The Impact of FIFA World Cup as a Global Event - Essay Example

Event Tourism Name: Tutor: Course: Date: Introduction The aim of this essay is to find out the impact of FIFA world cup as a global event with respect to tourism and economy. Nowadays, there are many attractive events or festival in the world. The FIFA World Cup Soccer has been open by FIFA for 4years interval with international countries. In this year, 2014 on June the World Cup starting in Brazil. There are many Soccer fan waiting the big event from many countries (Kidd, 2008). The World Cup started by Uruguay in 1930. This essay will introduce about description of FIFA World Cup and find out the historical story from now onwards. World Cup FIFA World Cup or World Cup is a global event for senior men playing at an international platform. The event was inaugurated in 1930 and has been held every four years except during the Second World War of 1942 and 1946. The event creates much enthusiasm and excitement to participating teams and the host country. To the host country it is a mixture of both pressure to meet deadlines and economic benefits (Leopkey & Parent, 2009). The present format of the event comprises of 32 competing teams at different venues within the host country over 30 days. To participate in the event, the teams have to pass the qualification phase. World Cup is followed by many people around the world and attended by thousands in the various stadiums and arenas being hosted. People like this event because it creates much excitement and bets over which team will win. The promotions and TV adverts also fill people with enthusiasm as multinational companies compete to capture the global audience (Taylor & Toohey 2007). World Cup is a show meant to bring people of diverse background together and congregate as one family, the sports family. The event has two phases; qualification and final phase. The qualification phase is held in the FIFA continental zones of Asia, North and Central America, Oceania, Africa, Caribbean and Europe which have respective confederations. The number of places awarded to continental zones is influenced by relative strength of confederation teams. The qualification period lasts two years and starts three years before the final tournament and differs in formats (Taylor & Toohey 2007). Winners of play-offs get one or two places. For instance, Oceania zone winners and fifth place Asian zone team entered a play-off for the 2010 World Cup spot. Host countries must qualify to participate in the event. The final tournament has 32 teams taken through group stage then knock out stage. A round-robin tournament is played by each group while the last round of matches is played at the same time. Each group’s top two teams advance to the knockout stage. Three points are awarded for a win, none for a loss and one for a draw (Taylor & Toohey 2007). Greatest group determines team ranking matches number of points, goal differences and number of goals scored. Drawing lots will be used to determine the ranking of teams that remain level after the above criteria has been applied. Teams play each other in one-off matches in the knockout stage with penalty shoot outs and extra time. It starts with the second round of 16 where the runners up of a group play with the winner of another group. Quarter finals are followed by semi-finals then losing semi-finalist's contest for a third-place match. The ultimate game is the final. FIFA World Cup History FIFA was founded in 1904 as a move to organize international football between countries outside the framework of Olympic Games. FIFA describes these games as failure (Toohey 2008). 1924 heralded the beginning of FIFA’s professionalism. Uruguay was the first nation in 1930 to host the inaugural FIFA World Cup and also to celebrate their centenary of independence. The choice of this destination became long and costly for European countries (Leopkey & Parent, 2009). Thirteen countries participated; two from North America, four from Europe and seven from South America. USA and France won the games. World War II saw the games cancelled in 1942 and 1946. British participants declined to play with countries they were at were with in 1920 and as a protest for foreign influence on football. They later agreed in 1950 to play in Brazil. South American and European teams easily won the tournaments from 1934 to 1978. Teams from outside Europe and South America advanced in 1982 with expansion to 24 teams and later 32 teams in 1998 (Taylor & Toohey 2007). There is a possibility of expanding the teams to 40 in the future. 2002 FIFA World Cup saw two hundred teams participate, 198 countries qualified in 2006 FIFA World Cup and 204 countries participated in 2010 FIFA World Cup. Brazil is hosting the 2014 FIFA World Cup. The opening ceremony is an event in itself since host nations prepare an array of events depicting the country's culture, people and environment. The event is exciting for attendees and viewers across the world. These presentations involving songs, skits, drama and performances are organized alongside construction of stadiums (Leopkey & Parent, 2009). This follows the introduction of FIFA officials from the various confederations and playing of the opening match by the host countries and the World Cup champions. The games are the real test of the country’s ability and might to host a global event. The viewers across the world are estimated to be 2.3 billion people while those attending are likely to hit 4 million in FIFA World Cup held in Brazil. These games have heightened security for teams, fans and residents. Prior to the 2014 FIFA World Cup, there have been protests in Brazil over the continued death of stadium construction workers, an indicator of lean safety and health of workers (Toohey 2008). FIFA has been steadfast in inspecting and monitoring the state of stadiums to ensure fitness and suitability for all the participants. Advertising and Promotion First televised in 1954, the World Cup at the moment is the most widely followed and viewed sporting event worldwide. It has exceeded the Olympic Games. The cumulative audience is estimated to be 26.29 billion for all matches up to the 2006 World Cup. The final match of the 2006 tournament was followed by 715.1 million individuals who are the ninth of the total planet population. The FIFA World Cup has attracted many sponsors such as McDonalds, Adidas and Coca-Cola among others. These companies spend their money to create impact on their global brands by sport sponsorship at the World Cup (Kidd, 2008). The host country foresees increases in multi-million dollar revenue during the month long event. For example, Brazil’s economic predictions for the 2014 World Cup expect to earn more than $11 billion in revenue. Since 1966, each FIFA World Cup has its own logo or mascot. Official Match Balls specifically designed for each World Cup have also featured in the recent World Cups. The host government earmarks billions of dollars in investment works relating to the World Cup as construction of roads, supply of water, expansion and equipping of hospitals, re-carpeting of roads and airports among others (Taylor & Toohey 2007). The bulk of funds goes into works relating to the tournament itself, though the total figure is defined after a meeting with representatives of the municipalities that host the matches. Socio-economic and environmental impacts of the event The event attracts demonstrators who are not happy with the amount of public money spending to host the FIFA World Cup. Police in most cases have to use pepper spray and tear gas to quell the protests (Kidd, 2008). For example, in June 2013, demonstrations to place in Brazil as part of wider rioting and unrest in Brazilian cities due to increased ticket prices on public transport. Due to the high inflation, the Brazilians are expressing deeper public disenchantment with the country’s financial management by the Government (Toohey 2008). The environmental effects of the project have provided for the restoration of rivers, beautification of environment and Museums. There is also the re-vitalization and development of neighborhoods (Leopkey & Parent, 2009). Investment has also focused on waste disposal since influx of many people into the country is likely to create stress into the sewerage systems and transportation. The project management requires consideration into areas of logistics as roads, ports railways, airports, and waterways. Others are energy like renewable, petroleum, transmission and generation of electric power and natural gas. Conclusion FIFA World Cup is very famous event/festival across the globe. Many Soccer fans must go to the stadium to watching Soccer play. The event is throwing Soccer ball to players and competition. The event has been attracting many fans around the world partly because of the advertisement and huge following by fans. The Cup was started in 1930 with European and South American countries participating. In the last three decades, there has been increased attendance and participation by other continents (Florek, Breitbarth & Conejo 2008). The event has opening ceremonies and matches which depict the country’s culture and heritage. Attendance has been growing as fans continue to follow their teams and sportsmen while others find it a chance to go to their tourism destinations. World Cup has created excitement that has surpassed the Olympic Games since all the countries have been involved in qualification and knockout. Reference list Florek M, Breitbarth T & Conejo F 2008, Mega Event = Mega Impact? Travelling Fans' Experience and Perceptions of the 2006 FIFA World Cup Host Nation, Journal of Sport & Tourism, Volume 13, Issue 3 http://www.tandfonline.com/doi/full/10.1080/14775080802310231 Kidd B 2008, A new social movement: Sport for development and peace, Sport in Society: Cultures, Commerce, Media, Politics, Volume 11, Issue 4. http://www.tandfonline.com/doi/full/10.1080/17430430802019268?src=recsys Leopkey B & Parent M M 2009, Risk Management Issues in Large-scale Sporting Events: a Stakeholder Perspective, European Sport Management Quarterly, Volume 9, Issue 2. http://www.tandfonline.com/doi/full/10.1080/16184740802571443?src=recsys Taylor T & Toohey K 2007, Perceptions of Terrorism Threats at the 2004 Olympic Games: Implications for Sport Events, Journal of Sport & Tourism, Volume 12, Issue 2. http://www.tandfonline.com/doi/full/10.1080/14775080701654754?src=recsys  Toohey K 2008, Terrorism, sport and public policy in the risk society, Sport in Society: Cultures, Commerce, Media, Politics, Volume 11, Issue 4. http://www.tandfonline.com/doi/full/10.1080/17430430802019367?src=recsys Read More