.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=336&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/58934/original/9vv3t4sq-1410559555.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=422&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/58934/original/9vv3t4sq-1410559555.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=422&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/58934/original/9vv3t4sq-1410559555.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=422&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">Everton FC’s tackles men’s health.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">Everton Football Club</span></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>There have also been two recent academic special issues published, that were dedicated to the <a href="http://www.tandfonline.com/toc/fsas20/.VBK_5haA31o">social role of football</a> and the <a href="http://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1111/sms.2014.24.issue-s1/issuetoc">health outcomes of playing football</a>, with the latter funded by FIFA. And platforms such as <a href="http://community.responsiball.org">Responsiball</a> and the <a href="http://www.healthystadia.eu">European Health Stadia Network</a> who offer case studies, reports and research with detailed examples of best practices across Europe and further afield. These examples offer FIFA with the evidence and guidance on what will work to improve health through football – though we have yet to see any of these lessons implemented or incorporated into mega-events. </p>
<h2>No thanks to any legacy</h2>
<p>None of these successes of these schemes come from the impact of mega-events and the often exaggerated claims around increasing participation. Instead, they come from the everyday brilliance of football staff, supporters and local communities. Many projects that achieve these health wins are managed by the social responsibility functions of the football clubs themselves, from premier league teams like Everton down to League Two teams such as Burton Albion FC. </p>
<p>There is no doubt that FIFA will continue to disappoint host countries, governments, politicians and the people that make up the football community. Audacious claims about “the power of football” from mega-events that don’t materialise is sadly widespread. Perhaps FIFA can look more closer at its <a href="http://www.fifa.com/aboutfifa/footballdevelopment/medical/footballforhealth/index.html">Football for Health 11 lessons</a> – notably number four: “Avoid Drugs and Alcohol”, to which FIFA has somehow managed to pay little attention.</p>
<p>While the majority of people who make up the audiences around the world forget about the broader health responsibility of FIFA – a multi-billion pound not-for-profit (yes, it operates as a non-profit) – because of the magic of Messi, Velencia, Neymar, Robben and Rodríguez, it’s time for for more attention and change.</p>
<p>It’s not a call to stop watching big events (unlikely to happen) but we can refuse to accept the status quo. As the commercial value of mega-events continues to grow, we must begin to challenge those involved in the organisation and delivery to get serious about health. We need to challenge them to use the evidence of what we know works to ensure their sporting mega-events live up to the spirit they so often claim.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/31540/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Daniel Parnell receives funding from the Higher Education Innovation Fund, the Leeds Beckett University, Carnegie School of Sport New Researcher Fund and a number of football charities. He is affiliated with ConnectSport UK Ltd, manages a non-profit online platform called The Community Football Hub and is on the Editorial Board of the Journal Soccer & Society.</span></em></p>Prince Harry’s Invictus Games is raising awareness of the achievements of injured armed forces personnel and the games have once again spurred conversations about the legacy of big sporting events – in…Daniel Parnell, Senior Lecturer in Sport Business Management, Leeds Beckett UniversityLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/293702014-07-21T13:23:10Z2014-07-21T13:23:10ZA lesson from business which can end England’s football failures
<p>The <a href="http://www.dailymail.co.uk/sport/worldcup2014/article-2654453/Roy-Hodgson-trails-Fabio-Capello-highest-paid-managers-World-Cup.html">two highest paid coaches</a> at this year’s FIFA World Cup in Brazil were Russia’s Fabio Capello ($11,235,210) and England’s Roy Hodgson ($5,874,570). Both of these teams exited from the World Cup after the first-round: Russia with two points, England with one point. Neither the Russian, nor the English, squad contained a single player who plays for an overseas club.</p>
<p>In both Russia and England, many people are now debating the reasons for their national teams’ failure at the World Cup. In Russia, Capello <a href="http://www.themoscowtimes.com/news/article/russia-coach-capello-gets-holiday-before-accounting-for-world-cup-fiasco/503383.html">has been asked to appear before Parliament</a> to explain the team’s World Cup failure. In England, the response has been less dramatic but potentially more fundamental. Indeed, having spent most of the last four years asking “why can’t we be like Spain?”, England now appears set to spend the next four years asking <a href="http://www.bbc.co.uk/sport/0/football/28295153">“why can’t we be like Germany?”</a></p>
<p>FA chairman <a href="http://www1.skysports.com/football/news/11688/9339361/fa-chairman-greg-dyke-feels-his-plan-for-b-teams-is-still-viable">Greg Dyke’s B-team plan</a> will surely loom large on English football’s agenda over the coming months. So too, the failings and merits of Roy Hodgson as a manager. Yet culturally and socially, something appears to be amiss with England (possibly Russia too) for, despite its periodic soul searching and various attempts at planning, the country seems unable to enact the changes required to ensure its national team progresses from tournament under-achievers to top-level international performers.</p>
<h2>Earning power</h2>
<p>As England’s national team was failing in Brazil, its former player <a href="http://www.theguardian.com/football/blog/2014/jul/15/ashley-cole-roma-serie-a">Ashley Cole was signing for Roma in Italy’s Serie A</a>. Cole spent his entire professional career playing domestically in England (with Arsenal and Chelsea). It is therefore both appropriately coincidental yet somewhat ironic that Cole has recently claimed “British players are a little afraid to move abroad. They are accustomed to British culture and for them it is convenient to stay at home”. Cole has gone on to say, “As soon as I had the opportunity, I was glad to get out of London [to] face a new language and a new culture”.</p>
<p>This is probably ten years too late for Cole and England, and therefore sends out a misleading message to the likes of Raheem Sterling, Luke Shaw and Ross Barkley. Indeed, if English football is going to change and improve, it is not just for the English Football Association and Premier League clubs to take action, one could argue that it is for the players themselves to make the change. It is inevitable that many people, players included, will claim that salaries in English football are too high to justify a move overseas on lower wages. They will say that a career is short, and that earnings potential has to be maximised quickly and so forth.</p>
<p>But is this the kind of short-termist view that characterises too much of English football and, indeed, English culture and society? Could it be that taking a short-term financial hit and moving abroad could be more beneficial and financially rewarding in the long-run? Put another way, if English players went abroad <a href="https://theconversation.com/england-players-need-to-get-out-more-to-have-a-chance-of-winning-the-world-cup-27848">would they become better footballers</a> and therefore earn more money as a result? Might it actually be the case that, just as Roy Hodgson and the England national team (possibly Fabio Capello and Russia too) need structural changes in the English game, they also need the players to change? In fact, could England’s and Russia’s weaknesses rest largely on the young men on the pitch, and not just because of their performances in crucial matches?</p>
<h2>Think different</h2>
<p>In the business literature, much has been made of disruptive innovation, the kind of innovation that brings about major shifts in products and markets. Readers should spend time looking at <a href="http://www.claytonchristensen.com">the website of Professor Clay Christensen</a>, who introduced us to the notion of disruptive innovation. You should hopefully then begin to understand how this relates to the future of the English national team (and probably the Russians as well). In essence, Christensen stresses that organisations should challenge existing orders and do things differently.</p>
<figure class="align-left zoomable">
<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/54435/original/2vsqfdwr-1405939785.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/54435/original/2vsqfdwr-1405939785.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=237&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/54435/original/2vsqfdwr-1405939785.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=772&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/54435/original/2vsqfdwr-1405939785.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=772&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/54435/original/2vsqfdwr-1405939785.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=772&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/54435/original/2vsqfdwr-1405939785.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=971&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/54435/original/2vsqfdwr-1405939785.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=971&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/54435/original/2vsqfdwr-1405939785.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=971&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px"></a>
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">David Beckham at AC MIlan.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">Matteo Bazzi/EPA</span></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>Further extending this notion, Whitney Johnson takes the notion of disruptive innovation and applies it to people. It’s worth reading Johnson’s Harvard Business Review <a href="http://blogs.hbr.org/2011/08/disrupt-yourself/">blog posting, entitled “Disrupt Yourself”</a>. Having read the blog, it should be even more apparent that England’s players should indeed be taking Ashley Cole’s lead: in short, if you want to be a better player, move abroad and disrupt yourself.</p>
<p>For football players, the essence of Johnson’s posting is:</p>
<ul>
<li><p>If it feels scary and lonely, you’re probably on the right track i.e. if you are outside your comfort zone, you are already learning and developing;</p></li>
<li><p>Be assured that you have no idea what will come next i.e. learn by exposing yourself to and discovering from new situations;</p></li>
<li><p>Throw out the performance metrics you’ve always relied on i.e. what you earn is not always an accurate indicator of how good you are;</p></li>
<li><p>Your odds of success will improve when you pursue a disruptive course i.e. going to play in another country will improve your skills, enhance your experience and result in you becoming a better player.</p></li>
</ul>
<h2>Patriotic duty</h2>
<p>Some critics might say there is nothing new about English players’ unwillingness or inability to move overseas, or that salary levels make it why they choose to stay at home. Moreover, there is something socio-cultural too in all of this as regards English attitudes to “foreigners” and “foreign countries” (I am not Russian - the Russians themselves will have to address this matter in their own way). Many English people relate to foreigners with a sense of suspicion, sometimes deeply so. </p>
<p>However, at a personal level, English players may want to recall the words of President Kennedy: “ask not what your country can do for you, ask what you can do for your country”. And if that does not convince them to consider a move abroad, then perhaps the promise of becoming a better player and earning more money in the future might prove to be a more seductive argument for causing a disruption.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/29370/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
The two highest paid coaches at this year’s FIFA World Cup in Brazil were Russia’s Fabio Capello ($11,235,210) and England’s Roy Hodgson ($5,874,570). Both of these teams exited from the World Cup after…Simon Chadwick, Professor of Sport Business Strategy, Coventry UniversityLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/292442014-07-15T17:09:00Z2014-07-15T17:09:00ZMillions of spectators and no tickets: unpicking the Tour de France business model<figure class="align-center ">
<img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/53923/original/pttzn3jv-1405438580.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/53923/original/pttzn3jv-1405438580.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/53923/original/pttzn3jv-1405438580.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/53923/original/pttzn3jv-1405438580.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/53923/original/pttzn3jv-1405438580.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/53923/original/pttzn3jv-1405438580.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/53923/original/pttzn3jv-1405438580.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">The discrete charm of the Tour de France publicity caravan.</span>
<span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://www.flickr.com/photos/taimages/9274299923/in/photolist-2a63wK-2a627H-2aapLq-2a64K8-2a62Fr-2aaqzW-2aar3d-2a64kv-odL64W-obTkQu-2aarah-2aap11-2aasf1-d9P3WA-d9P52K-d9P4Mr-d9P4uC-29ffKU-2mtEUe-d9P7Jq-2mtEV8-2mtETM-dh7zsG-defiUq-dh7zTn-odRHaS-nWr8sx-nWs22T-nWqRa3-odVq54-odCt3Z-obTnQb-ofGq8n-hGLJVr-2m48Un-2m48WR-ofGpBT-nWr5Sb-2Sf3fH-HhjYN-HhjT5-Hhp18-of6KuX-29wRvv-29BdYQ-29Bdzh-29Bemw-f8xiy8-f8Mpe7-f8xdfP">Brian Townsley</a>, <a class="license" href="http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/">CC BY</a></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>Although one of sport’s biggest mega-events has now come to an end (<a href="https://theconversation.com/topics/world-cup-2014">the World Cup</a>), we are still only halfway through another – the <a href="https://theconversation.com/topics/tour-de-france">Tour de France</a>. Already, there are clear comparisons to be made between them. Just as the World Cup lost two of its biggest stars during the competition’s early stages (Spain and Italy), so too has the Tour de France, with Britain’s Chris Froome and Alberto Contador of Spain <a href="http://www.independent.co.uk/sport/cycling/tour-de-france-2014-alberto-contador-crashes-out-of-the-tour-to-follow-chris-froome-in-abandoning-his-campaign--and-leaving-the-door-open-for-vincenzo-nibali-9605288.html">already gone from the race</a>. In the end, football aristocracy still triumphed in Brazil as Germany ran out winners, the question is: will the likes of Vincenzo Nibali from Italy or Alejandro Valverde of Spain ensure the same happens in cycling’s premier annual event? </p>
<p>Comparisons between the cycling and football showcases do not end there. Both are short, sharp shots of sporting spectacle, during which they mesmerise fans, and grab the attention of the media, sponsors and host cities. The battle for eyeballs is intense, the television viewing figures immense: while around 1 billion are likely to have watched Sunday’s World Cup Final in Rio, the <a href="http://letour.yorkshire.com/news/Tour-de-France-The-Facts">organisers claim some 3.5 billion people</a> are likely to watch the Tour de France at some stage during its three-week duration. Both events truly are the pinnacle of global sport.</p>
<p>They share problems too, most notably corruption of the sporting ethic. In the World Cup’s case, <a href="http://www.bbc.co.uk/sport/0/football/28102841">alleged match-fixing</a> seemingly appears to be a perpetual problem, while most of us are already aware of the constant battle the <a href="https://theconversation.com/tour-de-frances-doping-history-clouds-a-cleaner-sport-28070">Tour de France has had with doping</a>. There are “off-field/off-road” problems as well, particularly around ethics and governance. Now the World Cup is over, we can look forward to seeing the results of <a href="http://www.theguardian.com/football/2014/jun/15/fifa-investigates-england-2018-world-cup-bid-payment">Michael Garcia’s FIFA investigation</a>, and cycling faces such issues too. The Union Cycliste Internationale (UCI) is also currently carrying-out a similar investigation, while cycling faces several ongoing issues around ownership and governance of the sport.</p>
<h2>Paper round</h2>
<p>And this is where the World Cup and the Tour de France start to deviate from one another. Notwithstanding deep concerns about FIFA’s ethics and governance standards, FIFA is at least represented by an elected board. The Tour de France is instead owned by the <a href="http://www.aso.fr/us/homepage.html">Amaury Sport Organisation</a> (ASO – which is in turn part of the Amaury Group) and privately controlled by the Amaury family. The Amaury’s are also owners of French daily sports newspaper L’Equipe, and it is because of French newspaper publishing that the Tour first came into existence. Back in 1903, the editor of L’Auto newspaper, Henri Desgrange, decided to start a cycling race around France to boost sales of the new publication. </p>
<p>This helps to mark out one of the biggest differences between the Tour and the World Cup. For last Sunday’s World Cup Final, the minimum ticket price for an overseas fan was around £300. <a href="http://www.forbes.com/sites/jesselawrence/2014/07/01/world-cup-tickets-up-15-34-from-round-of-16-to-quarterfinals/">FIFA does very nicely from selling tickets too</a>, generating more than $1 billion dollars in revenue. By comparison, the Tour earns nothing from ticketing; the event is run on public roads and was never designed to make money from tickets – it was intended to sell newspapers. At a time when many sports are growing commercially, there is a consequent financial hole for Amaury which has to be filled in other ways.</p>
<figure class="align-left zoomable">
<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/53926/original/k8qhsp6q-1405439106.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/53926/original/k8qhsp6q-1405439106.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=237&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/53926/original/k8qhsp6q-1405439106.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=360&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/53926/original/k8qhsp6q-1405439106.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=360&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/53926/original/k8qhsp6q-1405439106.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=360&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/53926/original/k8qhsp6q-1405439106.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=452&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/53926/original/k8qhsp6q-1405439106.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=452&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/53926/original/k8qhsp6q-1405439106.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=452&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px"></a>
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">Where’s Wiggo?</span>
<span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://www.flickr.com/photos/59920447@N04/7616350830/in/photolist-cB2MKC-a7JznJ-a7Km69-6Xwc2x-g4kFGH-cE5hE3-a7FFCx-9bcCnP-a3tgFk-a7KoF7-a7FFo2-7kWKSG-7kSQ28-g9exjq-cURtjm-9XA5Tk-a7FER6-damt7P-9uiTdA-cEe6xY-cJcsEC-6KnCxn-cHSJGY-9uCfPm-iJF7WJ-dFunJK-g4k98y-9bfM9Y-9ZyqBA-cqACY5-7kXeiD-cJDZdW-a7KqnL-cBSL9W-8kzRZt-d8P7Uh-dcdLny-6H9Vjm-dumw86-7kWFJh-7kWH67-7kSKGK-cAaRBo-cDMyB7-coAfio-g1Nf3G-cFibyd-dcc2Aa-dcdLje-cE9BiG">Robert King</a>, <a class="license" href="http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/">CC BY</a></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>There are three principle sources of revenue for the Tour: through the sale of broadcasting rights, via the generation of sponsorship revenues, and by charging a fee to towns and cities that host the event. In Great Britain, following Bradley Wiggins’ TdF win in 2012 (when television audiences peaked at 3.6m/28.2%), ITV extended its agreement with Amaury until 2019. Likewise, America’s NBC network struck a deal with the race’s owners in 2012 to broadcast it until 2022. Audience figures show there is a reasonably strong and stable appetite for televised cycling. But it is difficult to know with any accuracy what broadcasters are paying for their deals with the ASO, but it seems the sums involved are not particularly large (certainly not compared to other sporting mega-events like the World Cup).</p>
<h2>The reckoning</h2>
<p>The advertising and sponsors “caravan” that precedes a stage each day has become a TdF institution, loved almost as much as the race itself. It has been estimated that more than 11m promotional items are handed out over the course of the event. Quite what sponsors pay to ASO is open to question, although it is believed that sponsorship of the four leaders’ jerseys generates around €6m. Otherwise, it seems that some of the deals are “in-kind” in nature. For example, Skoda gives the organisers 250 cars each year for the event. Yet the companies involved can expect a healthy return on their investments, <a href="http://www.businessweek.com/articles/2013-07-05/tour-de-france-same-big-race-much-smaller-sponsors">one estimate being $5 for every $1 spent on sponsorship</a>.</p>
<p>Last weekend’s start of the Tour in Leeds came in somewhere around the £4m mark, <a href="http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-21050740">according to reports</a>; the event’s “Grand Depart” always commands a premium. Typically, to become the starting point for an ordinary stage costs around €50,000; to become the finishing point for a stage is more likely to cost €80,000. When one considers that, for example, 2.5 million people are thought to have been <a href="https://theconversation.com/tour-de-yorkshire-will-boost-economy-but-what-about-the-environment-28014">in Yorkshire for the start of this year’s race</a>, these are relatively small sums of money. Contrast this with the $13 billion the World Cup is estimated to have cost Brazil.</p>
<p>Overall, it is obvious that the TdF is nothing like the World Cup in its commercial and financial scale. Latest figures show that the <a href="http://inrng.com/2014/01/problem-revenue-sharing/">Amaury Group generates about €170 million</a> per year. Even this figure is rather generous as it includes revenues from the organisation’s other sporting properties (notably the Paris-Dakar motor rally). Indeed, after costs, Amaury could be making less than €40 million a year from the Tour. Such figures indeed indicate that, unlike the World Cup (which in Brazil is believed to have generated in excess of $4 billion dollars for FIFA) the Tour de France is small-scale, commercially under-developed and conservatively managed by ASO. </p>
<p>That said, there is something compelling, even romantic, about the Tour de France, which seems bound-up in French values of <em>Liberté, Égalité, Fraternité</em>. Here is a sporting mega-event that you do not have to pay to watch, can stand in a street and view, and that does not seem to have become the corporate mega-fest which FIFA has cultivated with the World Cup. Ironic really when you know the race was actually setup as a money-making venture in the first place (unlike the World Cup, which was not). One nevertheless gets the sense that the TdF and ASO need to do something more if the race is to retain its position as one of the world’s foremost sporting properties – because right now, in the sprint for the (commercial) finishing line, the TdF is lagging behind.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/29244/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
Although one of sport’s biggest mega-events has now come to an end (the World Cup), we are still only halfway through another – the Tour de France. Already, there are clear comparisons to be made between…Simon Chadwick, Professor of Sport Business Strategy, Coventry UniversityLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/292392014-07-15T16:35:26Z2014-07-15T16:35:26ZHow feel-good ‘party patriotism’ drove Germany on the long road to success<p>The German football team returned from its victorious World Cup campaign in Brazil to a rapturous welcome. <a href="http://www.theguardian.com/football/2014/jul/15/germany-world-cup-winners-return-home">Hundreds of thousands of Germans gathered</a> in Berlin to celebrate the first World Cup win for a united Germany since 1990. In many ways, it was a victory that reflects a broader pattern of German success, status and positioning in international relations. But more than that, this World Cup victory has been a triumph of healthy patriotism. </p>
<p>This collective pride that’s felt through supporting the national football team and celebrating their exploits on the pitch signifies a profound and important shift away from collective German <a href="http://www.routledge.com/books/details/9780415628952/">feelings of shame about the World War II</a>. </p>
<p>As a visitor to the divided Berlin in 1988, reunified Germany in the early 90s and as a Research Fellow at the Alexander von Humboldt Foundation in 2007, I have seen first-hand the many changes Germany has gone through since its reunification. This is nowhere more evident than at the Brandenburg Gate. </p>
<p>Once a symbol of a divided Germany, patrolled by East German soldiers with machine guns because the Berlin Wall ran past it, it is now the backdrop to a fan zone that held <a href="http://bit.ly/1ylkMug">more than 300,000 people for important games</a>. Giant TV screens have entertained crowds and created a party atmosphere during UEFA Euro and FIFA World Cup competitions since 2006. The huge crowds break into <a href="http://bit.ly/1krRYrN">wild scenes of celebration</a> when the national team does well. The good feeling generated has earned the title “party patriotism”.</p>
<h2>A team to be proud of</h2>
<p>For many Germans, the national team (also known simply as the National Eleven or “Elf”) is an embodiment of the modern nation – <a href="http://bit.ly/1oDoXKU">cosmopolitan and dynamic</a>. The composition of the team reflects the multicultural nature of German society, with names like Özil and Khedira interlinking with Lahm, Schürrle and Schweinsteiger. And, the team’s attacking, high tempo playing style represents for many Germans a transformation of the dour and methodological national teams of the 70s and 80s, which is to be celebrated. The modern German team’s positive changes may have the power to weaken the kind of nationalism that is built around negative attitudes toward ingroup minorities, as has been <a href="http://bit.ly/1uU6YoI">found in previous studies of German citizens</a>.</p>
<p>These changes are evident in the way that the German teams <a href="http://www.routledge.com/books/details/9780415628952/">have sung the German national anthem and celebrated previous wins</a> in 1954, 1974 and 1990. The effects of the country’s collective shame meant that outward celebrations tended to be muted in the past. The use of German national colours has also previously been limited among supporters because of their strong connections with right-wing nationalism and prejudice towards outsiders. This is most evident when you <a href="http://psycnet.apa.org/journals/zsp/43/1/3/">contrast the use of flags by citizens of Germany and the USA</a>. But for Germans since the success of the 2006 World Cup, there has been a much higher degree of freedom in outward displays of national feelings.</p>
<p>The German win in 2014 hopefully continues a trend in which the celebrations of significant international football victories are largely positive and reflect cosmopolitan values rather than collective hubris and arrogance. The determination to avoid collective hubris is evident in the strong interest that many Germans take in reading about <a href="http://bit.ly/1tM2K5i">how other countries interpret German success</a>.</p>
<h2>Record viewing figures</h2>
<p>The significance of the World Cup and widespread enthusiasm for it is also reflected in the <a href="http://bit.ly/1rnyqcY">staggering numbers</a> that watched the games. In a population of 82m, Germany’s third group game against the US was watched by 27.3m, the Algeria round of 16 game was watched by 28.2m, <a href="http://bit.ly/Wf55Y5">the quarter-final game had “only” 26.3m viewers</a>, the semi-final game Brazil against Germany was watched by 32.6m and the final was watched by a <a href="http://bit.ly/1knKki9">new record of 34.7m people</a>. Although these figures suggest that less than half of the German population watched the final, the actual viewing figures are significantly higher because millions more watched the game in restaurants and at public viewing sites such as at the <a href="http://www.visitberlin.de/en/event/07-13-2014/public-screening-2014-fifa-world-cup-brazil">Berlin “fan mile”</a>. </p>
<p>The story these figures tell is that the national football team has provided a collective focus for German national pride in a way that few other events can. My own experience of the euphoria and celebrations in Berlin during the 2008 UEFA Euro competition – where Germany lost in the final to Spain – reinforced the feeling that the performances of the national team provide a sense of community for many people that rivals other sources of pride and belonging. In 2006, a better than expected third place for Germany and successful hosting of the competition produced widespread national pride and collective euphoria, as well as <a href="http://bit.ly/1zEtWn1">improved economic perceptions and expectations</a>. Similar but stronger effects are likely to follow the 2014 victory.</p>
<p>So, while research into emotion indicates that the positive collective emotions of World Cup success <a href="http://bit.ly/1mR5qtf">will fade in the next few days</a>, it is important not to underestimate the impact of the World Cup as an event that lives on in stories of Germany as a successful nation. These stories provide a source of resilience during bad times and a reminder of high standards as the German team plans to contest the 2016 UEFA Euro qualifiers and defend its title in Russia 2018. </p>
<p>Naturally, it is important, also for the German team and its supporters not to plan too far ahead and simply to enjoy the moment of their national success. The team’s homecoming celebrations are rightly being perceived as enjoying a moment of history by supporters and bystanders who have been caught up in the month long <a href="http://bit.ly/1sYyccB">carnival of emotion</a>.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/29239/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Gavin Brent Sullivan does not work for, consult to, own shares in or receive funding from any company or organisation that would benefit from this article, and has no relevant affiliations.</span></em></p>The German football team returned from its victorious World Cup campaign in Brazil to a rapturous welcome. Hundreds of thousands of Germans gathered in Berlin to celebrate the first World Cup win for a…Gavin Brent Sullivan, Reader in Identity and Resilience In Communities and Organisations, Coventry UniversityLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/291772014-07-15T05:29:50Z2014-07-15T05:29:50ZBRICS host sports events to boost prestige, just don’t call it ‘soft power’<p>As the BRICS Summit meets hot on the heels of the FIFA World Cup, also in Brazil, a remarkable trend is apparent. Most of the major global sports events such as the World Cup and the Olympic Games are taking place in the emerging powers of the 21st century. Russia, China and South Africa are all hosting the World Cups or Olympics along with Brazil in recent years. This phenomenon reflects a trend to adopt global sports events as a diplomatic tool to enhance prestige and become more socially accepted in the established world order.</p>
<p>Although some have questioned the narrative about the BRICS, <a href="http://www.goldmansachs.com/our-thinking/archive/archive-pdfs/build-better-brics.pdf">Jim O’Neill’s grouping</a> together of theses countries back in 2001 (plus South Africa since 2010) remains central to the debate of emerging powers. Together the BRICS hold <a href="http://data.worldbank.org/indicator/SP.POP.TOTL">more than 40% of the world population</a> and a <a href="http://data.worldbank.org/indicator/NY.GDP.MKTP.CD">combined GDP of US$16 trillion</a>. </p>
<p>The BRICS are also more than a heterogeneous group of countries as they have organised formal summits since 2009; the 6th summit started on Monday. These meetings have already led to a political agreement to create a <a href="http://online.wsj.com/articles/brics-to-open-development-bank-by-2016-as-alternative-to-imf-1404888422">New Development Bank</a> with a potential capital base of US$100 billion. Yet rising in the ranks of world politics not only requires robust economic growth but also prestige and social acceptance.</p>
<h2>Brazil on the international stage</h2>
<p>Experts have referred to prestige and public image through hosting global sports events as soft power – the ability to influence, attract and persuade through for example cultural means of music, sports and film. It allows aspiring great powers, the argument goes, to show themselves as attractive actors in the international political arena. Therefore, hosting the World Cup and Olympic Games is seen as a strategy that rests on soft power. </p>
<p>The <a href="http://www.theguardian.com/football/2014/jun/08/brazils-politicians-banking-on-world-cup-victory-to-help-soothe-unrest">comments by former Brazilian President da Silva</a> in 2009 after hearing that Rio would stage the Olympics would support this claim. He said:</p>
<blockquote>
<p>Today is the day that Brazil gained its international citizenship … Brazil has left behind the level of second-class countries and entered the rank of the first-class countries.</p>
</blockquote>
<p>Similarly, current Brazilian President Dilma Rousseff <a href="http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2011/01/03/dilma-rousseff-inaugurati_1_n_803450.html">stated in her inaugural address</a> before congress in 2011 that the way forward for Brazil is not only in economic growth but also requires investment in Brazil’s cultural presence in the world.</p>
<h2>Soft power? Far from it</h2>
<p>Yet this perfunctorily plausible application of the notion of soft power onto global sports events doesn’t hold as the concept has been frequently misused, a concern also expressed by <a href="http://www.amazon.co.uk/Soft-Power-Means-Success-Politics/dp/1586483064/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1405354454&sr=8-1&keywords=joseph+nye+soft+power">Joseph S Nye</a>, who coined and developed the term, in his later work. </p>
<p>The argument that hosting global sports events is a manifestation of soft power is problematic. First, with “soft power” Joseph Nye conceptualised an understanding of power based on the case of the US in the late 20th century. There is no reason to presuppose it is applicable to the case of the BRICS in the 21st century. </p>
<p>Second, soft power is not “created” by investing billions in global sports events and expecting it to just develop as a product of that investment. The best explanation for this comes from David Shambaugh in his <a href="http://www.amazon.co.uk/China-Goes-Global-Partial-Power/dp/0199860149">recent book</a>, where he writes, “Soft power is not built this way. It is earned.” Soft power is not a tool that can be purchased in a World Politics Shop. It is not an investment where you pour money into a project to then expect the results to appear.</p>
<p>Third, Nye’s concept of soft power rests on dimensions not only of culture but also domestic political values and foreign policy. This dimension excludes Russia and China from meeting his standard, with authoritarian regimes at home and assertive foreign policies in eastern Ukraine and the South China Sea, respectively. In fact, governments can lavish soft by power by adopting unattractive domestic and foreign policies.</p>
<p>Finally, borrowing Nye’s description of soft power, the question to evaluate as to whether some of the BRICS have soft power is clear. Are other players in world politics persuaded to go along with the purposes of Brazil, Russia or China without any explicit threat or exchange taking place? The answer is no.</p>
<h2>Outsiders to the established order</h2>
<p>Russia and China today, like the other countries of the BRICS, are outsiders to the Western-dominated established social order and aspire to be socially accepted as prestigious great powers. In fact, mega-events in the BRICS today reflect a different trend – of outsider regimes that use global sports events as a diplomatic tool at a time when they aspire to be accepted in the world community. Hosting global sports events as diplomatic tools is certainly not soft power in the cases of Russia and China as it is inconsistent with the other main dimensions of soft power.</p>
<p>Germany and Japan perhaps best illustrated this when they were isolated from the world community in the 1930s and aimed to use global sports events as an international diplomatic tool to be included again. The bid by <a href="http://library.la84.org/OlympicInformationCenter/OlympicReview/1931/BODE18/BODE18h.pdf">Germany’s Weimar Republic in 1931</a> to host the Olympics in 1936 was a diplomatic tool to be accepted again in the social world order after the country was isolated with the onus for World War I. <a href="https://webspace.yale.edu/wwkelly/pubs-archive/WWK_2010_JJS_36-2.pdf">Tokyo’s successful campaign</a> in 1932 to host the Olympics (even though eventually cancelled) was a strategic effort following the <a href="https://history.state.gov/milestones/1921-1936/mukden-incident">Mukden Incident</a> that isolated Japan from international diplomacy. These regimes were outsiders to the established international system and used global sports events as a diplomatic tool to expand their power, enhance their prestige and promote their government abroad. </p>
<p>Today the BRICS are aspiring great powers at the start of the 21st century, and are outsiders to the established, Western dominated social order. The observation that they are hosting two thirds of all the World Cups and Olympic Games from 2008-2018 is not an example soft power, but rather a manifestation of the use of international diplomacy to enhance prestige. For this trend to be described as soft power, the other dimensions of attractive domestic political values and foreign politics would need to be fulfilled.</p>
<p>Hosting the Olympic Games or the World Cup will clearly not be sufficient to challenge the established social order and cannot be described as soft power, but it does enhance the public image of outsider countries that aspire to be accepted in the world community. It is therefore no coincidence that the day after the World Cup finals in Rio de Janeiro on Sunday, Brazil also play host to the 6th BRICS Summit. </p>
<p>They are expected to inaugurate the New Development Bank, which is touted as an alternative to the International Monetary Fund and the World Bank of the established international system. Billions of viewers from around the world tuned into the finals of the World Cup on Sunday, and from Monday through Wednesday the BRICS Summit tells us more about the great powers of the coming era. </p>
<p>The Olympics in China in 2008, the World Cup in Brazil today and the World Cup in Russia in 2018 thus represent more than just spectacular sporting events. They give a boost to the prestige of aspiring great powers of our age in a world order that is unfolding before our eyes. </p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/29177/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Michiel Foulon 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>As the BRICS Summit meets hot on the heels of the FIFA World Cup, also in Brazil, a remarkable trend is apparent. Most of the major global sports events such as the World Cup and the Olympic Games are…Michiel Foulon, Researcher in International Politics, University of WarwickLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/291002014-07-15T04:50:59Z2014-07-15T04:50:59ZFIFA is back to its core business – but Platini should replace Blatter<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/53823/original/nx7cgzst-1405383437.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">FIFA president Sepp Blatter (left), pictured with Russian president Vladimir Putin, was booed at the World Cup final because he continues to be the face of what is wrong with FIFA.</span> <span class="attribution"><span class="source">EPA/Alexey Nikolsky</span></span></figcaption></figure><p>Delays in <a href="http://www.washingtonpost.com/blogs/early-lead/wp/2014/06/02/sao-paulos-stadium-is-not-ready-at-all-for-the-world-cup/">stadium construction</a>. Poor <a href="http://www.bbc.com/news/world-latin-america-24292174">working conditions</a> for World Cup workers. Massive <a href="http://transparencyinsportblog.wordpress.com/2013/11/24/president-dilma-sends-in-the-army-to-stop-rio-budget-blowout/">budget blowouts</a>. Nationwide <a href="http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/worldnews/southamerica/brazil/10133731/Protests-continue-across-Brazil-as-police-fire-tear-gas-at-demonstrators.html">protests</a>. Ignoring the <a href="http://www.theguardian.com/world/2013/mar/22/brazilian-police-evict-indigenous-people">needs</a> of millions of struggling Brazilian families. All of these concerns disappeared from the public opinion pages with the start of the World Cup. </p>
<p>The football was exciting, the passion in the stadiums was electric, and the turn of events often unexpected and energising. A worthy German champion was crowned, a former powerhouse exposed (Spain) and several others impressed and thrilled.</p>
<p>The lesson we learn is that FIFA, world football’s governing body, is about the World Cup and not much more. If that was not clear before the start of the tournament in Brazil, then surely it is now. The World Cup is the biggest show on the planet. No other event captures the imagination and passion of a global audience more than the round-ball World Cup finals. </p>
<p>In sport, there is nothing more powerful to express a collective identity of nations than to be part of and perform well at the World Cup. No team or individual gold medal performance at the Olympics comes close to bringing communities together in the way that football games at the World Cup do. </p>
<p>However, neither FIFA president Sepp Blatter nor his executive committee quite understands that. If they did, they would have realised long ago that the biggest show on earth is to be awarded to those who can do justice to its impact and importance. </p>
<p>FIFA may have a role in advancing football in developing (football) nations, but this is largely the task of national federations and their clubs. If FIFA does nothing else other than to award the World Cup to a passionate, well-organised and capable host, it has fulfilled its duty as football’s custodian and promoter. The game itself will take care of the rest as evidenced during the past month. </p>
<p>Recently, the heads of the <a href="http://www.dutchnews.nl/news/archives/2014/06/dutch_fa_chairman_says_fifas_b.php">Royal Dutch Football Association</a> and the English <a href="http://www.independent.co.uk/sport/football/news-and-comment/fa-chairman-greg-dyke-tells-fifa-president-sepp-blatter-he-is-damaging-the-image-of-football-as-vicechairman-david-gill-calls-on-blatter-not-to-stand-for-reelection-9523709.html">Football Association</a> openly called for Blatter not to run for re-election. Royal Dutch Football Association chairman Michael van Praag said that FIFA was associated with bribery and corruption and that change was required. English FA chairman Greg Dyke was fuming about Blatter’s allegation that British media claims about bribery resulting in awarding Qatar the 2022 World Cup were “racist”.</p>
<p>If the <a href="http://www.iol.co.za/sport/world-cup/rousseff-blatter-jeered-at-wc-final-1.1719225">jeers</a> underwriting Blatter’s every appearance on the big screen during the final’s victory ceremony at the Maracana were any indication of the impact a successful World Cup has had on his popularity and credibility, then there is no hope for him. Given there was no reason to blame Blatter for <a href="http://www.pewglobal.org/2014/06/03/brazilian-discontent-ahead-of-world-cup/">Brazil’s woes</a>, Blatter was booed because he is the face of <a href="https://theconversation.com/qatar-saga-shows-why-fifa-should-return-football-to-the-fans-27549">what is wrong with FIFA</a>. </p>
<p>This is where a comparison with UEFA, European football’s governing body, is apt. Where FIFA is more about the power of the president and his cronies, UEFA is more about the <a href="http://www.theglobeandmail.com/report-on-business/international-business/world-cup-fiasco-fifa-gets-a-red-card/article19059690/?page=all">power of football</a> and its communities. Current UEFA president Michel Platini is a French football hero and former manager of France’s national team. </p>
<p>Platini is a man who knows football, breathes football and cares about the well-being of football. Among other reforms, this is evidenced by his leading role in the formulation of the <a href="http://www.theguardian.com/football/2014/apr/30/football-financial-fair-play-how-it-works">financial fair play rules</a> in European football. Platini is <a href="http://www.theguardian.com/football/2014/jun/12/michel-platini-fifa-sepp-blatter">favoured</a> behind the scenes to take over from Blatter as FIFA president, but is yet to announce his candidacy. </p>
<p>FIFA has awarded the World Cup in 2022 to Qatar, a one-city nation in the middle of the desert where there is no football culture or widespread passion in the community about football or hosting the event. UEFA, on the other hand, organised its European Championships in Belgium and the Netherlands in 2000, in Austria and Switzerland in 2008 and in Ukraine and Poland in 2012. </p>
<p>And in 2020, the European Championships will be truly handed to the people of Europe when it is <a href="http://www.bbc.com/sport/0/football/20631963">hosted</a> by 13 cities in 13 nations. </p>
<figure class="align-center ">
<img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/53829/original/5d2tv4y2-1405387483.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/53829/original/5d2tv4y2-1405387483.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=392&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/53829/original/5d2tv4y2-1405387483.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=392&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/53829/original/5d2tv4y2-1405387483.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=392&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/53829/original/5d2tv4y2-1405387483.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=492&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/53829/original/5d2tv4y2-1405387483.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=492&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/53829/original/5d2tv4y2-1405387483.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=492&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">Michel Platini (right) looms as a challenger to Sepp Blatter’s FIFA presidency.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">EPA/Markus Gilliar</span></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>Blatter had <a href="http://www.standard.co.uk/sport/football/mihir-bose-rumblings-at-fifa-mean-blatters-time-at-the-top-could-finally-be-over-9600287.html">hoped</a> that the “innovations” at the 2014 World Cup would change the public perception of FIFA, but the reality is that the changes to the game are too little too late. </p>
<p>Goal-line technology is long overdue. Similar technology has been used for years in tennis, for example. Foam to mark free kicks has been used in South America for a long time, and drinks breaks and passionate goal celebrations can hardly be called innovative. </p>
<p>It seems that, if nothing else, the Brazilian people’s passion for their team and the quality of football during the World Cup have further emphasised the importance of a football-driven FIFA executive. If there is even a hint that you are more in it for yourself than for the sake of the game, you do not belong on the FIFA executive. And Blatter, as the first among equals, should lead by example. </p>
<p>After 16 years as FIFA president, Blatter should retire. Let Platini take the helm to steer World Cup bidding and hosting back on course – with the people, for the people and for the good of the game. </p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/29100/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Hans Westerbeek 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>Delays in stadium construction. Poor working conditions for World Cup workers. Massive budget blowouts. Nationwide protests. Ignoring the needs of millions of struggling Brazilian families. All of these…Hans Westerbeek, Dean, College of Sport and Exercise Science and Institute of Sport, Exercise, Active Living, Victoria UniversityLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/277062014-07-15T03:47:56Z2014-07-15T03:47:56ZThe World Cup that was: a look back through social media<p>On Sunday, Germany held the World Cup aloft after scoring a goal in extra time. Somewhat surprisingly, the <a href="http://www.fifa.com/worldcup/videos/highlights/match=300186474/index.html">final</a> wasn’t the most tweeted event of the 2014 tournament: that title went to Germany’s <a href="https://theconversation.com/world-cup-humiliation-gives-brazil-a-chance-to-move-on-from-football-29004">demolition of Brazil</a> in its semi-final four days earlier, which ended up being the <a href="https://twitter.com/TwitterData/status/486708145775841281/photo/1">most tweeted sporting event</a> in history.</p>
<p>Let’s take a look back at some of the bigger stories of the World Cup from social media, as well as the prominence of the event in Europe.</p>
<p>One widely reported research result from the knockout stages of the World Cup was how Twitter users reacted to the penalty shootouts. Twitter’s own research department put out a graph of the Greece v Costa Rica match, which was widely picked up <a href="http://www.brisbanetimes.com.au/fifa-world-cup-2014/world-cup-news-2014/the-silence-of-twitter-during-a-penalty-shootout-20140704-zsvro.html">in the press</a>. </p>
<p>In particular, Twitter <a href="https://blog.twitter.com/2014/penalty-kicks-as-seen-through-twitter-data">noted</a> that sometimes “silence tells the story”:</p>
<figure class="align-center zoomable">
<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/53709/original/cw8dt5q6-1405306715.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/53709/original/cw8dt5q6-1405306715.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/53709/original/cw8dt5q6-1405306715.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=352&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/53709/original/cw8dt5q6-1405306715.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=352&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/53709/original/cw8dt5q6-1405306715.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=352&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/53709/original/cw8dt5q6-1405306715.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=443&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/53709/original/cw8dt5q6-1405306715.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=443&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/53709/original/cw8dt5q6-1405306715.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=443&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 penalty shootout seen through Twitter activity.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">Twitter</span></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>Parallels can be drawn here to other events. Particularly, we looked in the past at how different forms of television spark Twitter conversation, with reality television frequently seeing peaks in discussion <a href="http://www.tvmetrics.net/cbs-bb15-broadcasts-from-14-18-august-australian-reality-tv-update/">during the show</a>. </p>
<p>This contrasts with dramas such as Sherlock, which often see their <a href="http://www.radiotimes.com/news/2014-01-13/moriartys-return-and-sherlocks-girlfriend-help-his-last-vow-break-twitter-record">peaks at the end</a>, with a similar “anticipation” window during the show itself.</p>
<h2>The US (and Australia) loves football</h2>
<p>As we <a href="https://theconversation.com/bigger-than-the-superbowl-the-world-cup-breaks-viewing-records-27709">discussed previously</a>, the World Cup has set viewing and streaming records in the United States. </p>
<p>It seems the presence of Americans in the Twitter conversation hasn’t been significantly hit by their team’s elimination. Germany v Brazil had the <a href="http://www.deadline.com/2014/07/world-cup-ratings-brazil-germany-semi-final-records/">highest viewing figures</a> of any World Cup semi-final in American television history, and was the highest ranked non-US game ever on ESPN/ESPN2.</p>
<p>A look at tweets on generic World Cup hashtags from July 10-14 show the US led the way in number of tweets. Brazil ranked second, with locals still interested through their team’s third-place playoff (and, of course, any tourists who had changed their timezone). London ranked third with finalists Argentina in fourth place:</p>
<figure class="align-center zoomable">
<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/53711/original/w5wn47x3-1405306977.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/53711/original/w5wn47x3-1405306977.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/53711/original/w5wn47x3-1405306977.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=251&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/53711/original/w5wn47x3-1405306977.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=251&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/53711/original/w5wn47x3-1405306977.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=251&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/53711/original/w5wn47x3-1405306977.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=316&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/53711/original/w5wn47x3-1405306977.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=316&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/53711/original/w5wn47x3-1405306977.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=316&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px"></a>
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">Top timezones: tweets from July 10-14.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">QUT Social Media Research Group</span></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>In Australia, SBS also reported <a href="http://www.itnews.com.au/Info/NotFound.aspx?aspxerrorpath=/News/389514,sbs-celebrates-world-cup-streaming-success.aspx">new streaming records</a> for its World Cup coverage across mobile and online, with users showing a large preference for “live” coverage versus on-demand. SBS’ World Cup multi-stream service (below) won many plaudits, with the only negative being that sound issues persisted throughout the final.</p>
<figure class="align-center zoomable">
<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/53712/original/2cw23r87-1405307123.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/53712/original/2cw23r87-1405307123.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/53712/original/2cw23r87-1405307123.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=436&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/53712/original/2cw23r87-1405307123.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=436&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/53712/original/2cw23r87-1405307123.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=436&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/53712/original/2cw23r87-1405307123.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=548&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/53712/original/2cw23r87-1405307123.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=548&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/53712/original/2cw23r87-1405307123.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=548&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px"></a>
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">Screenshot: SBS multi-streaming.</span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<h2>Comic relief</h2>
<p>As ever, beyond the discussion of the matches themselves, social media remains a hotbed for sarcasm and humour. FIFA president Sepp Blatter was a source of controversy throughout the tournament, and – sitting next to Vladamir Putin – remained a source of amusement (and marketing) in the final, as shown in this tweet by Betfair Australia:</p>
<p><div data-react-class="Tweet" data-react-props="{"tweetId":"488412127074336769"}"></div></p>
<p>Also prominent during the penalty shootout that decided the Netherlands v Argentina semi-final was a mistake from British commentator Peter Drury, who was featured on the television feed that went to range of countries including Australia.</p>
<p>Drury has never been one of the most popular commentators, and his mistake – being ready to proclaim the Netherlands victors in the semi-final – quickly <a href="http://www.huffingtonpost.co.uk/2014/07/11/holland-argentina-peter-drury-commentary_n_5577418.html">spread</a> around the <a href="http://www.whoateallthepies.tv/fail/194854/world-cup-vine-penalty-shootout-gaffe-sees-commentator-peter-drury-blow-his-beans-far-too-early.html">internet</a>. See the Drury penalty call below: </p>
<iframe class="vine-embed" src="https://vine.co/v/MP3BX2zpWJq/embed/simple" width="100%" height="480" frameborder="0"></iframe>
<h2>The view from Europe</h2>
<p>We started this series of articles discussing the <a href="https://theconversation.com/brands-are-big-winners-in-the-first-social-media-world-cup-27707">role of brands</a> during the World Cup, and that was one of the themes in Europe as well. In many cities you were unable to move without noticing some form of localised World Cup branding, including the following example from Cyprus (which did not qualify).</p>
<figure class="align-center zoomable">
<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/53713/original/nkz4n5yf-1405307253.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/53713/original/nkz4n5yf-1405307253.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/53713/original/nkz4n5yf-1405307253.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=450&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/53713/original/nkz4n5yf-1405307253.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=450&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/53713/original/nkz4n5yf-1405307253.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=450&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/53713/original/nkz4n5yf-1405307253.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=566&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/53713/original/nkz4n5yf-1405307253.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=566&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/53713/original/nkz4n5yf-1405307253.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=566&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px"></a>
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">World Cup promotions in Cyprus.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">Darryl Woodford </span></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>Noticeable across Europe, though, were extensive World Cup decorations: from bars in basically every city, through to the large screens that inundated public squares, and – in the case of Amsterdam – a sea of orange which descended upon the city and sat above nearly every pathway in the <a href="http://www.centrum.amsterdam.nl/">Centrum</a>.</p>
<figure class="align-center zoomable">
<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/53715/original/rj55y8gp-1405307472.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/53715/original/rj55y8gp-1405307472.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/53715/original/rj55y8gp-1405307472.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=450&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/53715/original/rj55y8gp-1405307472.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=450&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/53715/original/rj55y8gp-1405307472.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=450&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/53715/original/rj55y8gp-1405307472.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=566&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/53715/original/rj55y8gp-1405307472.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=566&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/53715/original/rj55y8gp-1405307472.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=566&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px"></a>
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">Street decorations in Amsterdam.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">Darryl Woodford</span></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>And that’s the World Cup.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/27706/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 organisation that would benefit from this article, and have disclosed no relevant affiliations beyond their academic appointment.</span></em></p>On Sunday, Germany held the World Cup aloft after scoring a goal in extra time. Somewhat surprisingly, the final wasn’t the most tweeted event of the 2014 tournament: that title went to Germany’s demolition…Darryl Woodford, Postdoctoral Research Fellow, Queensland University of TechnologyKatie Prowd, Research Assistant, Queensland University of TechnologyLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/289392014-07-14T10:54:07Z2014-07-14T10:54:07ZThe World Cup – an exercise in soft power that did not go to plan for Brazil<p>The World Cup has come to an end and what a mixed bag it was for Brazil. Central to Brazil’s desire to host the World Cup was the opportunity to showcase their economic achievements to the world and enhance the country’s prestige and visibility. </p>
<p>They certainly succeeded in drawing the world’s attention to them, but not always for good reason. From <a href="https://theconversation.com/topics/brazil-protests">protests</a> at the start to <a href="https://theconversation.com/the-psychology-behind-brazils-semi-final-downward-spiral-29003">humiliating defeats</a> at the finish, the spotlight has not always been positive. But the tournament has also been celebrated as <a href="http://www.telegraph.co.uk/sport/football/world-cup/10963666/World-Cup-2014-Was-this-the-greatest-tournament-of-all-Yes.html">one of the best ever</a> for the great games and this reflects well on the hosts.</p>
<p>Clearly the idea that mega sporting events can be used as catalysts for social development and to pursue specific foreign policy objectives has taken hold. A slew of recent major tournaments have been held by the leading emergent countries known as the BRICS (Brazil, Russia, India, China and South Africa). There was the 2008 Olympics in Beijing, the 2010 World Cup in South Africa, the 2010 Commonwealth Games in Delhi and the 2014 Winter Olympics in Sochi. Putting on the World Cup and the forthcoming 2016 Olympic and Paralympic Games in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil joins Mexico, Germany and the US in a select group of countries that have held these two mega-events within a two-year period.</p>
<p>Considering these events were previously the preserve of developed countries, their staging in the BRICS economies is significant and arguably a marker of the emerging world order.</p>
<p>Underlying this analysis is the concept of <a href="http://books.google.co.uk/books?hl=en&lr=&id=sFNfYvNtw5AC&oi=fnd&pg=PR9&dq=joseph+nye+soft+power&ots=7rRYj76aQp&sig=V-nIg9KKSQBJGjJcxJT3-z9bEHc#v=onepage&q=joseph%20nye%20soft%20power&f=false">soft power</a>, a term coined by Joseph S Nye to describe a nation’s ability to attract and persuade without force or coercion. Sports diplomacy is where sport provides an informal platform for dialogue and building trust between nations. </p>
<p>The sports arena can also be used to highlight a country’s increased economic growth, and to enhance Brazil’s image as an emerging power with relative diplomatic importance that is able to challenge the established world order. Hosting the World Cup, as an opportunity to display its strength on and off the pitch, was therefore part of Brazil’s ambition to be accepted as an active participant on the global stage.</p>
<h2>Overturning stereotypes</h2>
<p>The Brazilian stereotype is one of carnival, samba, and passion. The country is synonymous with the “beautiful game”, conjuring up images of the famous yellow and green shirts, and an aesthetically pleasing brand of football that has contributed to five World Cup successes. In many ways these stereotypes were <a href="https://theconversation.com/world-cup-humiliation-gives-brazil-a-chance-to-move-on-from-football-29004">overturned for the better</a>. But memories of the home nation’s final performances – embarrassing defeats at the hands of Germany and the Netherlands – will arguably tarnish its rich football history. </p>
<p>Hosting the 2014 World Cup catapulted the country into the global spotlight, providing a unique opportunity to showcase Brazil as an emerging economic power, as well as projecting desired images and messages to the rest of the world. The month long spectacle of the World Cup however needs to be viewed alongside an alternative storyline, one of social injustice, corruption, missed deadlines and frenetic last-minute preparations. </p>
<h2>Accompanying risks</h2>
<p>There are no guarantees of a favourable return on the binge of public infrastructure spending, nor should staging the FIFA World Cup and the Olympics in 2016 be perceived as a shortcut to enhancing a country’s reputation. The stark reality to the tournament’s build-up was marred by discontent, opposition and civil unrest. </p>
<p>Widespread demonstrations highlighted a range of problems in Brazil, including issues of governance and inefficiency, displacement, socioeconomic inequality and unnecessary public spending (this is the <a href="http://www.cnbc.com/id/101750395">most expensive World Cup</a> in the history of the tournament). Question marks also remain over Brazil’s relaxed attitude to planning, intensified by reports at the start of the tournament questioning the preparedness of stadiums and Rio’s preparations being <a href="http://www.theguardian.com/sport/2014/apr/29/rio-2016-olympic-preparations-worst-ever-ioc">damned by the IOC as the “worst ever”</a>. </p>
<p>Given the extent to which soft power has dominated the rhetoric of emerging states’ attempts to host international sports mega-events, the spotlight on Brazil is likely to remain for some time. The historic 7-1 collapse of Luiz Felipe Scolari’s side against the new football royalty, Germany, will not be quickly forgotten. Plus, the level of domestic discord regarding the priority placed on the tournament in spite of so many other pressing concerns, is unlikely to be diluted in the long-term, especially as preparations for Rio 2016 continue.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/28939/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>David Hindley 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 World Cup has come to an end and what a mixed bag it was for Brazil. Central to Brazil’s desire to host the World Cup was the opportunity to showcase their economic achievements to the world and enhance…David Hindley, Senior Lecturer in Sports Education, Nottingham Trent UniversityLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/291382014-07-14T05:06:09Z2014-07-14T05:06:09ZGermany triumphs in a World Cup of many winners and losers<p>No one can say the Germans did not deserve to win the 2014 World Cup: they remained unbeaten throughout, destroyed the hosts along the way, and then saw off those other historic guardians of South American football, Argentina, in an engaging final strewn with missed chances. They also spared us penalty kicks en route to becoming the first Europeans to triumph in South America. The best team won in a hyped tournament in which none was outstanding.</p>
<p>Let’s not forget the all-important third place play-off. While Louis van Gaal <a href="http://www.firstpost.com/sports/van-gaal-calls-third-place-playoff-meaningless-robben-says-brazil-can-1613629.html">griped that it was a “meaningless” match</a> that shouldn’t be played, just a little research would have told poor Louis that the joyous Turks (in 2002) and the proud Croatians (in 1998) took a radically different view. Because actually, achieving third place in the world is no mean feat, even for these haughty Dutch losers. And you’d imagine that Brazil had nothing at all to play for, what with its global <a href="http://mashable.com/2014/07/12/brazils-world-cup-consolation-loss-reopens-wounds-just-beginning-to-heal/">football reputation so suddenly in tatters</a>. By recent results, losing 3-0 to the Dutch was no mean effort by the hosts.</p>
<p>So, who were the other winners and losers at the 2014 World Cup finals? (We can largely leave England aside here, perennial failures: no change there). The <a href="https://theconversation.com/spain-goes-out-but-the-stats-suggest-its-not-game-over-yet-for-tiki-taka-football-28166">Spaniards</a> and <a href="https://theconversation.com/balotelli-is-the-scapegoat-but-italy-faces-a-much-deeper-crisis-28467">Italians suffered surprisingly badly</a> and left early and embarrassed. Did they turn up at all? And I guess all of us are losers, ultimately, because of the diminished and disgraced Brazil, wrapped for solace this week in those once saintly and all-conquering golden shirts. To the delight of some, the hosts have been shown to have footballing feet of clay. In fact, to be just like the rest of us. </p>
<p>The roots of this slump is, of course, the relentless drip, drip draining Europeanisation of the major South American football powers, a process defined by the way dead-hand coaching and systems increasingly trumps talent. Teenage Brazilian starlets are now hoovered up – and often spat out – by Europe’s elite clubs. The world game looks and feels increasingly homogenised, and is often replica dull as a result. Brazil tried to play like they imagined South Americans should, but seemed instead like hollowed-out pretenders as they were pounded by the Germans.</p>
<p>Other World Cup losers have arguably been us, the “ordinary” fans. At home we have endured weeks of <a href="https://theconversation.com/a-dreary-night-for-england-and-the-itv-commentary-team-28246">pundit babble</a> and TV stadium shots of mass fancy dress, ubiquitous Mexican waves, beautifully coiffured and toothsome young women, and manicured, often tearful, children. Belgium fan Axelle Despiegelaere even <a href="http://www.independent.co.uk/life-style/fashion/loreal-cuts-ties-with-belgium-supporter-axelle-despiegelaere-after-hunting-trip-photographs-9599738.html">briefly landed a L'Oreal campaign job</a> after her Brazil photo-op went viral. For these part-timers with so many air-miles to cover, seeing oneself flicker on the magic stadium screen apparently cures all football ills. </p>
<p>All this, and the sight of the largely black Ecuador team watched by groups of exclusively white, well-healed fellow nationals – there were plenty of other examples in Brazil – are eloquent statements enough of current trends. We all know that an essential disconnection now exists between the global festival that is the FIFA World Cup finals and a sport we used to call, apparently without irony, “the people’s game”. </p>
<p>Undaunted by these contradictions, this weekend tens of thousands of Argentinians hiked, ticketless, to Rio for Sunday’s final. They wanted simply to breathe the air of their national heroes and to be present in Brazil just in case the best of all things happened – a world title won on humiliated enemy soil. Their tears had some value even if they were locked outside by the legions of the unattached, the corporates and the global sports tourists of the Maracana who no doubt enjoyed Sunday’s spectacle as it unfolded. Praise where praise is due: some of these hangers-on even managed to get back into their seats on time for the start of the second half.</p>
<p>But not all is so gloomy. Elsewhere, there have been welcome signs of new football life in these past few weeks: the other World Cup winners of 2014. The Mexicans, Colombians and even the Australians delighted; the Ghanaians and the Algerians frightened the life out of the ultimately victorious Germans; and even the ruined Greeks surprised. And what about that gallant US side, showing loads of spirit and buckets of skill. </p>
<p>In fact, the USA may well be the ultimate winners of 2014. The thriving US game may yet be needed to bail FIFA out of its <a href="https://theconversation.com/qatar-saga-shows-why-fifa-should-return-football-to-the-fans-27549">Qatar 2022 nightmare</a>. The Yanks as hosts and potential world soccer challengers in eight years’ time? What, with all those willing sponsors, new markets and TV money? You really think so? Remember, you (almost) heard it here first.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/29138/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>No one can say the Germans did not deserve to win the 2014 World Cup: they remained unbeaten throughout, destroyed the hosts along the way, and then saw off those other historic guardians of South American…John Williams, Senior Lecturer in Sociology, University of LeicesterLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/290112014-07-14T05:05:56Z2014-07-14T05:05:56ZThe challenges ahead for Brazil now the World Cup is over<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/53553/original/nzksskpx-1405005646.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&rect=5%2C1%2C1222%2C701&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">Time to look forward.</span> <span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:Christ_on_Corcovado_mountain.JPG">Artyom Sharbatyan</a>, <a class="license" href="http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/">CC BY-SA</a></span></figcaption></figure><p>The 2014 World Cup in Brazil is over. It brought much joy, and huge disappointment for the hosts – perhaps even worse than the Maracanazo in 1950. Now attention in Brazil will turn to hosting the next great inter-cultural event, the 2016 Rio Olympics. And the football world will plan for the next World Cup in another BRIC country, Russia in 2018. </p>
<p>But the global challenges faced by us all cannot just be addressed in four-year planning rounds. Climate change, biodiversity loss, deforestation and growing social and economic inequalities: these are all facing tipping points over the next 50 to 60 years, requiring some long-term thinking by governments and policymakers in both the fast-growing and already affluent countries of the world. </p>
<h2>Social and economic inequalities</h2>
<p><a href="http://piketty.pse.ens.fr/en/">Thomas Piketty</a> has shown in his hugely influential book, <a href="http://www.hup.harvard.edu/catalog.php?isbn=9780674430006">Capital in the 21st Century</a>, that income in most countries is now distributed more unequally than in the 1970s, and the <a href="http://www.oecd-ilibrary.org/economics/policy-challenges-for-the-next-50-years_5jz18gs5fckf-en">projections</a> into the future are for this to worsen. The rich are getting relatively richer, the poor are getting relatively poorer, and the middle is becoming increasingly squeezed. There is evidence that <a href="https://theconversation.com/riches-wont-make-you-happy-but-a-greener-economy-might-26075">unequal countries are unhappier</a>. </p>
<p>The income Gini coefficient for Brazil is high, which means that relatively few people are reaping the rewards of Brazil’s economic successes of recent times. The same is true for <a href="http://www.oxfam.org/sites/www.oxfam.org/files/brics-inequality-fact-sheet-oxfam-03-14-2013_0.pdf">all other BRIC countries</a>, but many affluent nations too. Even in Germany and other northern European countries, which have traditionally been more equal, the <a href="http://www.oecd.org/els/soc/49499779.pdf">Gini coefficient has been rising</a> over the past two decades. If this trend continues, the world will increasingly become like the unequal parts of Brazil, not the other way around. </p>
<p>But citizens will not accept rising levels of inequality for long. The recent <a href="https://theconversation.com/topics/brazil-protests">World Cup-related protests</a> in Brazil show that people are discontent with poor public services and diverted public expenditure on infrastructure, like football and athletic stadiums, that appear to enrich those parts of the economy that are already wealthy. This might be a sign of things to come. </p>
<p>Brazilians are demanding better education and transport, as well as a clampdown on widespread corruption. Now that the World Cup is over, it is these issues that will keep Brazilian policymakers awake at night, <a href="https://theconversation.com/world-cup-humiliation-gives-brazil-a-chance-to-move-on-from-football-29004">not the host’s dismal performance</a> in the semi-finals. </p>
<h2>The all-important Amazon</h2>
<p>Another tipping point in the making is in the Amazon, the world’s largest rainforest. It is hugely important as one of the world’s most biodiverse places and a “<a href="http://www.fern.org/campaign/carbon-trading/what-are-carbon-sinks">carbon sink</a>” of planetary importance. It is also crucial for <a href="http://rainforests.mongabay.com/0906.htm">regulating the weather</a> for large parts of the North Atlantic area.</p>
<figure class="align-right zoomable">
<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/53628/original/dqzdj7k9-1405078265.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/53628/original/dqzdj7k9-1405078265.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=237&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/53628/original/dqzdj7k9-1405078265.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=904&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/53628/original/dqzdj7k9-1405078265.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=904&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/53628/original/dqzdj7k9-1405078265.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=904&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/53628/original/dqzdj7k9-1405078265.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=1135&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/53628/original/dqzdj7k9-1405078265.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=1135&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/53628/original/dqzdj7k9-1405078265.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=1135&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px"></a>
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">The Amazon rainforest near Manaus.</span>
<span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://www.flickr.com/photos/cifor/5660175371/in/photostream/">CIFOR</a>, <a class="license" href="http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/4.0/">CC BY-NC-ND</a></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>There is evidence that the Amazon’s dry season is <a href="http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2013/10/22/amazon-rain-forest-drying-out_n_4142882.html">becoming longer</a>, due to climate change and decades of deforestation. Less rainfall, more forest fires and continuing deforestation – these factors are already reinforcing one another, risking a dangerous tipping point for the entire rainforest. By the middle of this century large parts of the Brazilian Amazon could have become dry savannah with immense implications for the <a href="http://rainforests.mongabay.com/0906.htm">world’s carbon cycle and weather patterns</a>, not to mention the planet’s gene pool.</p>
<p>Although <a href="https://theconversation.com/greener-wealthier-happier-how-brazil-has-changed-since-1950-28794">Brazil’s economy is greener</a> than most of its peers, with less-than-average carbon emissions per capita, its hydropower and biofuel revolution have been contributing to deforestation. <a href="http://www.greenpeace.org.uk/blog/forests/in-the-name-of-progress">Large scale soy and maize plantations</a> – largely for export to China – are also to blame. While the Brazilian government is <a href="http://www.theecologist.org/News/news_round_up/2263070/brazil_extends_amazon_protection_from_soy_farms.html">trying to protect the Amazon</a> from unregulated agricultural expansion, some agri-businesses have been lobbying hard for less stringent protection of the Amazon. </p>
<p>Brazil’s commodities-based export economy is not sustainable in the long-run. If Brazil’s wealth continues to be dependent on extractive models, which do not account for all of their, what economists call, <a href="http://stats.oecd.org/glossary/detail.asp?ID=3215">externalities</a>, then the Amazon will not survive, and we will breach more <a href="http://www.stockholmresilience.org/21/research/research-programmes/planetary-boundaries/planetary-boundaries/about-the-research/the-nine-planetary-boundaries.html">planetary boundaries</a>. </p>
<h2>Blueprints for a greener future</h2>
<p>There are alternative models of development that promise more equitable and sustainable futures. We demonstrate how communities in both affluent and developing countries are already taking action to build resilient and sustainable lifestyles in our forthcoming book, <a href="http://www.routledge.com/books/details/9780415812856/">Ecocultures: Blueprints for Sustainable Communities</a>. Ecocultures are exemplars in the art and science of sustainable living.</p>
<p>For us, <a href="http://www.ecocultures.org/">ecocultures</a> are communities with high <a href="http://ecojustice.net/2003-ENVRE120/PDF/20031212-Science-Social-Capital-1912.pdf">social capital</a>, showing strong internal coherence and equity, as well as with close connections to nature. <a href="http://www.ecocultures.org/2012/01/social-ecological-resilience-at-ceu-do-patriarca-ecovillage-brazil/">One of our case studies</a> is from the south of Brazil. The Céu do Patriarca ecovillage is a self-organised, ecologically-driven community in the state of Santa Catarina. Established 25 years ago, <a href="http://www.ecocultures.org/wp-content/uploads/2012/05/Gerhardinger-et-al-2012-42.pdf">the community has become a model</a> for increased social, ecological and personal well-being and resilience.</p>
<figure class="align-right zoomable">
<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/53629/original/qjmr6rh2-1405078803.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/53629/original/qjmr6rh2-1405078803.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=237&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/53629/original/qjmr6rh2-1405078803.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=450&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/53629/original/qjmr6rh2-1405078803.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=450&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/53629/original/qjmr6rh2-1405078803.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=450&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/53629/original/qjmr6rh2-1405078803.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=566&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/53629/original/qjmr6rh2-1405078803.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=566&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/53629/original/qjmr6rh2-1405078803.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=566&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px"></a>
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">Barigui Park in Curitiba.</span>
<span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://www.flickr.com/photos/whltravel/4369764805/">WHL Travel</a>, <a class="license" href="http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-sa/4.0/">CC BY-NC-SA</a></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>Our argument is not that we all have to move to <a href="http://gen.ecovillage.org/">ecovillages</a> in the middle of the rainforest. But policymakers can learn from the design principles of these ecocultures, exploring opportunities for scaling them up to city, regional or even national levels. </p>
<p>This scaling-up has already begun. There are excellent examples of <a href="http://books.google.co.uk/books?id=4chbAAAAQBAJ">sustainable practices in Brazilian cities</a>, such as <a href="https://www.academia.edu/2982197/A_Case_Study_of_Sustainable_Urban_Planning_Principles_in_Curitiba_Brazil_and_Their_Applicability_in_Shiraz_Iran_">Curitiba</a>. <a href="http://positivenews.org.uk/2012/environment/agriculture/6192/urban-agriculture-brazils-favelas/">Urban agriculture</a>, for example, can reconnect people to nature, as well as provide local food to urban, and particularly disadvantaged, communities.</p>
<p>In many ways the world is condemned to radically change its ways of life to face the challenges ahead. Ecocultures could provide policymakers in Brazil, and in other countries, with important lessons on how to transition to a more sustainable and equitable future. This might just save the planet. Brazil, though, might not want a World Cup for at least another 64 years.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/29011/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Steffen Böhm has received funding from the ESRC, British Academy, the East of England Cooperative Society and the Green Light Trust.</span></em></p><p class="fine-print"><em><span>Jules Pretty 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 2014 World Cup in Brazil is over. It brought much joy, and huge disappointment for the hosts – perhaps even worse than the Maracanazo in 1950. Now attention in Brazil will turn to hosting the next…Steffen Böhm, Professor in Management and Sustainability, and Director, Essex Sustainability Institute, University of EssexJules Pretty, Deputy Vice-Chancellor, Professor of Environment and Society, University of EssexLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/289652014-07-14T02:03:53Z2014-07-14T02:03:53ZCultural and political legacies of the World Cup: where to now?<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/53685/original/bhp64c82-1405298846.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">The World Cup may be safe in German hands, but the legacy the tournament will leave in Brazil might be contested for some time.</span> <span class="attribution"><span class="source">EPA/Srdjan Suki</span></span></figcaption></figure><p>The losing World Cup teams and fans are licking their wounds, while newly crowned world champions Germany will celebrate for at least the next four years. However, the world has already started to ask whether the tournament’s so-called “legacies” were positive and will endure in Brazil.</p>
<p>As we pointed out in our pre-World Cup <a href="https://theconversation.com/will-the-world-cup-leave-a-positive-legacy-in-brazil-27397">article</a> about the tournament’s potential legacies, there is much more to be analysed than the immediate economic impact of the event. The intangible legacies, such as its cultural and political effects, must take centre stage in our judgement of the tournament.</p>
<h2>Changing public opinion</h2>
<p>In the months before the World Cup, there was a prevailing impression – ignited by the Brazilian mainstream media and diffused globally by their international counterparts – that the tournament’s organisation would be an utter failure. Stadiums would <a href="http://www.washingtonpost.com/blogs/early-lead/wp/2014/06/02/sao-paulos-stadium-is-not-ready-at-all-for-the-world-cup/">not be ready</a>; public transport systems would <a href="http://uk.reuters.com/article/2013/03/05/soccer-world-brazil-idUKL1N0BW1DL20130305">not be able to cope</a>. As the World Cup approached, fears of a major international embarrassment spread across Brazil.</p>
<p>But the feared embarrassment never materialised. It was not a perfect tournament, and there were plenty of issues, from <a href="http://sports.yahoo.com/news/chilean-world-cup-fans-break-182746112--sow.html">break-ins inside stadiums</a> to claims of <a href="http://www.mirror.co.uk/sport/football/world-cup-2014/world-cup-violence-erupts-brazil-3737903">violence</a> and security problems around venues and in other gathering spots. </p>
<p>Overall, however, the World Cup’s organisation was successful by any measure. Some European commentators and academics have even said that the event was <a href="http://www.free-project.eu/Blog/post/the-world-cup-2014-in-brazil-better-organised-than-the-olympics-in-london-2012-1928.htm">better organised</a> than the 2012 London Olympics. </p>
<p>The epithet “the best World Cup ever” has certainly been more than mere hollow rhetoric. The great party atmosphere, the <a href="http://www.telegraph.co.uk/sport/football/world-cup/10942308/World-Cup-2014-Fifa-study-explains-why-this-is-officially-one-of-the-greatest-tournaments-of-all.html">high quality</a> of football, the astonishing <a href="http://www.newrepublic.com/article/118622/world-cup-2014-could-break-record-most-goals-scored">number of goals</a> and the massive and convivial presence of supporters from all around the world all contributed to the rapid turnaround in public opinion.</p>
<figure class="align-center ">
<img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/53681/original/h9jq6pf4-1405297768.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/53681/original/h9jq6pf4-1405297768.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=353&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/53681/original/h9jq6pf4-1405297768.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=353&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/53681/original/h9jq6pf4-1405297768.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=353&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/53681/original/h9jq6pf4-1405297768.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=444&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/53681/original/h9jq6pf4-1405297768.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=444&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/53681/original/h9jq6pf4-1405297768.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=444&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">Despite early fears to the contrary, the World Cup’s organisation was a success.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">EPA/Tolga Bozoglu</span></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<h2>Political ramifications</h2>
<p>This success is not only a blessing for Brazilians’ self-esteem, but also a clear asset for Brazil’s government. The <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Brazilian_general_election,_2014">elections</a> in October will fast replace the World Cup in media headlines and conversations across the country. </p>
<p>The World Cup constructions – airports, stadiums, urban mobility infrastructure – were not just a federal responsibility: municipalities and states were primarily accountable. But given the federal government took the blame for deficiencies in World Cup preparations, it also has been credited for the tournament’s apparent success.</p>
<p>International media outlets have already begun to <a href="http://www.ibtimes.com/football-politics-brazils-humiliation-world-cup-casts-doubts-rousseffs-political-future-1622862">speculate</a> that Brazil’s crushing <a href="https://theconversation.com/off-the-scale-28992">semi-final defeat</a> to eventual champion Germany will hurt president Dilma Rousseff in her pursuit of re-election. With no evidence to support their arguments, these commentators seem to base their opinions on the view that Brazilians are passionate and irrational football lovers who are not able to differentiate between their beloved Seleção and the destiny of their country. </p>
<p>As Brazil did not win the tournament, Rousseff’s electoral defeat is inevitable, their argument goes. However, the recent history of Brazil’s presidential elections suggests otherwise.</p>
<p>Since the re-democratisation of the country (in 1985 or 1989, a contested date), five of the six direct elections for the presidency have taken place in the same year as a World Cup. Elections in Brazil usually take place in October or November, so just months after the tournament ends.</p>
<p>In 1994, Brazil <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/1994_FIFA_World_Cup">won</a> the World Cup, and Fernando Henrique Cardoso was <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Brazilian_general_election,_1994">elected president</a>. A few months before the election as the then-finance minister, Cardoso had launched the <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Plano_Real">“Plano Real”</a>, an economic scheme that finally gave monetary stability to a country devastated by years of hyperinflation. Anyone would have been elected as the government’s candidate that year.</p>
<p>In 1998, Brazil <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/1998_FIFA_World_Cup">lost</a> the World Cup final against host country France. Cardoso was <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Brazilian_general_election,_1998">re-elected</a>, and there was no direct relation between football and the election outcome. Four years later, Brazil <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/2002_FIFA_World_Cup">won</a> the World Cup. Lula, the opposition candidate, <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Brazilian_general_election,_2002">won the presidency</a>. Once again, there was no direct connection between the Seleção’s performance and Lula’s electoral victory.</p>
<p>Brazil made early exits from the <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/2006_FIFA_World_Cup">2006</a> and <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/2010_FIFA_World_Cup">2010</a> World Cups. In 2006, Lula was <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Brazilian_general_election,_2006">re-elected</a>, and again no link between the defeat and potential government failure can be found. In 2010, Dilma Rousseff, the government’s candidate, was <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Brazilian_presidential_election,_2010">elected</a>, becoming the first female Brazilian president. People voted for her despite the Seleção’s defeat.</p>
<figure class="align-center ">
<img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/53679/original/wqqrnfcm-1405296772.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/53679/original/wqqrnfcm-1405296772.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/53679/original/wqqrnfcm-1405296772.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/53679/original/wqqrnfcm-1405296772.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/53679/original/wqqrnfcm-1405296772.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/53679/original/wqqrnfcm-1405296772.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/53679/original/wqqrnfcm-1405296772.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">Could the Seleção’s failure to win the World Cup on home soil damage Brazilian president Dilma Rousseff politically?</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">EPA/Wenderson Araujo</span></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>Brazil’s failure to win the 2014 World Cup on home soil has additional importance for the forthcoming elections. Rousseff’s opposition has already begun to use the Seleção’s semi-final drubbing as political leverage. The major opposition party, the Brazilian Social Democracy Party, <a href="http://www.psdb.org.br/derrota-jeitinho-analise-itv/">claimed</a> that the lack of planning that could be seen in the Brazilian team mirrors the way Brazil is being governed. Brazil, as well as the Seleção, would perform much better through systematic method and detailed preparation, the opposition argues.</p>
<p>In the same vein, the opposition believes that the World Cup would have been far more successful had it been planned more carefully.</p>
<p>This is a very risky political strategy. Brazilians are hurt and upset by the devastating loss against Germany, but they love the Seleção and their players. There is a huge identification among Brazilian youth with players such as Neymar and David Luiz. And as history shows, Brazilians are independent and clever enough to distinguish between football and politics. </p>
<h2>Human rights concerns</h2>
<p>Meanwhile, other political legacies emerged during the tournament. The federal government reportedly spent <a href="http://www.ibtimes.co.uk/brazil-world-cup-2014-security-costs-five-times-much-south-africa-1452064">nearly £500 million</a> on policing the World Cup in a bid to suppress potential disturbances. </p>
<p>In a period when Brazil is <a href="http://www.bbc.com/news/world-latin-america-18073300">still searching</a> for the truth about the dictatorship period, the <a href="http://www.espn.co.uk/football/sport/story/314965.html">heavy hand</a> imposed on demonstrators and anti-World Cup activists was a clear undemocratic throwback.</p>
<p>The new repression strategies leave a political scar of profound disregard for human rights, which Brazilians will have to overcome in order to build their immature democracy. </p>
<p>The concern over <a href="http://www.theguardian.com/world/2013/mar/22/brazilian-police-evict-indigenous-people">forced relocations</a> also cannot be forgotten. The vulnerable people who were removed from their houses have the right not only to receive a new house, but also to be consulted on where they want to live. These places must have sufficient social support to enable the displaced people to quickly readjust to their new lives. </p>
<p>So far, this is the major negative legacy of the World Cup, one that has to be remembered every day until the right solutions are found.</p>
<h2>Football legacy</h2>
<p>Finally, the impact the World Cup will have on Brazil’s football culture in coming years cannot be underestimated. There will be a few white elephant stadiums, such as Cuiaba’s Arena Pantanal, that were specifically built for the World Cup and will be <a href="http://www.foxnews.com/sports/2014/07/10/white-elephants-4-world-cup-stadiums-look-for-fans-games-events-to-pay-16/">unable to attract</a> enough supporters to sustain it. Cuiaba’s regional football tournament has an average attendance of less than 1000. </p>
<figure class="align-center ">
<img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/53680/original/nvkmyy3k-1405297395.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/53680/original/nvkmyy3k-1405297395.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/53680/original/nvkmyy3k-1405297395.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/53680/original/nvkmyy3k-1405297395.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/53680/original/nvkmyy3k-1405297395.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/53680/original/nvkmyy3k-1405297395.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/53680/original/nvkmyy3k-1405297395.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">Some stadiums built for the World Cup, such as the Arena Pantanal in Cuiaba, may become ‘white elephants’.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">EPA/Marcelo Sayao</span></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>The stadiums have also not been built to integrate into their local landscape and community. It is important that these enormous sports facilities integrate with communities and develop supportive social programs that justify their existence. Otherwise, they will continue to be seen as “rich” intruders in local communities.</p>
<p>Brazilians will also return to the reality of their own national league. After watching top-level football in brand new and crowded stadiums with an amazing atmosphere, the Brasileirão doesn’t look too attractive. In 2013, the league had an average attendance of <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/2013_Campeonato_Brasileiro_S%C3%A9rie_A">under 15,000</a>, with matches often being played at 10pm on weekdays at the insistence of Rede Globo, the major football broadcaster in Brazil. </p>
<p>Brazilians will also complain about the quality of the football. Brazil’s better players play overseas, an issue that even the growing economy and good wages for top division players cannot solve. The lack of organisation of the Brasileirão continues to be an impediment to football’s development in Brazil.</p>
<p>The shocking semi-final defeat will certainly leave a perennial blot on Brazil’s football culture and history. The failures in the Seleção’s preparation and in the entire structure of the Brazilian Football Federation must be scrutinised. Change is crucial if Brazil wants to keep its historical dominance over the international football world, which is seriously under threat after many years of a lack of direction for the Seleção.</p>
<p>Brazilian football, as a central element of the country’s culture, needs urgent political and technical revolution. But will this revolution be one of the most important political and cultural legacies of the <a href="http://www.bbc.com/sport/0/football/28174503">“best World Cup ever”</a>?</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/28965/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Ramon Spaaij receives funding from the Australian Research Council.</span></em></p><p class="fine-print"><em><span>Jorge Knijnik 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 losing World Cup teams and fans are licking their wounds, while newly crowned world champions Germany will celebrate for at least the next four years. However, the world has already started to ask…Jorge Knijnik, Senior Lecturer , Western Sydney UniversityRamon Spaaij, Associate Professor, College of Sport and Exercise Science, Victoria UniversityLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/290612014-07-11T09:42:01Z2014-07-11T09:42:01ZCut referees some slack, most have done a good job
<p>In a tournament of 64 games, there were bound to be issues of contention, especially in a competition that carries so many national hopes with it. But the general standard of refereeing has been good throughout the tournament. Controversy over refereeing decisions at the World Cup in Brazil has been relatively small. </p>
<p>Despite this general standard, there have been a few contentious and high profile incidents – from Brazil’s penalty in the opening match and <a href="http://www.theguardian.com/football/blog/2014/jun/13/mexico-cameroon-disallowed-goals-referees-controversy-world-cup">two goals disallowed for offside</a> in the Mexico-Cameroon match to <a href="http://www.bloomberg.com/news/2014-07-07/fifa-denies-referees-told-to-be-lenient-in-wake-of-injury.html">rumours of leniency</a>.</p>
<h2>The problem of flow</h2>
<p>One of the most controversial games of the tournament from a refereeing standpoint was the foul-ridden Brazil-Colombia quarter-final. The leniency shown by the match’s Spanish official, Carlos Velasco Carballo, <a href="http://www.independent.co.uk/sport/football/worldcup/neymar-out-of-world-cup-2014-fifa-to-blame-for-thuggery-which-flattened-brazil-forward-9588097.html">was criticised</a> for not being more authoritative and encouraging behaviour that led to a tournament-ending foul on Neymar. </p>
<p>The injury to Brazil’s star player somewhat overshadowed the fact that Brazil committed their fair share of fouls during the match. Neymar’s injury may have been the headline incident, but the Colombian players also took a considerable amount of punishment; Brazil actually committed more fouls, 31 to Columbia’s 23, with both teams receiving two yellow cards. </p>
<p>So if Carballo had not allowed the game to flow, would he have been accused of ruining the spectacle of the game? This is something that happened to referee Howard Webb who officiated the 2010 World Cup final between Spain and Holland. Webb clamped down on the behaviour of the players and therefore the game did not flow as well. The alternative was perhaps to approach the game as Carballo did for the Brazil-Colombia match. But then he’d risk letting bad behaviour escalate. This is not to excuse mistakes that referees might make, but it is a difficult task for the officials. </p>
<p>The <a href="https://theconversation.com/the-tricky-business-of-cross-cultural-refereeing-27946">cultural differences</a> between referees and how they officiate is a significant issue to overcome at the World Cup and clearly they need further guidance on dealing with different cultures and mentalities. This understanding also extends to the players and managers. The <a href="http://www.theguardian.com/football/2014/jul/08/germany-brazil-joachim-low-referee-brutal-tackling">German team</a> stated that their hopes that the Mexican referee, Marco Rodriguez, would approach their semi-final with Brazil in a different way to how Brazil’s match with Colombia was officiated. However, FIFA stated before the tournament had even begun that the training that the referees were going through should ensure that there was no change in performance by the match officials. </p>
<p>There is a fine line between controlling and punishing players and allowing the match to flow. The reality is that fans, observers and footballing authorities want both. FIFA want a spectacle, they want a product that has value and for that they need exciting matches and goals; television companies want much the same because they want people to watch the games. Managers, on the other hand, want protection for their players, while also allowing them to express themselves. </p>
<h2>Faked fouls</h2>
<p>The behavioural differences that exist between different leagues and countries also extends to the issue of diving, or simulation, to gain a competitive advantage over the opposition and deceive the referee. In the age of slow motion replays, it’s easy to forget the speed at which players like Arjen Robben are moving in real time when they fall to the ground. The fact that referees don’t always detect this behaviour shouldn’t be criticised.</p>
<p>Robben has admitted that he dived in the Holland-Mexico match and there have been other incidents where he has over reacted or attempted to create a foul by simulating a fall out of a tackle. And he is not alone. Surely FIFA and other organisations must start helping referees deal with issues related to player behaviour. If this is to be a feature of the game, the best way to tackle it should be explored, whether it is retrospective punishment, additional technology or something else.</p>
<p>Referees have demonstrated some excellent performances during the World Cup. There have been contentious incidents and errors but this is football, these incidents are part of the game. The World Cup has further highlighted that it is very challenging to train referees to deal with players from different countries. It has also become more apparent that referees require greater support and assistance to deal with issues such as player behaviour. </p>
<p>Bringing together referees from all over the world is a difficult task. Differences in style and performance are accentuated in the melting pot of a tournament like the World Cup. The danger is that we forget the positives and accentuate the problems. Hopefully our memory of Brazil 2014 will be different. </p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/29061/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
In a tournament of 64 games, there were bound to be issues of contention, especially in a competition that carries so many national hopes with it. But the general standard of refereeing has been good throughout…Tom Webb, Senior Lecturer in Sports Development, University of PortsmouthLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/289812014-07-11T04:24:25Z2014-07-11T04:24:25ZWorld Cup fans are the latest to be targeted by cyber criminals<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/53595/original/79cjn7tn-1405047939.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">We're most at risk from cyber scams when distracted by events such as the World Cup. </span> <span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/febreonivora/14459733094">Flickr/Nelson Oliveira</a>, <a class="license" href="http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc/4.0/">CC BY-NC</a></span></figcaption></figure><p>As rival football teams have been battling it out in this year’s World Cup, cyber criminals have had their eye on a different goal – to cash in on this global distraction at any opportunity.</p>
<p>Among the legitimate marketing campaigns, these cyber criminals have been trying to exploit the public’s enthusiasm for the most watched and most profitable sporting event in the world, attracting 400 million views per match. </p>
<p>In the run up to the <a href="https://theconversation.com/au/world-cup-2014">2014 FIFA World Cup</a>, as many as 50 fraudulent websites were <a href="https://blog.kaspersky.com/world-cup-woes-dont-be-conned-by-spammers-and-scammers-this-summer/">shut down daily</a> in Brazil alone.</p>
<p>Links to these fraudulent websites are spread by massive spam campaigns sending billions of spam messages daily to dupe unwitting fans into <a href="http://securelist.com/blog/incidents/58233/world-cup-fake-tickets-fake-giveaways-real-attacks/">opening links</a> which lead to fake ticket websites, cash giveaways and attempts to steal personal data.</p>
<p>Some of these are so convincing that even Brazil’s own Ministry of External Relations has been <a href="http://infosecure.pro/brazilian-ministry-of-external-relations-hooked/">caught out</a>. Hackers even managed to <a href="http://blog.trendmicro.com/trendlabs-security-intelligence/watch-out-for-fake-versions-of-world-cup-2014-apps/">take down the official websites</a> of the Sao Paulo Military Police and the official World Cup 2014 Brazil.</p>
<h2>Are you part of the spam scam?</h2>
<p>It takes just one momentary lapse in judgement to become a victim of some online scam. Worse still, your computer could be silently taken over, turning you into an unwitting spammer.</p>
<p>Latest figures from the security firm <a href="http://www.kaspersky.com/about/news/spam/2014/Spam-in-May-an-education-in-fake-notifications">Kaspersky show 69.8%</a> of the world’s total email traffic is spam. The public have grown so accustomed to ignoring the problem that few actually understand where spam originates, or realise that they themselves might be spammers.</p>
<p>But how do underground criminals successfully operate a computer network large enough to send out <a href="http://www.trendmicro.com/us/security-intelligence/current-threat-activity/global-spam-map/">200 billion email messages per day</a>?
Well, this is where you come in.</p>
<p>A <a href="http://www.pcmag.com/encyclopedia/term/38866/botnet">botnet</a> (short for robot network) is a collection of thousands of <a href="http://www.pcmag.com/encyclopedia/term/46552/malware">malware</a> (malicious software) infected computers that are under the control of criminals.</p>
<p>Botnets are assigned tasks by the botnet operator, including sending spam, or distributing even more malware to increase the size of the botnet. They are also used for spying, stealing banking details, holding your computer to ransom and more.</p>
<p>A large botnet might contain <a href="http://nakedsecurity.sophos.com/2010/10/26/bredolab-botnet-shut/">tens of millions</a> of infected computers, whose owners are entirely oblivious to the situation. Infection spreads via spam campaigns or compromised websites and visitors may become part of the botnet without ever knowing.</p>
<h2>World Cup scams</h2>
<p>Scammers are always on the lookout for new tactics to lure in their victims. For instance, right after the Uruguay vs Italy match an online petition appeared for fans to register their support against the <a href="http://www.bbc.com/sport/0/football/28023882">disqualification of Uruguayan striker</a> Luis Suarez.</p>
<figure class="align-center zoomable">
<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/53578/original/26z7tnqf-1405040542.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/53578/original/26z7tnqf-1405040542.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/53578/original/26z7tnqf-1405040542.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=346&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/53578/original/26z7tnqf-1405040542.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=346&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/53578/original/26z7tnqf-1405040542.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=346&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/53578/original/26z7tnqf-1405040542.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=434&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/53578/original/26z7tnqf-1405040542.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=434&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/53578/original/26z7tnqf-1405040542.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=434&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px"></a>
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">An online petition made to look like an official FIFA website but revealed as a phishing scam.</span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>Fans flocked to the website, sharing it with friends and across social media, although the “petition” was in fact <a href="http://www.kaspersky.com/about/news/virus/2014/FIFA-World-Cup-2014-fan-alert-phishing-attack-gathering-users-personal-data">yet another scam</a> to harvest personal information.</p>
<p>Upfront payment or money transfer scams are another favourite used by scammers. Often known as “Nigerian Scams”, these advise potential victims by email that they are entitled to a large sum of money, but that the victim may need to send personal details or a cash advance to cover “administration costs”.</p>
<p>One such scam is doing the rounds informing recipients that they have <a href="http://blog.malwarebytes.org/fraud-scam/2014/04/world-cup-2014-cash-prize-tickets-email-is-a-419-scam/">won UK £3 million</a> from the FIFA World Cup organising committee.</p>
<figure class="align-center zoomable">
<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/53592/original/2hmgzfxd-1405046435.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/53592/original/2hmgzfxd-1405046435.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/53592/original/2hmgzfxd-1405046435.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=331&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/53592/original/2hmgzfxd-1405046435.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=331&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/53592/original/2hmgzfxd-1405046435.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=331&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/53592/original/2hmgzfxd-1405046435.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=416&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/53592/original/2hmgzfxd-1405046435.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=416&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/53592/original/2hmgzfxd-1405046435.jpg?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"></a>
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">The World Cup email scam looking to trap people with an offer of prizes.</span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>The most striking thing about these emails is that they are usually poorly worded, full of grammatical errors and often look extremely suspicious.
A question that springs to mind is why don’t the scammers try to be a bit more convincing?</p>
<p><a href="http://research.microsoft.com/pubs/167719/whyfromnigeria.pdf">Research from Microsoft</a> on Nigerian scams provides an answer – the scams are deliberately made as obvious as possible so that they entice only the most gullible people to reply.</p>
<blockquote>
<p>An email with tales of fabulous amounts of money and West African corruption will strike all but the most gullible as bizarre. It will be recognized and ignored by anyone who has been using the Internet long enough to have seen it several times […] Those who remain are the scammers ideal targets.</p>
</blockquote>
<p>Spam botnets make light work of contacting millions of potential victims, but the crooks don’t want to waste their time talking to people who are likely to see through the scam.</p>
<p>In the words of the the report’s author, <a href="http://www.businessinsider.com.au/why-nigerian-scam-emails-are-obvious-2014-5">Micosoft researcher Cormac Herley</a>: “Anybody who doesn’t fall off their chair laughing is exactly who they want to talk to.”</p>
<h2>It’s not all bad</h2>
<p>Computer security begins with an appreciation of the risks present in our online environment. Unlike business users who have advice on hand and the benefit of IT support, home users often simply fend for themselves.</p>
<p>Fortunately, resources such as the Australian Government’s <a href="http://www.scamwatch.gov.au/">ScamWatch</a> and <a href="http://www.staysmartonline.gov.au/">Stay Smart Online</a> provide security advice for home users with many other excellent resources just a web search away. </p>
<p>If you suspect that your computer might already have been infected by malware, then free tools from vendors such as <a href="http://www.sophos.com/">Sophos</a> or <a href="http://www.kaspersky.com/">Kaspersky</a> can find these threats.</p>
<p>A valuable tip is to not rely on one security software to detect everything. Certain tools are better at finding particular threats, so scanning with multiple tools can be beneficial. </p>
<p>The World Cup will soon be over but the scams will continue as the cyber criminals simply find another event or campaign with which to trap the gullible.</p>
<p>So it’s wise to heed words of warning from the networking giant Cisco Systems in its <a href="http://www.cisco.com/web/offer/gist_ty2_asset/Cisco_2014_ASR.pdf">2014 Annual Security Report</a>:</p>
<blockquote>
<p>[…] there should be an assumption by all users, perhaps, that nothing in the cyber world can or should be trusted.</p>
</blockquote><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/28981/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Nik Thompson 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>As rival football teams have been battling it out in this year’s World Cup, cyber criminals have had their eye on a different goal – to cash in on this global distraction at any opportunity. Among the…Nik Thompson, Lecturer, School of Engineering and Information Technology, Murdoch UniversityLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/290472014-07-11T03:29:16Z2014-07-11T03:29:16ZGermany v Argentina … who will raise the 2014 World Cup?<p>After four weeks, we’re finally at the pointy end of the 2014 World Cup. Germany and Argentina meet in the final in the <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Est%C3%A1dio_do_Maracan%C3%A3">Maracanã Stadium</a> in Rio de Janeiro this weekend. </p>
<p>Germany is riding high after thrashing Brazil 7-1, while Argentina scraped through to the final on penalties.</p>
<p>Germany came into the tournament ranked second in the <a href="http://www.fifa.com/worldranking/rankingtable/">FIFA rankings</a>, three positions higher than Argentina. And in the <a href="http://www.eloratings.net/">world football Elo ratings</a>, Germany was ranked third, one higher than Argentina.</p>
<p>Despite this, it would seem Argentina has a home (or at least, continent) advantage. No European team has won a World Cup in South America in four attempts (the last opportunity was in 1978).</p>
<p>So let’s compare the two teams and weigh up the data: who’s likely to triumph on Sunday?</p>
<h2>World Cup finals experience</h2>
<p>Germany has won three of its eight World Cup finals (1954, 1974, 1990) and Argentina two of its five (1978, 1986).</p>
<p>The teams have met 15 times prior to this final. Argentina has won nine times, Germany six. </p>
<p>They’re most recent meeting was in the <a href="http://www.theguardian.com/football/2010/jul/03/germany-argentina-world-cup-2010">2010 World Cup</a> when Germany defeated Argentina 4-0 in the quarter final.</p>
<figure>
<iframe width="440" height="260" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/YOEaXgCQ61A?wmode=transparent&start=0" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen=""></iframe>
<figcaption><span class="caption">Highlights from their 2010 match.</span></figcaption>
</figure>
<p>They have played each other in two World Cup finals:</p>
<ul>
<li>Argentina won 3-2 in 1986 in Mexico</li>
<li>Germany won four years later in Italy, 1-0. Argentina ended that final with just nine players after Pedro Monzon and Gustavo Dezotti became the first players to be sent off in a World Cup final. It was the first time too a team had not scored in a World Cup final.</li>
</ul>
<h2>Performance at this World Cup</h2>
<p>Germany is the <a href="http://www.fifa.com/worldcup/statistics/index.html">leading goalscorer</a> at this World Cup with 17 goals to Argentina’s eight. Some 14 of Germany’s goals were scored from open play.</p>
<p>Germany started this World Cup with a comprehensive <a href="http://www.fifa.com/worldcup/matches/round=255931/match=300186475/index.html#nosticky">4-0 defeat of Portugal</a> and its 7-1 victory in the semi-final against Brazil was <a href="https://theconversation.com/off-the-scale-28992">a record-breaking performance</a>. <a href="http://www.fifa.com/worldcup/statistics/players/player-comparison.html#h321722a229397">Thomas Mueller</a> is Germany’s leading goalscorer with five goals.</p>
<p>Germany scored goals in the first 20 minutes of games against Portugal, France and Brazil. Argentina scored two of the earliest goals in this World Cup (v Bosnia and Herzegovina, and v Nigeria).</p>
<p>German striker Miroslav Klose set a new record for goals scored in World Cups. In this World Cup, his fourth, his 23rd minute goal against Brazil was his 16th World Cup goal. </p>
<figure>
<iframe width="440" height="260" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/iK_GBC7APrk?wmode=transparent&start=0" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen=""></iframe>
<figcaption><span class="caption">Now on to Argentina: Lionel Messi scored four of Argentina’s eight goals, and three of the team’s goals were scored against Nigeria in their final group game.
Argentina has conceded fewer fouls than all their opponents in their six games. Germany has conceded fewer fouls than opponents in four games but conceded 33 fouls in the game against France.
Finally, Argentina has not conceded a goal in the knockout stage of the World Cup.
Talking tactical issues
Two factors that might influence how Argentina deals with Germany’s ability to score goals in open play are:
how quickly the team recovers from the physical demands the 127 minutes of play in the semi-final against the Netherlands
the emotions elicited in the ensuing penalty shoot out.
This game took place a day after Germany’s 93-minute demolition of Brazil in which the German coach was able to substitute and rest key players.
Seven Argentinian outfielders covered more than 10km in their semi-final against the Netherlands. Lucas Biglia covered 15km during that game.
Lucas Biglia trotting along, controlling the ball, next to the Netherlands’ Wwesley Sneijder during their semi final match earlier this week.
EPA/Srdjan Suki
A day earlier, despite the short duration of their game against Brazil, eight German outfield players covered more than 10km. Bastian Schweinsteiger led the distance covered with his 12.61km.
Both Germany and Argentina have used one goalkeeper for their respective games.
Germany’s six games have lasted a total of 601 minutes and 20 seconds. Two of their outfield players, Benedikt Hoewedes and Philipp Lahm played all this time. Toni Kroos has played 599 minutes.
Three outfield Argentinian players have been ever-present in their six games: Ezequiel Garay, Pablo Zabaleta and Javier Mascherano.
Philipp Lahm and Javier Mascherano share the lead in passing accuracy in this World Cup. FIFA data suggest that both of them have an 87% completion rate for their passes. Both players have significant leadership roles for their teams.
German captain Philipp Lahm.
EPA/Fernando Bizerra Jr
In this World Cup final, a free-flowing German team able to score goals in open play through a variety of players will meet one of the most miserly defences on the tournament.
The last time they met in a final (1990), Argentina was indisciplined and had two players sent off. Germany will have to deal with the threats posed by Lionel Messi and the impact Javier Mascherano might have on the game.
There is a discrepancy in the international experience of the teams. Germany’s team that started against Brazil had a total of 730 international caps with three players (Bastian Scweinsteiger, Miroslav Klose and Philipp Lahm) having played in more than 100 games each. Argentina’s team against Brazil had 470 international caps, and only Javier Mascherano has appeared in more than 100 games for Argentina.
And the winner is … ?
All the performance data point to a Germany win this World Cup final.
At this point in the tournament, it is how each team has managed their fatigue and injuries that will determine their readiness to perform.
It is a long time since the last opportunity for a European team to win the World Cup in South America. The world game of football has changed significantly in the intervening years.
One of the changes has been the use of sport informatics in analysing performance. Germany has a very sophisticated approach to this analysis that could identify weaknesses in Argentina’s pattern of play, as it appeared to do against Brazil.
On the other hand, a team with less experience and more playing time could use the energy generated by playing a final on their home continent.
To win, Argentina will have to continue its highly disciplined defence and create sufficient opportunities for Lionel Messi to overtake Thomas Mueller to win the Golden Boot and the World Cup.</span></figcaption>
</figure><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/29047/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Keith Lyons 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>After four weeks, we’re finally at the pointy end of the 2014 World Cup. Germany and Argentina meet in the final in the Maracanã Stadium in Rio de Janeiro this weekend. Germany is riding high after thrashing…Keith Lyons, Adjunct Professor of Sport Studies, UC-RISE, University of CanberraLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/287272014-07-10T20:08:22Z2014-07-10T20:08:22ZIn a globalised world, the football World Cup is a force for good<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/53383/original/3fpnn3cg-1404886562.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">Football's growth, while based on the game's intrinsic nature, is also indebted to the World Cup.</span> <span class="attribution"><span class="source">EPA/Abedin Taherkenareh</span></span></figcaption></figure><p>FIFA, world football’s governing body, is <a href="https://theconversation.com/qatar-saga-shows-why-fifa-should-return-football-to-the-fans-27549">not a perfect</a> multinational corporation. It would be quite naïve to envisage that the World Cup should have the capacity to bring world peace, fix global inequality, stamp out racism and overcome other issues espoused by various academic, media and public commentators in recent weeks.</p>
<p>On balance, however, the World Cup as an institution is a force for global good – for a number of reasons. First, the tournament brings the world together. FIFA has <a href="http://www.fifa.com/aboutfifa/organisation/associations.html">209 national football associations</a> affiliated to it that compete in the various competitions it organises. These members also aim to qualify for the World Cup finals every four years. </p>
<figure class="align-right zoomable">
<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/53387/original/k3nkx25q-1404889132.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/53387/original/k3nkx25q-1404889132.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=237&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/53387/original/k3nkx25q-1404889132.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=840&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/53387/original/k3nkx25q-1404889132.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=840&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/53387/original/k3nkx25q-1404889132.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=840&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/53387/original/k3nkx25q-1404889132.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=1056&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/53387/original/k3nkx25q-1404889132.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=1056&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/53387/original/k3nkx25q-1404889132.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=1056&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px"></a>
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">Bosnia and Herzegovina became the 77th nation to participate in the World Cup finals in 2014.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">EPA/Guillaume Horcajuelo</span></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>While only 32 countries compete in the World Cup finals, over the years many countries <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/National_team_appearances_in_the_FIFA_World_Cup">have qualified</a>. In 2014, <a href="http://www.dailymail.co.uk/sport/football/article-2458832/Bosnia--Herzegovina-qualify-World-Cup-2014-war-torn-history.html">Bosnia and Herzegovina</a> became the 77th country to take part in the World Cup. This high level of global participation is unprecedented among sporting events and provides many opportunities for international contact and soft diplomacy.</p>
<p>Second, football is played in all countries around the world, by both sexes, all classes, all shapes and sizes, in diverse venues and by groups who are marginalised in certain societies. There are men’s and women’s world cups, youth world cups, the <a href="https://theconversation.com/homeless-but-not-hopeless-the-other-football-world-cup-27879">Homeless World Cup</a> and various disability football competitions. It truly is the <a href="https://theconversation.com/it-may-be-the-world-cup-but-how-global-is-the-world-game-27330">“world game”</a>.</p>
<p>Football’s growth, while owing much to the game’s intrinsic nature, is also indebted to the World Cup, which is now approaching its centenary. Football is an established sport in many countries but it is a relatively new phenomenon in some parts of the world, such as the Middle East and parts of Asia. Global participation in football, which is supported by the World Cup, plays a major role in creating cohesion.</p>
<figure class="align-left zoomable">
<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/53482/original/xzwdgcb6-1404958124.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/53482/original/xzwdgcb6-1404958124.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=237&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/53482/original/xzwdgcb6-1404958124.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=809&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/53482/original/xzwdgcb6-1404958124.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=809&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/53482/original/xzwdgcb6-1404958124.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=809&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/53482/original/xzwdgcb6-1404958124.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=1017&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/53482/original/xzwdgcb6-1404958124.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=1017&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/53482/original/xzwdgcb6-1404958124.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=1017&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px"></a>
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">The US, a country of more than 300 million people, was eliminated by Belgium.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">EPA/Erik S. Lesser</span></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>Thirdly – and importantly – the World Cup doesn’t reinforce hegemonic power relations. China, the new world superpower, topped the 2008 and ran second in the 2012 Olympic medal table but failed to qualify for the 2014 World Cup. In Brazil, the US made it to second round where it was <a href="http://www.theguardian.com/football/2014/jul/01/belgium-usa-world-cup-2014-last-16-match-report">eliminated by Belgium</a>, a country with 1/30th of its population. </p>
<p>Costa Rica, most famous for <a href="http://thinkprogress.org/climate/2013/12/12/3056421/costa-rica-banana-emergency/">its bananas</a>, made it to the <a href="http://www.smh.com.au/fifa-world-cup-2014/world-cup-match-report/world-cup-2014-netherlands-beat-costa-rica-in-penalty-shootout-20140706-zsxrw.html">last eight</a>, while an Islamic country, Algeria, was <a href="http://www.theguardian.com/football/2014/jun/30/germany-v-algeria-world-cup-2014-live">unlucky</a> not to get into the final eight. The former colonial powers of <a href="http://www.bbc.com/sport/0/football/27935803">England</a>, <a href="http://www.independent.co.uk/sport/football/worldcup/spain-0-chile-2-match-report-the-champions-knocked-out-after-goals-from-eduardo-vargas-and-charles-aranguiz-9547384.html">Spain</a>, <a href="http://www1.skysports.com/football/live/match/305779/report">Portugal</a> and <a href="http://www.standard.co.uk/sport/football/italy-0-uruguay-1-azzurri-knocked-out-as-luis-suarez-is-accused-of-biting-giorgio-chiellini-9560268.html">Italy</a> were knocked out in the group stages. Football creates its own world order.</p>
<p>Fourth, the athletes who compete in the World Cup become role models for youth around the world. The players, with all their athleticism and skills, are positive role models. In football there are fewer drug scandals, fewer betting scandals and fewer instances of on-field violence. When anything negative happens, such as the Luis Suarez <a href="http://www.smh.com.au/fifa-world-cup-2014/world-cup-match-report/world-cup-2014-luis-suarez-in-biting-row-after-uruguay-knock-out-italy-20140625-zsko4.html">biting incident</a>, it is condemned by all and <a href="http://www.espn.co.uk/football/sport/story/319197.html">action is taken</a>. </p>
<p>While many of the athletes are multi-millionaires their participation in the World Cup transcends money. The Greek team was motivated to do well to <a href="http://www.theguardian.com/football/2014/jun/29/greece-crisis-hope-world-cup-costa-rica">bring joy to their nation</a>, which has been reeling from economic hardships. Despite their domestic difficulties, Iraq fought valiantly to qualify. No matter what the national circumstances, the World Cup motivates youth around the world to play football and be better human beings. In this way, it plays an important role in transgenerational development.</p>
<p>Fifth, the standard of play at the World Cup has <a href="http://www.theatlantic.com/entertainment/archive/2014/07/the-best-world-cup-ever/373979/">surpassed all expectations</a> and continues to draw in new fans. There have been plenty of goals and most teams in most games played positive football. In the round of 16, five of the eight games went to extra time. </p>
<p>The beauty of football is not the blow-out scores (see, for example, AFL and basketball) but the closeness of games. Low-scoring games create tension. Brazil dominated Colombia in <a href="http://www.nytimes.com/interactive/2014/07/04/sports/worldcup/world-cup-brazil-vs-colombia.html?_r=0">their quarter-final</a> and went 2-0 up, but was lucky to win the match. Australia lost to eventual semi-finalists Holland <a href="http://www.theguardian.com/football/2014/jun/18/holland-australia-world-cup-2014-group-b-match-report">3-2</a> in the group stage despite arguably playing better. </p>
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<figcaption>
<span class="caption">Australia, a footballing minnow, outplayed the Netherlands, an eventual semi-finalist, in Brazil.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">EPA/Armando Babani</span></span>
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</figure>
<p>Low-scoring tension is what makes football so special and gripping. Gripping viewing means the game draws in <a href="https://theconversation.com/world-cup-round-ball-square-eyes-and-hungering-to-excess-27500">billions of viewers</a>. Again, this builds social cohesion and capital.</p>
<p>Last month I visited South Africa, four years after it hosted the World Cup. I was interested to see what the locals from diverse parts of South African society thought about the legacy of the World Cup. Much has been made of the <a href="http://sports.yahoo.com/news/no-golden-world-cup-legacy-south-africa-131836282--sector.html">lack of legacy</a>. </p>
<p>While it is true that FIFA left with a huge tax-free profit and the games did cost South Africa an enormous amount, there are outcomes that could not be measured simply in monetary terms. Football brought the nation together and Africa had hosted its first World Cup. The World Cup was also the catalyst for many domestic initiatives, such as the <a href="http://www.sagamorepub.com/products/physical-education-and-health">re-introduction</a> of physical education and sport in public schools, which had been removed post-apartheid.</p>
<p>Based on the usual hegemonic criteria that govern the world, South Africa may not have been the ideal venue for the 2010 tournament any more than Qatar isn’t the ideal venue for the 2022 World Cup. The point is that FIFA (with all its faults) governs the World Cup as a force of good and world unity. And the tournament will continue to be so, at least in the near future.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/28727/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Steve Georgakis 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>FIFA, world football’s governing body, is not a perfect multinational corporation. It would be quite naïve to envisage that the World Cup should have the capacity to bring world peace, fix global inequality…Steve Georgakis, Senior Lecturer of Pedagogy and Sports Studies, University of SydneyLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.