Climate Change, the World Cup, & the Future of Major Sporting Events 

    The World Cup is the most significant event in sports, drawing more viewers and crowds than any other spectacle to watch athletes compete to win soccer's ultimate trophy and represent their country (Pumerantz, 2012). The 2022 World Cup in Qatar delivered a thrilling tournament, but unlike others in the past, this competition promised to be a carbon-neutral event by the International Federation of Association Football or FIFA, to help offset the emissions for a more climate-friendly tournament (Boykoff, 2022). The logistics and construction needs to have the competition, along with it taking place in a country with troubling climate patterns, made this one of the most challenging tournaments to host, especially with current and future environmental characteristics as a significant focal point.  

​

Climate Benefits of the Tournament    

    For the tournament to take place in Qatar, it needed to be moved to November and December due to the unsafe temperatures that the country experiences over the summer months, which is when the tournament usually takes place. This was to help ensure the players, coaches, and fans were not exposed to unusually high and dangerous temperatures, where sports performance can be hindered, along with increased risks of dehydration and overheating (Kenny et al. 2015). The temperatures and the athletes playing at high levels require adequate cooling, so having the tournament in the cooler months lessens the need for these resources.  

In an effort to minimize travel and emissions for all attendees, all venues built could be reached within 30 miles of the capital/ main airport, and the stadiums were constructed with state-of-the-art energy-efficient lighting and cooling mechanisms to combat Qatar's climate (Irfan, 2022). Qatar is also planning to repurpose or disassemble all newly built stadiums to ensure the projects do not go to waste, which has been a key recent issue for previous countries building massive venues for this tournament and then not needing them since (Irfan, 2022). In addition, Qatar purchased carbon credits, which pays for environmentally focused projects in exchange for the pollutants that would be produced to host the tournament (Boykoff, 2022). Many pro-environmental aspects went into hosting the 2022 World Cup, but there are still substantial concerns that were never dealt with, and the world is still waiting on if Qatar will maintain its promise of a carbon-neutral event.       

 

Environmental Issues from the Tournament

    Despite some of the climate-friendly considerations, numerous issues went against the environment, many of which were unaccounted for (Boykoff, 2022; Irfan, 2022). For example, FIFA and Qatar did not properly assess the climate impact of millions traveling to see the tournament, including the 1,300 daily flights, hotels, and transportation of spectators visiting. Seven of the eight stadiums, which cost $6.5 billion, were built specifically for this tournament and had most of their materials imported from other countries, raising more emissions (Boykoff, 2022). FIFA and Qatar also did not account for the 2,000 or more gallons of water needed each day to water the grass of the practice fields and stadiums, along with the greenhouse gas emissions the venues would produce over a lifetime (Boykoff, 2022; Irfan, 2022). Despite the promises to be the most climate-friendly World Cup in the tournament's history, the 2022 World Cup has not proven to be a primary focus on the environment. With national and international tournaments becoming more popular than ever, organizations and countries need to take more drastic steps to minimize the significant environmental issues plaguing our planet.     

​

Future of Major Sporting Events    

    The future of national and international tournaments can be complicated when attempting to satisfy all needs of the participants, coaches, and spectators, along with focusing on the environment, but there are vital steps that can be taken. Eliminating new stadium construction is essential, especially if building new venues just for one event. Many countries that produce these new construction projects end up costing the countries even more money for hosting these events, which is why many newly built stadiums are left abandoned or with little purpose after the tournament ends (Boykoff, 2022). Tournament organizers also need to choose established sites for competitions since nothing can be done about the emissions from previous venue projects, but this can help eliminate future negative environmental contributions (Boykoff, 2022; Irfan, 2022). It is also crucial to have these tournament sites centrally located whenever possible to minimize travel and lodging costs for athletes, coaches, and spectators. In addition, organizations must include emission costs for everyone involved in the competition and allocate funding to actual sustainable practices that offset or removes carbon emissions, along with improving the accountability of purchasing carbon credits (Boykoff, 2022; Irfan, 2022).  

    Despite everything the scientific community knows regarding the negative impact the world has and is currently making on the Earth's climate, it appears that countries and organizations are not doing enough, despite having significant power and resources to lower and sometimes even reverse these issues. The 2026 World Cup will be hosted by sixteen cities across Canada, Mexico, and the United States. The tournament will also be expanded to 48 teams from around the world instead of the typical 32. While most of these cities have established venues and resources to support a tournament of this size, the number of emissions generated for travel and boarding for everyone participating or attending the games will likely rival or surpass previous World Cup events (Boykoff, 2022). While there is still time to address the next tournament's climate challenges, little has been communicated to the public on how FIFA and the host countries plan to address these vital issues. National and international tournaments can still occur while also focusing on the environment, but it requires a collective effort on all fronts to ensure that the climate can be preserved for future generations.       

​

References

Boykoff, J. (2022, November 23). The World Cup in Qatar is a climate catastrophe. Scientific American. www.scientificamerican.com/article/the-world-cup-in-qatar-is-a-climate-catastrophe/#:~:text=The%20Qatar%20World%20Cup%20is,by%20a%20factor%20of%20eight

Kenny, W. L., Wilmore, J. H., & Costill, D. L. (2015). Physiology of sport and exercise (6th Ed.). Human Kinetics. 

Irfan, U. (2022, December 10). The World Cup is missing its climate goals. It should still keep taking shots. Vox. www.vox.com/science-and-health/23458620/fifa-world-cup-2022-greenwashing-climate-change

Pumerantz, Z. (2012, July 6). Ranking the biggest events in sports. Bleacher Report. https://bleacherreport.com/articles/1247928-ranking-the-biggest-events-in-sports