De Football Association World Cup Research Articles

Leveraging global south sports mega events to advance sport for development and peace theory and practice

AbstractThe article aims to contribute to the relationship between sport for development and peace (SDP) and sports mega‐events (SMEs) as viable platforms for accelerating human development and social change goals at local, regional and international levels. Recently, there has been a notable increase in the number of emerging economies in the global South demonstrating their aspirations to bid and (if successful) host SMEs. The article argues that the SDP‐SME nexus can be strategically utilised to redress some of the criticisms levelled against the nature of deployment of SDP activities, particularly in the global South. Therefore, the article argues for leveraging global South SMEs to advance SDP theory and practice. However, leveraging SMEs by the global SDP field requires a fresh strategic direction. The article employs qualitative approaches by drawing upon data from two roundtable discussions and Fédération Internationale de Football Association World Cup 2022 panel discussions held in New York and Doha. Reflexive thematic analysis was employed to analyse the transcriptions of the discussions. The article is unique in its advocating for the role that global South SME actors can play in advancing global SDP policy and practice that supports southern agency. The article therefore contributes to a more nuanced understanding of leveraging global South SME hosting towards addressing limitations in global SDP praxis.

The FIFA World Cup as a Tool for Global Health Diplomacy

AbstractInternational football competitions like the Continental Championships, Leagues, and World Cup serve as the focal point of large‐scale tournaments with an international scope. With specialized local representatives serving as diplomatic envoys, they can represent interests, beliefs, and history across boundaries. The advancement of world health can also be reflected in this representation. Football can play a crucial role in accomplishing various health goals by raising audience knowledge and encouraging behavioral and lifestyle changes. The World Cup may provide a platform for increased interest in the potential for global health diplomacy. A systems approach is needed to contextualize international soccer within the reality of global health. The World Cup for Health's diplomacy should negotiate with stakeholders and oversee their interactions to provide initiatives and activities that support the globally shared and aligned viewpoint on health outcomes. This article seeks to provide a long‐lasting framework for effectively using the Fédération Internationale de Football Association World Cup, an enormously popular sporting event, as a diplomatic instrument for promoting global health.

Physical Performance in Highest-Level Soccer: Comparison between FIFA World Cup and UEFA Champions League Matches

Match running performance (RP) of Union of European Football Associations Champions League (UCL) and Fédération Internationale De Football Association World Cup (WC) players are often investigated separately; however, no study to simultaneously observed RP in both competitions. Therefore, the main objective of this study was to provide a comparative analysis of RP of professional soccer match-play across two highest-level soccer competitions: UCL and WC. The RPs (UCL; n=244, WC; n=581) of professional soccer players were analyzed using optical systems, and classified according to their playing positions as: central defenders (CD), fullbacks (FB), central midfielders (CM), wide midfielders (WM) and forward (FW). The RP variables included total distance and high intensity running (>5.5 m/s). One-way analysis of variance was used to examine position-specific differences between RP in WC and UCL, while Cohen’s d was used to identify effect sizes. Results indicated that CDs, FBs, CMs, and WMs from UCL covered significantly greater total distance than their counterparts from WC (all moderate effect sizes). In addition, CDs from UCL achieved greater amount of high intensity running than CDs from WC (small effect size). This study demonstrated differences in various aspects of physical performance between two highest-level soccer competitions with variations dependent upon playing position. The findings enabled a more thorough understanding of the physical requirements for playing in UCL and WC, and may have direct consequences for specific training programs.

FIFA World Cup 2022 and the Risk of Emergence of Zoonotic Diseases

The 2022 Federation Internationale de Football Association (FIFA) World Cup will take place in Qatar and will be a one-of-a-kind mega-crowd gathering. This is the first time in history that people from all over the world would gather in such a concentrated place. There is a higher chance of spreading zoonotic illnesses from one community to another among those who travel internationally, therefore tourists should be aware of the dangers they may face and take precautions. The public health system of the country hosting the event must be equipped to avoid the spread of zoonotic diseases considering the current global climate. The potential for an increase in cases of COVID-19 and monkeypox is notably heightened by this event. Possible exotic diseases such as the Marburg virus disease could also be spread. Due to Qatar’s inexperience in hosting such major events, it is crucial to invest heavily in training for the early identification of infectious illnesses and the prevention of their spread among event attendees. Visitors to Qatar 2022 should acquire the most up-to-date information available and be aware of the usual precautions that should be followed. Your immunization record must be up to date. Hospitals and other medical facilities in Qatar would be wise to increase their readiness for mass casualty occurrences given that this small location is hosting such an event for the first time. To better meet the health needs of its population, the government of Qatar should promote health advice materials in different languages and keep an adequate supply on hand. The potential for the emergence of zoonotic diseases is briefly reviewed here considering the upcoming FIFA World Cup in 2022.

Qatar 2022, fifa and the Speedy Protection of Intellectual Property Rights: A Commentary

Abstract In 2010, Qatar won the bid to host the 2022 Fédération Internationale de Football Association (hereinafter “fifa”) World Cup. As one of the world’s biggest sporting tournament is about to start, final preparations are being made to ensure a successful fiesta. These preparations include the legal protection of the intellectual property rights of fifa, its sponsors and affiliates. To this end, Qatar recently passed Law No. 11 of 2021, a new law on the protection of fifa trademarks and copyright. This paper is a short commentary on the provisions of the law. It discusses the processes of registering fifa trademarks, copyrights, and related rights in addition to the protection accorded to them.

Assessing Climate Suitability of Three Cities for the 2027 Women’s World Cup

Given the impacts of climate change, sport event organizations need to adapt to changes in their environment to remain feasible, safe, competitive, and profitable. Mega-events such as the Olympic Games and Fédération Internationale de Football Association (FIFA) World Cups take years to plan and, ideally, produce long-lasting legacy benefits for their host communities. In awarding these events to host cities and countries, the rightsholders must carefully consider the local climate to ensure that playing conditions will be safe and competitive. This case study examines the prospective 2027 FIFA Women’s World Cup bid in Belgium, Germany, and the Netherlands and invites students to put themselves in the position of a joint bid committee, which must assess the suitability of three cities (Brussels, Berlin, and Amsterdam) for hosting based on their climate. Furthermore, students will be asked to identify climate adaptation strategies that might be adopted by the prospective host committees to accommodate any potential climate challenges. Through this case study, students will learn to investigate the potential effects of climate, climate change, and weather issues on a mega-event; explore the relationship between sport and the natural environment; and learn to source climate data for their own communities and organizations.

How Can Collaborative Circular Economy Practices in Modular Construction Help Fédération Internationale de Football Association World Cup Qatar 2022 to Achieve Its Quest for Sustainable Development and Ecological Systems?

Embarking on the World Cup journey with circular collaborative strategies can positively impact the environment and socioeconomic outcomes to prosper development at the center of sustainability. World Cup mega-events are set with overriding priorities in cutting down environmental footprints to accelerate sustainable development across the Fédération Internationale de Football Association movement to leave an enduring legacy post-event in global sports. This paper conducts the first of its kind comprehensive critical analysis on ecological quality in life cycle impact assessment for 2022 Fédération Internationale de Football Association World Cup modular container stadiums in Qatar. A “cradle-to-cradle” life cycle assessment, including the material and resource production, construction, operation, and end-of-life (EOL) phase, is analyzed in this study, taking the case of Ras Abu Aboud stadium. Ecoinvent v3.7.1 life cycle inventory database was used to quantify the ecosystem damage-related impacts. Two scenarios were considered for the operation phase: scenario 1 (single year of operation) and scenario 2 (30 years of operation). A sensitivity analysis was used to understand the extent of impact per category indicator subject to material quantity variations. The results showed that the planned circularity contributed to savings in the EOL phase of more than 4.26 × 107 species.year compared with 1.7 species.year across the overall life-cycle impacts. Several perspective-based circular and sharing economy scenarios were assessed to reveal the benefits of circular collaborative economy applications in leveraging possible ecological burdens before, during, and post-mega events in sustainable construction. This research acts as a backbone for future single-sport mega-events to attempt to transition to a carbon-neutral, fully sustainable event with an everlasting legacy.

HowFIFAWorld Cup2022™can meet the carbon neutral commitments and the United Nations 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development?: Reflections from the tree nursery project in Qatar

AbstractWith sustainability at the heart of Fédération Internationale de Football Association (FIFA) World Cup 2022™, Qatar has set a track to achieve carbon neutrality, committing to deliver the first‐ever carbon neutral mega event in the world. Achieving these goals require offsetting carbon emissions through quality projects within and outside the state. Tree nurseries with stress‐tolerant variants play a significant role in cutting the excess emissions from Qatar 2022, thereby supporting long‐term sustainable development. This research presents a novel approach to offset carbon emissions utilizing the carbon sequestration potential of trees planted in a tree nursery project in Qatar. The i‐Tree assessment tool and a well‐established US database are used in this regard to undertake a correlation climatic condition analysis between Doha and five locations in the United States with similar demographics as the State of Qatar. The tree nursery data along with water consumption, fertilizer use, and power consumption, were fed as the inputs to the assessment tool. The assessments were carried out considering different irrigation methods for trees and shrubs, treated sewage water with a significant amount of organic fertilizer, and desalinated water. The analysis showed a net‐carbon‐emission reduction equal to 23.482 t CO2‐eqv/year using the treated sewage water. The tree nursery project has a carbon reduction potential of 21.902% compared to the maximum carbon sequestration potential of 30.39 kg/CO2‐eqv/tree/year, when using treated sewage water and a mix of the specific fertilizer. However, the use of desalinated water holds a negative impact on the carbon balance to such a level that the introduction of trees in Middle Eastern may not positively affect climate change mitigation. It was also found that the amount of carbon footprint reduction after the FIFA World Cup 2022 is expected to increase steadily during the average life expectancy of the trees assessed, which were evaluated to be circa 135 years. The results presented support urban planners in proposing integrated sustainability planning strategies and policies. These strategies can initiate projects such as nurseries, parks, and open space areas to reduce carbon footprints, improve the city's social and economic aspects, and preserve the post‐event legacy of mega‐sporting events like the World Cup and Olympic Sports.

Marketing of unhealthy brands during the 2018 Fédération Internationale de Football Association (FIFA) World Cup UK broadcasts – a frequency analysis

ABSTRACT Sport mega-events including the FIFA World Cup are a central component of consumer culture. Major brands are long associated with the World Cup, with many known for unhealthy products. This study quantified visual marketing references to unhealthy brands in the UK broadcasting of the 2018 Men’s World Cup. Eight matches were recorded, and all segments of the recordings were coded for marketing references to unhealthy brands using predefined criteria. A total of 1794 such marketing references were recorded, an average of 224 per broadcast and 1.2 per minute, 95.4% of which were official sponsors. The total time of exposure to unhealthy brand marketing was six hours, 30 minutes and 45 seconds, with 22.7% of the footage including at least one unhealthy brand marketing reference. The results show the World Cup is a platform for the marketing of unhealthy brands with implications for those responsible for public health and television broadcasters.

America’s major league soccer: artificial intelligence and the quest to become a world class league

America’s major league soccer: artificial intelligence and the quest to become a world class league

Understanding the Relationship between Past Experience of a Sports Mega-Event and Current Spectatorship: The Mediating Role of Nostalgia

Mass sport participation has received considerable attention in the recent sport management literature. However, little is known about sport spectatorship as an outcome of sports mega-events (SMEs). This is the first study to use cross-cultural analysis to examine the relationship between the 2002 Fédération Internationale de Football Association (FIFA) World Cup Korea/Japan and current football spectatorship in the host countries. In the context of SMEs, this study uses the psychological construct of nostalgia as a mediator to identify the relationship with spectatorship. Data from 416 and 408 respondents from South Korea and Japan, respectively, were collected through online surveys and analysed cross-culturally using Hayes’ PROCESS macro model 4. We find that the nostalgia evoked by the 2002 World Cup has positively influenced the host nations’ current football spectatorship. While this SME has a strong impact on evoking nostalgia, the effect of nostalgia on spectator behaviour is significant, yet comparatively weak.

The impact of video assistant referee (VAR) on match performance variables at men’s FIFA World Cup tournaments

This study explored how the video assistant referee (VAR) has influenced match performance variables at Fédération Internationale de Football Association (FIFA) World Cup tournaments. Comparative analysis was undertaken of matches played during the FIFA 2018 World Cup ( n = 64) tournament, where VAR was employed, and those played during the 2014 World Cup ( n = 64) tournament, where VAR was not employed. The following performance variables were recorded and analysed for each of the matches played: goals, penalties, corner kicks, yellow cards, red cards, offsides, playing time during the first half, playing time during the second half and total playing time. After the introduction of VAR, there were significant ( p < 0.05) increases in the number of penalties, as well as playing time during the first half, second half and total playing time. In contrast, a significant ( p < 0.05) decline was observed in the number of offsides after VAR was implemented. The current findings have practical implications for improvement of VAR implementation guidelines at FIFA World Cup competitions.

“Germany Crashes Out of World Cup”: A Mixed-Method Study on the Effects of Crisis Communication on Facebook

Using social media for crisis communication has been proposed as an effective strategy because it allows teams to build parasocial relationships with fans. The authors focused on the early elimination of Germany during the 2018 Fédération Internationale de Football Association World Cup to examine the effects of (crisis) communication on Facebook. The authors compared the Facebook posts of the German team, captain Manuel Neuer, and team member Thomas Müller and examined the emoji reactions each received. Although Neuer posted text identical to that of the team, his post received a smaller proportion of angry emoji reactions. Müller received fewer angry reactions than the team, but more than Neuer. The authors also used data from a two-wave panel to study changes in evaluation and parasocial relationships and perceived authenticity as potential mediators. Only the team was evaluated more negatively after the elimination than before. Parasocial relationships mediated the effect of exposure to social media posts on evaluation.

From inspiration to nostalgia: the football participation legacy of the 2002 FIFA World Cup Korea/Japan

ABSTRACTMass sport participation as a legacy of sports mega-events has been emphasized among scholars for decades. However, little is known about its effect in East Asian countries, especially Japan and South Korea, two major hosts of such events. Therefore, this study examines the causal connection between the 2002 Fédération Internationale de Football Association (FIFA) World Cup Korea/Japan and football participation in the host countries. It is the first to use an empirical analysis based on the 2002 FIFA World Cup, and one of the few that combines the psychological constructs of inspiration and nostalgia to determine if they translate into behavioural changes in sport participation. Additionally, the study identifies the differences in the World Cup’s spectatorship type and nationality. The results revealed that both inspiration and nostalgia evoked by the 2002 World Cup positively influenced football participation. However, not many differences were found in spectatorship pattern nor nationality.

Differentiating African Teams from European Teams: Identifying the Key Performance Indicators in the FIFA World Cup 2018.

Soccer is the most popular sport in the world. Despite this global popularity, European teams in contrast to African ones, have dominated the Fédération Internationale de Football Association (FIFA) World Cup tournaments for many decades. Therefore, the aim of this study was to examine the performance indicators that differentiated between African and European teams in the 2018 FIFA World Cup. Thirty matches played by five European (n = 15) and five African teams (n = 15) from the group stages of the World Cup were analysed using the InStat video system. The results showed that European teams had higher averages than African teams on the following performance variables: total shots, shots on target, goals scored from open play and set pieces, ball possession, short passes, medium passes, total passes, accurate passes and corner kicks. Therefore, soccer coaches should take note of these findings as they could serve as a benchmark for African teams to set trends and improve their performance at FIFA World Cup tournaments.

‘He is like a Gazelle (when he runs)’ (re)constructing race and nation in match-day commentary at the men’s 2018 FIFA World Cup

ABSTRACT The paper examines the language and racial framing used by match commentators and panellists when describing football players at the 2018 men’s Fédération Internationale de Football Association (FIFA) World Cup finals. The paper shines light on the extent to which positive praise continues to differ for different visibly ‘raced’ players within and across the 19 of the 32 national teams that competed at the 2018 finals. The data are drawn from content analysis of 2700 minute of television coverage taken from 20 purposively selected matches shown on the British Broadcasting Corporation’s (BBC) and Independent Television (ITV) television channels in Britain. Results indicate that positive praise differed significantly for differently raced players and it conformed to, and reproduced, wider racial stereotypes and myths. They also indicate that positive praise for men of the same racial category was disrupted by national affiliations and geographic locations, especially for majority white Eastern-European national teams, whose narratives drew heavily instead on ‘cold war’ discourses and imagining.

Engineering Design Challenges in Realization of a Very Large IP-Based Television Facility

<italic xmlns:mml="http://www.w3.org/1998/Math/MathML" xmlns:xlink="http://www.w3.org/1999/xlink">In 2016, NBCUniversal (NBCU) broke ground on Telemundo Center, the new Miami-based global headquarters for Telemundo Enterprises. The facility, which features 13 production studios and 7 control rooms supporting scripted episodic content, daily live news, and sports programming, went live in Spring 2018 with the coverage of the Fédération Internationale de Football Association (FIFA) World Cup. At the time of launch, Telemundo Center was home to the largest SMPTE ST 2110 environment in the world, consisting of over 12,000 unique high-definition (HD) sources and 150,000 multicast streams across audio and video. The technical decision to use a software-defined video network infrastructure was essential to supporting the scale and flexibility of a facility of this magnitude. This article explores the major considerations and challenges in building such a large-scale, all-Internet Protocol (IP) broadcast production facility, including design factors around switching video flows, redundancy, control and orchestration, Precision Time Protocol (PTP) master clock systems, and handoffs to multimanufacturer SMPTE ST 2110 devices as well as non-IP-enabled devices. We also review our experiences and lessons learned with utilizing software-defined network (SDN) control plane and routing commands that abstract the underlying physical and link-level connectivity</i> .

Diferencias en las concentraciones de cortisol en día de partido en jugadores internacionales de fútbol: titulares vs no titulares

Objetivo: La hormona cortisol participa en situaciones de respuestas fisiológicas y conductuales, preparando al organismo para actuar en un momento de estrés de naturaleza física, insegura, o como lo es la competición deportiva, de ésta manera, se pretende como objetivo principal analizar las respuestas del cortisol de 20 futbolistas (titulares y no titulares) de nivel internacional durante un día de partido de competición.&#x0D; Método: Durante la Copa Mundial de la Fédération Internationale de Football Association 2018 en Rusia, fueron seleccionados 20 jugadores de un equipo nacional para obtener un perfil individualizado de los jugadores, analizándose durante el día de partido, mediante análisis salival en los primeros 30 minutos tras despertar (8.00 am). Para el análisis estadístico de diferencias entre grupos, se utilizó t-student (Grupo: titulares / no titulares) × 1 (Tiempo: basal).&#x0D; Resultados: Con los resultados obtenidos, observamos un aumento en la Respuesta al Despertar del Cortisol en función de si los jugadores jugaban de inicio como titulares o iniciaban como no titulares, existiendo diferencia significativa (p=0.005; P= 0.105) entre ambos grupos.&#x0D; Conclusiones: Se observó un perfil diferenciado, con una diferencia en aumento de cortisol de los jugadores titulares, pudiendo deberse a un incremento de la tensión precompetitiva propia, en muchos casos necesaria para encarar la competición.

Assessing the role and use of recycled aggregates in the sustainable management of construction and demolition waste via a mini-review and a case study.

Rapid industrial development, mega construction projects and increased immigration are some of the reasons that the State of Qatar has recently generated an unprecedented amount of construction and demolition (C&D) waste in the country. The State is racing towards the Fédération Internationale de Football Association World Cup 2022, a fact that requires additional construction, for which it is expected to increase its rate of waste generation. Compared to other regions, there are relatively few studies in the literature that report on the C&D waste management issues of Qatar. The present work begins to address this gap by providing insights into the current state of C&D waste management practices in Qatar and by providing a mini-review on the benefits of using recycled aggregates which have only recently been allowed locally by Qatar Construction Standards. A Strengths, Weaknesses, Opportunities, and Threats analysis has been implemented, using data and information from various sources including governmental reports, industries, local waste management companies, as well as reported interviews with relevant stakeholders. Finally, several strategies were proposed and developed that could potentially be implemented by stakeholders and decision-makers, so as to improve the current status by encouraging more sustainable and viable practices.

Use of Predictive Modeling to Plan for Special Event Medical Care During Mass Gathering Events.

In 2010, South Africa (SA) hosted the Fédération Internationale de Football Association (FIFA) World Cup (soccer). Emergency Medical Services (EMS) used the SA mass gathering medicine (MGM) resource model to predict resource allocation. This study analyzed data from the World Cup and compared them with the resource allocation predicted by the SA mass gathering model. Prospectively, data were collected from patient contacts at 9 venues across the Western Cape province of South Africa. Required resources were based on the number of patients seeking basic life support (BLS), intermediate life support (ILS), and advanced life support (ALS). Overall patient presentation rates (PPRs) and transport to hospital rates (TTHRs) were also calculated. BLS services were required for 78.4% (n = 1279) of patients and were consistently overestimated using the SA mass gathering model. ILS services were required for 14.0% (n = 228), and ALS services were required for 3.1% (n = 51) of patients. Both ILS and ALS services, and TTHR were underestimated at smaller venues. The MGM predictive model overestimated BLS requirements and inconsistently predicted ILS and ALS requirements. MGM resource models, which are heavily based on predicted attendance levels, have inherent limitations, which may be improved by using research-based outcomes.