International Football
The economics and public relations of the 2022 World Cup
Money and football. Beauty and the beast.
No other event on earth comes remotely close to the World Cup in terms of viewership, attendance, talent, nationalism, and sheer magic. The World Cup is the ultimate celebration and dramatization of the beautiful game.
The economics of the World Cup also add up to an equally dizzying spectacle. The 2022 Qatar World Cup is the most expensive of all time. Here’s a breakdown of the numbers:
- $220 billion: The estimated cost of what Qatar spent on infrastructure in preparation for the 2022 World Cup.
- $42 million: The prize money awarded to the team that wins it all. FIFA allows each team to decide what share of the purse players receive.
- $30 million: Prize money for the runners-up.
- $9 million: The amount each team gets just for qualifying for the World Cup.
- $60 million: The reported annual value of Nike’s deal to sponsor the French Football Federation. Nike has deals of various sizes with 13 nations in the 32-team field, the most of any apparel brand.
- $128 million: The highest-paid player is France’s Kylian Mbappé, who’ll make $110 million on the field this year through his contract with Paris Saint-Germain, and another $18 million off the field.
- $209 million: The amount that soccer clubs around the world receive from a fund set aside by FIFA to reward them for developing players who play in the tournament for their national teams.
- $277 million: The widely reported amount David Beckham was paid by Qatar to serve as an ambassador for the 2022 World Cup, paid out in installments over 10 years.
- $440 million: The total prize pool for the 2022 World Cup, up from $400 million in 2018.
- $1.7 billion: The costs covered by FIFA for this year’s World Cup (prize money, hospitality, logistics and TV operations).
- $7.5 billion: FIFA’s commercial deals tied to the 2022 World Cup.
- $160 billion: The amount estimated to be spent by gamblers worldwide.
The public relations of the World Cup: the good and the bad
The tournament’s public relations value to Qatar and FIFA is a no-brainer. The energy-rich Gulf state will be able to showcase its shiny, state-of-the-art infrastructure and facilities.
In doing so, Qatar will become the face of an Arab world that projects itself as rich, bold, and futuristic – a dramatic contrast with current perceptions of a world wracked by conflict, repression, violence and conservatism.
In many ways, hosting the World Cup is in PR terms similar to Qatar’s launch in 1996 of the Al Jazeera television network that radically changed the Arab media landscape and put the Gulf state on the map in a way public relations never could have.
But the World Cup also has a dark public relations side. Overshadowing the question of the cost of the World Cup is the fate of the migrant workers who have toiled in the country for the past decade. There are 1.7 million migrant workers in the country, accounting for over 90% of the workforce in a population of 2.9 million.
Since it was awarded the tournament in 2010, Qatar has faced a barrage of criticism from human rights groups for its treatment of foreign workers, and thousands of migrant deaths have been reported.
FIFA, football fans and PR
How FIFA came to its decision to award the World Cup to Qatar will forever be shrouded in mystery. Allegations of bribery are just that, allegations. They have never been proven, nor will they ever be. There can only be assumptions.
For FIFA, football’s international governing body, neither migrant worker deaths nor the question of costs will affect its bottom line. It has been a financial boom.
For the football fans, economics and public relations are not relevant at this stage. All they want to do is sit back, relax and enjoy the tension of the beautiful game.
-prnomics.com/
In a compelling twist of football destiny, Davide Ancelotti is stepping into his own spotlight as he begins his first head coaching role at Brazilian club Botafogo—just months after parting ways with his legendary father, Carlo Ancelotti, at Real Madrid.
The 35-year-old has been appointed as Botafogo’s new manager, the club announced on Tuesday, following the sacking of Renato Paiva. Davide, who has spent the last decade working alongside his father at some of Europe’s top clubs—including Bayern Munich, Napoli, Everton, and Real Madrid—has signed a one-year deal with the Rio-based team.
This marks a significant milestone for the younger Ancelotti, whose career has long been shaped by his father’s influence, but who now faces the challenge of carving his own identity on the touchline.
The move comes shortly after both father and son departed Real Madrid at the end of last season, with Carlo taking over the Brazilian national team. Now, in a poetic alignment, father and son find themselves on different paths within Brazilian football—one leading the Seleção, the other steering the fortunes of a storied domestic club.
Botafogo’s decision to appoint Davide follows a controversial parting with Paiva, who was dismissed just days after their exit from the Club World Cup. Though he oversaw a stunning win over Champions League holders Paris Saint-Germain, a 1-0 extra-time loss to Palmeiras in the round of 16 proved to be his final act after just four months in charge.
As Davide Ancelotti begins this new chapter, all eyes will be on whether the son of one of football’s most decorated managers can step out from his father’s shadow—and perhaps, in time, build a legacy of his own.
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International Football
Players’ union, FIFPRO, wants 20-minute halftimes, more cooling breaks amid extreme heat
Global players’ union FIFPRO is exploring whether extending halftime to 20 minutes and introducing more frequent cooling breaks could better protect players from extreme heat.
Nine of the 16 host cities for the 2026 World Cup face conditions considered “extreme risk” for heat-related illness.
Atlanta, Boston, Dallas, Guadalajara, Houston, Kansas City, Miami, Monterrey and Philadelphia are expected to face dangerous levels of heat and humidity, posing player safety concerns and fuelling calls for mandatory cooling aids or schedule changes.
FIFPRO’s heat risk assessments are based on wet bulb globe temperature (WBGT), a measure combining temperature, humidity, solar radiation and wind speed to estimate how environmental conditions affect the body’s ability to cool itself.
Under FIFPRO guidelines, a WBGT reading above 28 degrees Celsius indicates conditions in which matches should be postponed or rescheduled to protect players’ health.
By comparison, world soccer governing body FIFA’s own guidelines set the extreme risk threshold higher, at 32 degrees Celsius WBGT – but even by that standard, six of the nine cities are still projected to exceed safe limits.
Major League Soccer in the U.S. has a threshold of 29 degrees Celsius WBGT.
“Cooling breaks at the 30th minute and 75th minutes are quite traditional, but from a physiological point of view it does not make sense,” said Vincent Gouttebarge, FIFPRO’s Medical Director.
“Even if you ingest more than 200 millilitres of fluid, you already cannot take it all. So I would definitely like to see some project where we look at the efficacy of perhaps more frequent but shorter cooling breaks – every 15 minutes, rather than only one during each half.”
LONGER HALFTIMES
Gouttebarge also questioned whether the traditional 15-minute halftime interval is sufficient when matches are played in extreme heat.
“You can imagine that halftime of 15 minutes might not be enough in order to decrease the core temperature,” he said.
“It could be a halftime of 20 minutes which would be significant. That has been shown in the laboratory and FIFPRO, together with the national union in Portugal in August, we are going to test this kind of mitigation strategy.”
The urgency of stronger heat protocols became clear at this month’s Club World Cup where two matches — Benfica-Bayern Munich in Charlotte and Chelsea-Esperance in Philadelphia exceeded the WBGT threshold FIFPRO considers unsafe.
“According to our position, those games should have been postponed later that day or rescheduled,” Gouttebarge said.
FIFPRO officials acknowledged that FIFA has responded constructively during the tournament by lowering thresholds for mandatory cooling breaks and improving pitch-side hydration, but stressed that proactive planning is critical.
“FIFA have been quite responsive once the tournament was under way,” said Alex Phillips, FIFPRO General Secretary.
“They have actually modified how they’ve been dealing with heat during the matches based on FIFPRO’s input, which is credit to the work of the team. Obviously, it would have been better if that happened in advance, but it’s better that they have adapted.”
FIFPRO warned that the risks highlighted at the Club World Cup are a preview of what players could face at the expanded 2026 World Cup.
“This is not just affecting the Club World Cup, but also future tournaments either in the U.S. or elsewhere in the world,” said Alexander Bielefeld, FIFPRO Director of Policy & Strategic Relations.
“We need a better balance between commercial interests and the health and safety of players,” he added, referring to earlier kick-off times to accommodate European television audiences.
-Reuters
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Former Manchester United and England midfielder Paul Ince has been charged with drink-driving, police said on Monday.
Ince, who earned 53 caps for England and won two Premier League titles during his six years at United, has been released on bail and will appear in court on July 18.
“The incident involved a black Range Rover which had collided with the central reservation barrier. Officers attended the scene and arrested a 57-year-old man,” the Cheshire police said in a statement.
“Paul Ince, of Quarry Road, Neston, has since been charged with drink-driving.”
Reuters has contacted Ince’s representative for comment.
After retiring as a player, Ince led Milton Keynes Dons to a League Two title in 2007-08. He most recently managed Reading during 2022-23.
-Reuters
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