Major Event Protection - FIFA World Cup - Assignment Example

Major Event Protection Major Event Protection of FIFA World Cup The event is one of the largest single sporting event or rather competition in the globe. The contest usually entails senior national team (men) 208 countries who are member of the Member Association of FIFA. Since the1930 inaugural tournament, the event is held every four years. However, in 1942 and 1946, the Second World War disrupted the tournament thus it was never held. The objectives of the association (FIFA) are not only to touch the world and the development of the game but also building a future that is relatively better through various means (Soccerlens, 2015). Concerning the format of this tournament, it encompasses 32 teams. These teams compete for the World Cup title at the host nation’s venue for a one month period, which serves as the final stage of the competition and it is usually referred to as the Final competition. The other phases are the qualification stage and the preliminary stage which take place three years after the previous tournament. The period is also characterized with the determination of the teams to qualify for the next tournament inclusive of the host nation. The final competition inclusive of the preliminaries is often used to promote values such as fair play, respect, as well as discipline to the world as the world watches (Soccerlens, 2015). The audience of the tournament is usually huge as it consists of millions of individuals who travel to the host nation to view the tournament as well as those who stay at their respective nations and follow the events through various media such as TV. Description of the location for the next tournament The 2018 World Cup has been scheduled to occur in Russia from 14th June to 15th July 2018. It will be first World Cup event to be held in the former Soviet Union area. The format described above is expected to be maintained with the final expected to be held in Moscow at a stadium called Luzhniki. The journey to hosting the tournament in Russia began in 2009 amidst competition from other nations such as Mexico, England, Spain, Portugal, Netherland, and Belgium. The cities in the host country will encompass Moscow, Kazan, Kaliningrad, Krasnodar, Nizhny, Novgorod, Saint Petersburg, Rostov-On-Don, Samara, Sochi, Saransk, Yaroslavi, Volgograd, and Yekaterinburg. The cities are either in or slightly out of Russia with the aim of minimizing travel time for the teams since the country are relatively huge (Soccerlens, 2015). When Russia bided to host the tournament, it proposed 13 host cities where the stadia proposed were 16. Out of these stadia, 16 were to be newly constructed while 3 were to be renovated. However, the host nation reduced the number of stadia to 14 from 16 in 2011. Moreover, the regional government cancelled the proposed construction of Podolsk Stadium. In addition, the number of the cities were further reduced to 11 while too were further reduced to 12. In October last year, the inspection committee from FIFA made a visit to Russia to examine the progress of the preparations and they were satisfied. There have been several controversies that have marred the proposed host nation (Russia). One of the major concerns that have been raised is related to the level of racism that characterizes Russian Football. In addition, there are also concerns on discrimination against LGBT individuals in the Russian society. There are also allegations that Russia was involved in Ukraine’s conflict which prompted calls for the tournament to be moved. Besides, there have been allegations of corruption scandals in the process of bidding and countries such as England have threatened to boycott the event. The investigations were launched by several agencies such as the FBI and in the event that it is conclusively proven that there was an iota of corruption, the award is likely to be cancelled. The trend of the state of Russian economy has also left more questions than answers as to its capability of holding the event due to its current financial crisis. The budget for the preparation has been significantly cut through a government decree (Soccerlens, 2015). Security concern of the tournament Russia has been in consistent battle with America to discover if at all there are some forms of existence in the space. In addition, Vladimir Putin has been eager to add the above battle with the situation in Ukraine. The other controversy as illuminated earlier is related to controversial bidding process in awarding the tournament. The president Putin is determined to showcase to the world that the nation has the ability to return to being a strong political force and power at the global arena (MacFarquhar & Roth, 2015). Distinctive publications on racism attitude and sexual discrimination have been major concerns to other nations. These problems can be dated back to the Nazi regime and in 2014, the winter Olympics which was held in Sochi generated severe criticism. This was due to the fact that the games were held despite the numerous deaths of the Muslim workers. There were human rights concerns despite the Russian Government dismissing the suggestions that Sochi discredited the reputation of the country. The National Olympic Committee members who voted for Sochi to hold the games have been threatened by rebel terrorists who are alleged to have planned to cause havoc during the tournament. It escalated security concerns on the athletes that were taking part in the games. Besides, antigay demonstrations also characterized the Sochi games. The safety of the public during the games also left more questions than answers as it was apparently perceived to be relatively low. Amidst the impacts of politics in the games and worries, the event was highly well coordinated and organized and some of the opinions have been changed related to the country hosting the largest football or soccer event (Soccerlens, 2015). However, the relationship between Russia and Ukraine has proved futile to be settling. It has also surfaced as a matter that needs to be looked into using high definition quality glasses by filtering the issues through the screens or reality and truth. If the matter is not addressed prior to 2018 FIFA World Cup, then there are doubts concerning the success of the event. Furthermore, there have been worries over safety not only for the traveling fans from other countries during the 2018 world cup but also for the citizens of Russia and Ukraine. The safety concerns have been compounded further by the allegations related to the Malaysian Airplane Flight crash that led to the death of 285 passengers inclusive of 15 crew members. There have been insinuations that Russia tracked the flight with the attempt of causing more harm following the Crimea event. There is little clarification that gives explanations to the incident despite the fact that there is popular belief that Russia was involved in the tragedy (Soccerlens, 2015). Some of the security concerns during the upcoming FIFA World Cup event are anticipated to be of little major concerns due to the host credibility. The country has sufficient rooms to accommodate millions of fans from various nations without these fans fending for accommodation from other countries. Security related to traffic during the tournament is likely to be enhanced through the improvement of the transport facilities. The speed and the organization of the public transport is said to be slightly inefficient. The remedy towards alleviation of this problem is expected to be solved by construction of high speed rail network. In addition, Sochi proved amidst concern its capability to stage world major events and this phenomenon has been an encouraging factor in the country’s capability of safely staging the tournament (MacFarquhar & Roth, 2015). In relation to crowd management control, FIFA has introduced new modalities for crowd control. For an instant, FIFA has introduced huge penalties against fans who trouble security at the entrances of stadiums as witnessed in the last world cup through the Chilean fans in Maracana (Guardian, 2014). FIFA has regulations such as the FIFA Stadium Safety and Security Regulations that host countries and organizers of the events have to meet before the tournament is upstaged hence Russia is not an exception (FIFA, 2015). The regulations are related to responsibility, staffing, stadium safety and security planning, stadium risk assessment, spectator safety and security policy document, and terrorism among others. In reference to the recent spate of terrorism threats by militia groups such as ISIS, the country’s security agencies and bodies have been vigilant on the security of its citizens and visitors as well, confirmed during last year games at Sochi, the country was able to wade of some of the terrorist threats to cause harm during this athletic events. Numerous measures have been put in place to reverse the attitude of the Russian public concerning racism and sexual discrimination of individuals. Due to lapses witnessed in the last FIFA World Cup in Brazil, FIFA is working on the introduction of additional new measures to manage security at the various venues or stadia (FIFA, 2015). References: Soccerlens (2015). FIFA World Cup 2018 Russia-Will it go ahead? Retrieved on 23rd June 2015 from: http://soccerlens.com/fifa-world-cup-2018-russia-will-go-ahead/163395/ MacFarquhar, N & Roth, A (2015). Putin on Guard for 2018 World Cup in Russia, Denounces FIFA arrest. Retrieved on 23rd June 2015 from: http://www.nytimes.com/2015/05/29/sports/vladimir-putin-fifa-corruption-soccer.html?_r=0 FIFA (2015). FIFA Stadium Safety and Security Regulations. Retrieved on 23rd June 2015 from: http://www.fifa.com/mm/document/tournament/competition/51/53/98/safetyregulations_e.pdf Guardian (2014). FIFA will introduce new measures after lapses in crowd control. Retrieved on 23rd June 2015 from: http://www.theguardian.com/football/2014/jun/19/fifa-embarrassed-crowd-control-chile-spain Read More