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The Impact of Sporting Events
Jack Mittelmark
Florida State University
SPM 4013
Professor White
November 18, 2021
The Impact of Sporting Events
Sport is an activity entailing the exertion of body muscle in different ways with skills involved for an individual to team to in which an individual or team to rival against one another or others for pleasure. Sports also play a crucial role in uplifting a nation’s economy, building a healthier society, and promoting cultures of different socials in life. There are a lot of different types of sports. Fédération Internationale de Football Association (FIFA) is an organization that outlines itself as an international body that rules the association futsal, beach soccer, and football. It was established in 1904 to manage the global competition between Germany, Netherlands, Switzerland, Belgium, Spain, France, Sweden, and Denmark (Raithel, 2014). The headquarters is based in Switzerland. It now encompasses 211 state associations. FIFA runs the world cup events that are held after every four years. These events have had a significant impact on the social, economic, and culture in our society.
Firstly, the world cup has both negative and positive economic effects on the hosting country. This event lasts for about two months, and during this period people travel from all over the world to come and attend. In terms of tourism, there is an increase in the number of tourist services in cities hosting the event during that period. Millions of football fans travel anywhere to watch their teams compete for the world cup. Streets are always crowded, the hotels are always fully reserved, and the host city is the center of attention for the two months the event runs (Ahlert, 2001). From subsequent events, it is evident that the number of tourists in the host cities is increasing in number. According to research done from the world cup events that took place in South Africa and Brazil, there is a 57% increase in the number of international tourists and domestic tourists who stay in the host cities. Additionally, the tourists submerge themselves in strange environs by purchasing local merchandise and admiring various people’s cultures.
Furthermore, the world cup events have created jobs for people in the host countries. During the preparation period, there are many works done. Stadiums are renovated to the requirements stipulated. Stadiums hosting the events should have a capacity of at least 40000 people (Kuhn, 2014). The renovations, therefore, create some short-term employment for some people to get the work done. The purchase of the renovations material boosts someone’s business as the investments are bulky. Besides that, infrastructure is improved so that there is more effortless movement during that time. Roads are expanded, the airports and railway stations are also advanced to handle the millions of people visiting the country for that event, which is an advantage to the host country because the renovation is permanent or long term and so the citizen get to enjoy the improved infrastructure after the event is done and the renovated stadiums promote the sporting in the country.
However, the world cup events have impacted negatively on the host countries. The country experiences an increase in economic spending is high during world cup events preparation. The host country spends a lot on the renovation to the requirements put in place for a smooth run of the event. The purchase of renovation material and the people involved in doing the renovations budgets are catered for by the host government.
Furthermore, the FIFA World Cup helps in uniting the world because it attracts the attention of people from all regions. As a result, it helps strengthen social ties between states by increasing cross-cultural interaction and promoting global understanding. The world is often a hostile place mulled with unfair competition, racism, religious conflicts, and wars. A mega sporting activity like the Fifa World Cup tends to help ease tensions between different races, religions, and nations by fostering global brotherhood (Haynes, 2107). The watch statistics demonstrate this global brotherhood for the global event. Any race or religion-based discrimination usually is shunned as the players, officials, and administrators tend to put down their differences to ensure that this particular event that brings joy and excitement to many people is held successfully.
A second social benefit is the promotion of the local culture for the host country. If the U.S. were to host the World Cup, different cities and aspects of local culture would gain publicity worldwide. Given that people from all corners of the world watch the event, the cities hosting the event would enjoy the significant chance it presents to appreciate and promote its culture. Such positive publicity would make the hosting country and cities have better relations with other cities and nations and enjoy national and international pride (Gibson, 2014). The host nation and the city’s residents would have a sense of pride and enjoy enhanced social relationships due to the unity of such a global event.
The form of publicity discussed above could also be harmful. For instance, where some negative aspects of the local culture leak to the outside world, the citizens or local people may develop defensive attitudes regarding their culture to react to the stereotyping from the tourists and people from other nations. Additionally, hosting such a global event could also result in increased traffic and social pollution in the city where it is held, making some locals uninterested in the event to have no option but to leave the city during the event period.
Fifa world cup would also result in increased vandalism, law enforcement strain, and crime in the host country. Specifically, during such an event, so many people and tourists visit the host country or city, making it impossible to ensure total security for both the locals and the tourists. Criminals may also leverage such an opportunity to commit horrible crimes since they understand that being caught is low due to the increased focus on the global event. An increase in theft and other social evils such as prostitution, vandalism, anti-Semitic abuse, drug abuse, intercultural hostility, and commodification of traditions and culture would hurt the social life of local people. For instance, prostitution may lead to the increased spread of sexually transmitted illnesses and rob the host nation of the most productive and valuable labor force. When young people are introduced to drug abuse and other immoral behaviors of foreigners, the host city or country would be adversely impacted socially.
Other negative social impacts may include sleeplessness as people may lack sleep trying to follow up the global event. Lack of adequate sleep would subsequently lead to other health hazards. Animosities would also heighten between people who support different teams, while some marriages may break up due to decreased attention towards the marriage or partner. The quality of life for the low-income groups could also decrease due to inflated services and goods, leading to increased social stress and inequalities.
The World Cup has political impacts as well. Out of all countries, governments, and cultures, the host receives the most international scrutiny. Being the host places a nation under a proverbial microscope as it opens the nation’s doors to the outside world and the international community to see how the country is run and even how the government interacts with its people. In essence, the host nation becomes a subject of scrutiny as early as four years before the World Cup is held since it is the next stop. The political figureheads and the respective political parties are scrutinized in their capacity to develop the necessary infrastructure to host the tournament. The ruling government feels the most pressure since it would be held responsible by the citizens and the international community if the event did not succeed (Cornelissen, 2018). Tournament failures or successes may cause a significant shift in political support between the ruling and the opposition political parties. Additionally, the successes or failures of the national teams of different countries have a short-term impact on the political mood. For instance, the government might use the successes of the event to demonstrate positive national wellbeing. However, if the national team performed poorly, the citizens could undergo a slight depression, while political parties may use that opportunity to blame the ruling government.
The ruling government of the host nation may also use the World Cup tournament as an opportunity to boost its image internationally. For instance, in the 2018 World Cup, the ruling government in Russia used the tournament to change how the world viewed them. The fact that the nation was able to peacefully and successfully host the tournament helped divert international attention from the government’s human rights debacles and made the citizens and the outside world review the government as a more legitimate one. Overall, host nations tend to use mega-sporting events for propaganda and communication to present their country in the best way possible. Ruling leaders may also boost their legitimacy and popularity in the process. Similarly, other nations’ politicians may also use the tournament to increase their popularity, especially by expressing support for their country’s teams on mainstream media and social platforms.
References
Kühn, T. (2014). Will the World Cup change Brazil? Hosting a World Cup and the birth of new national narratives. Psicologia e Saber Social, 3(1). https://doi.org/10.12957/psi.saber.soc.2014.12209
Ahlert, G. (2001). The economic effects of the soccer World Cup 2006 in Germany with regard to different financing. Economic Systems Research, 13(1), 109-127. https://doi.org/10.1080/09535310120026274
Haynes, R., & Boyle, R. (2017). The FIFA World Cup. Sport, Media and Mega-Events, 85-99. https://doi.org/10.4324/9781315680521-6
Gibson, H. J., Walker, M., Thapa, B., Kaplanidou, K., Geldenhuys, S., & Coetzee, W. (2014). Psychic income and social capital among host nation residents: A pre–post analysis of the 2010 FIFA World Cup in South Africa. Tourism Management, 44, 113-122.
Raithel, T. (2014). The German nation and the 2006 FIFA World Cup. The FIFA World Cup 1930 – 2010, 353-371. https://doi.org/10.5771/9783835326064-353
Cornelissen, S. (n.d.) 2018. The economic impact of South Africa’s 2010 World Cup:. New South African Review 1, 87-103. https://doi.org/10.18772/22010115164.8