Improving FIFA's World Cup Hosting Requirements to Create Better Cities

[Note: This is a blog post I wrote for Planetizen's blog, Interchange, which includes an academic-type paper I wrote on FIFA's requirements for World Cup host cities.]

[B]ecause of the minimal requirements made of the cities hosting World Cup matches, how cities prepare for the event is hardly a concern to FIFA, soccer's international governing body. Whether hosting the World Cup makes a city exponentially better or terrifyingly less efficient is irrelevant to FIFA, based on how it guides the cities intending to host this event. The long-term impact of the event is hardly considered, and its potential to create the sort of vast civic improvement projects often resulting from such international event hosting is ignored. By not acknowledging the urban interventions made by host cities in preparation for World Cup hosting, FIFA is essentially turning a blind eye to the possible great things its event can bring to or inspire in cities.

Why Hosting a World Cup Doesn't Matter for Cities, and How it Can
Planetizen
December 2, 2010

New American Football Stadium Near L.A. Has Eyes on World Cup Duties

Designers of a proposed NFL football stadium in the city of Industry, California, have announced plans to build the stadium to FIFA specifications to enable it to play host to World Cup matches should the U.S> win its bid for the 2022 tournament.

FIFA requires a World Cup field be 75 yards wide, so Majestic Realty Co.'s adjustments are to ensure the facility meets soccer Switzerland-based governing body's specifications, and principal architect Dan Meis told the Associated Press that the plans can be further altered to meet any additional guidelines FIFA might set before the 2018 or 2022 World Cups.

"Because we’re building a new stadium, we could incorporate anything FIFA could want," Meis said.

NFL stadiums with World Cup in mind? Wise

South Africa's World Cup Challenges As Lessons for Brazil 2014

This review of South Africa's World Cup looks at a few key operational challenges faced by the country and how those challenges can inform Brazil's preparations for the 2014 World Cup. Areas of review include FIFA, the Local Organizing Committee, the stadia, and transportation.

Given its geography and state of development, Brazil will face many of the same challenges as South Africa. One way of counteracting the huge distances involved would be to base group games in clusters of local cities; that way the ludicrous distances faced by some teams in South Africa would be shortened. FIFA's Jerome Valcke has already said the plan is to divide Brazil's 12 host cities into four regions to reduce travel times for fans. Closer scrutiny by FIFA of promised transport improvements would be beneficial for all. Earlier this month, LOC chairman Teixiera described Brazil’s problems as “airports, airports, airports". The $5.5billion President Lula this week promised to improve them will help, but FIFA needs to make sure the Brazilian government deliver.

Analysis - What Brazil 2014 World Cup Organizers can Learn From South Africa
World Football Insider
July 23, 2010

China's 2026 World Cup Hopes Rely on Asian Failure in 2022

China's hopes to host the 2026 World Cup depends firstly on the outcome of the international race to host the 2022 World Cup. Four nations from the same geographical region are in the running for 2022, and should one of them win, FIFA's continental rotation rule would disqualify another Asian region host for the 2026 tournament.

Wei Di, the head of the Chinese Football Association (CFA), returned from South Africa last week and said he was keen to bring international soccer’s showpiece event to the world’s most populous country for the first time.

South Korea, Australia, Qatar and Japan have, however, already expressed their intention to bid for 2022 and Asian Football Confederation (AFC) president Bin Hammam said his priority was the success of one of those.

China World Cup bid relies on failure of other Asian bids
Reuters via Taipei Times
July 22, 2010

Potential Corruption in Australia's 2022 World Cup Bid

Another detailed post from Pitch Invasion looking into the past of one of the consultants working with Australia on the country's bid to host the 2022 World Cup.

Radmann’s links to the global game and the World Cup go back decades, and reach to the highest levels of the sport.

In 2000, Radmann was selected by Franz Beckenbauer to play a key role on the Organising Committee for the 2006 World Cup to be held in Germany, touted as a “marketing and PR expert”. He had previously been the co-ordinator of Germany’s successful World Cup bid, one tainted by allegations of bribes paid to FIFA officials to secure the vote.

Australia’s 2022 World Cup Bid and Fedor Radmann: Buying FIFA Connections
Pitch Invasion
July 4, 2010

Suspicious Activities Mar Australia's 2022 World Cup Bid

This detailed post from Pitch Invasion looks at one of two shady characters working behind the scenes on Australia's bid to host the 2022 World Cup, and the light that shines on FIFA's bidding process.

A couple of days ago, we commented on the revelations coming out in the Australian press about the suspect manner in which their World Cup bid was being made. That piece was on how Australia’s governing body, Football Federation Australia (FFA), and its bid team were taking advantage of FIFA’s lax and inadequate rules on gifts to FIFA Executive Committee members (the 24 of whom will decide on the hosts of the 2018 and 2022 World Cups in December).

Today, we will look at another of the revelations to have come out in Australia’s press that once again affirms the entire process of World Cup bidding is all about who you can buy to get the tournament.

Sadly, it means paying $11.37 million (AUS) to two of world soccer’s least pleasant leeches, Peter Hargitay and Fedor Radmann.

Paying Peter Hargitay: The Price Of A World Cup Bid
Pitch Invasion
July 1, 2010

China Eyes Bid for 2026 World Cup

Chinese officials have announced their interest in bidding to host the 2026 World Cup. This is the next World Cup that will be up for bids, with both the 2018 and 2022 Cups already deep in the bidding process.

The Chinese Football Association (CFA) would soon submit a request to the General Administration of Sports (GAS), the sports ministry, for approval to proceed with a formal bid, according to the CFA head Wei Di.

"We are so impressed by the great benefits the World Cup has brought to South Africa," Wei told the Beijing Youth Daily. "In South Africa, I saw how a World Cup could unite a country and improve its football."

China keen to bid for 2026 World Cup
Reuters
July 16, 2010

Redirecting World Cup Profits to Help Underprivileged Hosts

This column from the Huffington Post looks at the continued poverty issues facing South Africa, and offers some ideas about how FIFA can redirect some of its efforts -- and revenues -- to help counteract social ills during the next World Cup in similarly developing and poverty-stricken Brazil.

with international sporting events trending towards the developing world, both host countries and governing bodies need rethink the bidding system. Currently, it awards games to those building the most luxurious stadiums. Instead, investment needs to go to public transport systems that benefit local populations and infrastructure projects with long-term benefit.

The 2014 World Cup in cities across Brazil with the 2016 Olympics in Rio de Janeiro could start this trend. Like South Africa, Brazil is a large and growing economy. But its cities are also ringed by sprawling slums, high crime rates and poverty.

Willing the Rich to Share in the World Cup Profits
The Huffington Post
July 16, 2010

Blatter Backs SA Bid for 2020 Olympics

FIFA President Sepp Blatter has annonced that he will fully back South Africa if any of its cities choose to bid for the 2020 Summer Olympics.

South Africa's successful hosting of the World Cup has increased its prospects of hosting the event when bidding opens for the 2020 Games. President Jacob Zuma told reporters last week that South Africa was up to the task.

The International Olympic Committee awarded the 2016 Games to Brazil, making it the first time a South American country will host the games. This will leave Africa as the only continent yet to stage the Olympics.

South Africa: Olympics Hopes Get Blatter's Backing
Bua News
July 9, 2010

Delays Threaten Sao Paulo's Hosting Duties for 2014

Sao Paulo's hosting of the 2014 World Cup in Brazil are still up in the air, as progress on the city's stadium have been mired in delays. FIFA officials and Local Organizing Committee head Ricardo Texeira are warning that the city needs to speed up its preparations.

Sao Paulo's plans were thrown into confusion last month when the committee and world governing body FIFA dropped the proposed venue, the Morumbi stadium, because the city had failed to provide financial guarantees for the renovation of the arena.

"If Sao Paulo wants to host the opening game or the competition as a whole, the deadline is getting close," Teixeira told reporters.

Time running out for Sao Paulo 2014 hopes
Reuters
July 8, 2010

Brazilian Host Cities Back On Track

Despite complaints from FIFA just two months ago, Brazilian host cities are reportedly on track to meet stadium deadlines ahead of the 2014 World Cup.

FIFA awarded the 2014 World Cup hosting rights six years ago, but Brazil has barely begun building and renovating the 12 stadiums it needs. [Brazil football federation president Ricardo] Teixeira said that "the situation is completely different" to when [FIFA secretary general Jerome] Valcke spoke.

"Some of the stadia have commenced building. We have already defined exactly what's going to be happening in terms of budgets for the construction up to December," he said, although he failed to highlight any specific details.

Brazil 2014 preparations "on track"
ESPN
July 10, 2010

Mistakes to Avoid for Brazil's 2014 World Cup

Despite claims that the 2010 FIFA World Cup went off "nearly perfectly", mistakes were made, and there is room for improvement over the next four years as the tournament prepares to head to Brazil, according to this article.

The tournament may have at times been a playground for the world's rich and famous, with celebrities flocking to South Africa's biggest cities to soak up some of the action, but on the ground there was still considerable ground for improvement.

At the top of this list was the issue of tickets and making sure there is no repeat in Brazil of the vast empty spaces we saw, especially in the group phase. FIFA's insistence before the tournament that 97% of tickets had been sold hardly seemed credible. If that was indeed the case, then huge amounts of seats earmarked for the so-called "football family" - mainly sponsors and VIP bigwigs - were not taken up and needs to be thoroughly re-examined as a principle.

Lessons to learn before Brazil 2014
ESPN
July 10, 2010

BRT Sees Positive Reviews Halfway Through World Cup

FIFA takes a favorable look at the new bus rapid transit system in Johannesburg.

The Rea Vaya transports fans to Soccer City in around 10 minutes from the Westgate station in the Johannesburg CBD, and under 15 minutes from the Thokoza Park station in Soweto. “The BRT saves people time, they can beat traffic as the system reliable and quick,” said Khumalo.

A new era of transport for Johannesburg
FIFA
June 24, 2010

Thanks to urban planning student Linden Weiswerda for the link!

FIFA Pulls in $3.2 Billion

FIFA expects to make about $3.2 billion from the 2010 World Cup.

Spokesperson Nicolas Maingot said the World Cup was the main source of income for FIFA and its revenue from this one would tide it over for the next four years.

He added that 75% of its revenue would be invested into football development.

FIFA to rake in billions
News24
June 18, 2010

Making South Africa's World Cup More South African

This piece from The New York Times looks at how South Africans have pushed against the corporate bent of the FIFA World Cup to make it a little more accessible to its people.

“This is not our World Cup,” explained Greg Fredericks, a senior manager for South Africa’s World Cup organizing committee. He noted the dominant role of FIFA, soccer’s Zurich-based world governing body. “It is FIFA’s World Cup. We are just the organizers. We are the stage.”

That might have been the end of the story, except that this is South Africa, the country that ended a vicious system of racial segregation 16 years ago to create a noisy, fractious, vibrant democracy. Poking a finger in the eye of authority is part of the national DNA.

And so South Africans have pushed back — to get easier access to tickets, to see their wealth of musicians included in the FIFA concert and to ensure that more World Cup souvenirs were made in South Africa. Along the way, they have won modest victories that will give the slickly marketed, corporate-branded, monthlong sports spectacular splashes of African authenticity.

South Africa Pushes to Make the Cup Its Own
The New York Times
May 23, 2010

Hawkers Flood Port Elizabeth With Applications to Vend at World Cup

More than 1,200 businesses have applied for licenses to trade wares at World Cup events in Nelson Mandela Bay (Port Elizabeth).

The municipality said in a statement it was soliciting more applications so traders could “apply for a slice of the 2010 Fifa World Cup cake”.

Municipalities and Fifa had recently come under attack from hawkers and traders who said they had been excluded from conducting business around World Cup events.

More than 1200 trader applications for World Cup
The Herald
May 14, 2010

Township Residents Fuming Over Lack of Participation in Local Events

People in the Johannesburg township of Alexandra are vowing to disrupt any FIFA operations in their area. They're upset over what they say was a lack f coordination between the residents and the city, which they say pulled out of talks to have locals more involved in events.

"If you will not deal with us in good faith, we will also show you that it is our township and nothing will happen in this township, nothing will happen in Alexandra without our participation."

The statement followed a protest last week that resulted in talks with the City of Johannesburg. The businesspeople claimed the city backtracked on a promise made by local councillors to give them contracts for cleaning, catering, printing and providing linen, and called discussions a "smokescreen".

'Fifa have not bought Alexandra'
Independent Online
May 25, 2010

Durban Business Owners Losing Out Over Stadium Vending Closures

Small business owners who'd hoped to cash in on their locations within the new Moses Mabhida Stadium in Durban are now being told they won't be allowed to work in their vending slots until after the World Cup is over. They had previously thought they'd only have to close for official FIFA-approved vendors on match days.

Security concerns have been blamed for the closure, costing several people their jobs and the businesses millions of rands in lost income.

All activities at the R3.1 billion stadium must stop from Monday until July 14, as world soccer governing body Fifa takes over the facility to prepare for the football extravaganza.

Jobs, millions lost in stadium shutdown

Trade Unions Say Counterfeit 2010 Merchandise Hurts Local Workers

The Congress of South African Trade Unions is blasting counterfeit World Cup merchandise, arguing that it hurts local jobs.

"Since November 2009 alone, the SA Revenue Service has seized more than R88 million worth of fake goods at airports and harbours, with weekly reports of more seizures," Cosatu said in a statement.

"These fake imports threaten the jobs of people in factories in Durban, Cape Town and many other cities and towns."

Cosatu and the Fifa Organising Committee in South Africa have been working together to ensure that World Cup merchandise was produced locally to create job opportunities within the country.

SA jobs hurt by illegal World Cup goods
Independent Onlinr
May 14, 2010

LOC Says FIFA Cash 'Not a Bailout'

Local organizing committee chief Danny Jordaan is claiming that FIFA's recent injection of $100 million into the country's World Cup preparation fund was not a "bailout".

Fifa signed off the 25 percent increase at an executive committee meeting held in March, its secretary general Jerome Valcke told BBC Sport.

Valcke said the extra money was needed to help South Africa ensure that team training camps would be ready on time.

Fifa's R750m 'no bailout'
Independent Online
May 11, 2010