2. Background
The Fédération Internationale de Football Association, or
FIFA, is governed by Swiss law and based out of Zurich.
Founded in Paris in 1904, the association has 209 member
associations and employs over 300 people from 35 different
nations.
The founding members of FIFA were Belgium, Denmark,
France, the Netherlands, Spain, Sweden and Switzerland.
The World Cup, held every four years in a different country, is
the biggest football competition in the world. Hosted by FIFA,
this tournament includes 32 teams all vying to become the
winner of the cup.
There have been 19 World Cup tournaments hosted by 20
different countries.
Latest winner is Spain who won in 2010
3. Crisis Overview
According
to weather reports, the temperature
in Qatar can reach upwards of 112 degrees
Fahrenheit in the summer.
The major problem this poses is that extreme, dry
heat can cause major health issues to not only
the players, but fans as well.
Officials have discussed moving the tournament
to January, where temperatures are more
conducive for hosting an outdoor event
Another aspect of the crisis is current reports
state that they are being underpaid and forced
to work in the extreme temperatures of Qatar’s
summers.
4. Organizational Response
FIFA
has not released any information directly on
any social media sites or even their own website.
President Sepp Blatter has released statements to
media saying it will be in Qatar no matter what.
Statements
regarding the worker situation simply
state that they are concerned with the safety of
workers but they aren’t doing anything to prevent
it.
Most
statements haven’t changed over the
course of the crisis.
5. Media Response
Editorials have been published that don’t necessarily
criticize the organization but do look into the possible
reasoning behind the sudden outrage against the
tournament location.
One blog took a look at the pros and cons of having
a winter world cup since that is where much of the
disagreement comes from.
Some of the cons they listed were the tradition of the
World Cup being played in the summer, European
leagues having to change their seasons and
minimizing it’s importance in the sporting world.
The pros were that being played around Christmas
could bring excitement from fans and a change in the
time the tournament is played could provoke a
positive mindset around the competition
6. Media Response
Most
of the media coverage has been quite
neutral in discussing the aspects of the crisis at
hand.
However, if the coverage was focusing on the
organizations actions, there did seem to be some
blame being placed on FIFA for not carefully
considering the weather as a major factor.
Most articles did not really place blame but
editorials and statements from those involved with
the tournament did feature negative content.
7. Stakeholder Response
Some
football clubs have begun to express their
discontent with the decision to host the
tournament in the Middle East.
Greg Dyke, the New English Football Association
chairman has called for FIFA to find a new
location because of the risk of the heat.
Though the English FA is not opposed to moving
the tournament to the fall or winter, the English
Premier League is greatly against the disruption it
would cause to their season.
Currently, the world player’s union, FIFPro, is
threatening to boycott the tournament
8. Stakeholder Response
There
has not been much said on social media
sites such as Twitter and Facebook about the
current situation.
When searching “World Cup 2022” on Twitter,
many of the tweets are simply retweets of news
articles or pictures of the concept of the
stadium.
The comments seem to have a much more
negative view and greatly criticize the
organization. Some claim that the voters must
be “stupid” or “corrupt.” Others state that they
don’t understand why a small country with no
experience hosting an event of this caliber was
given the chance to do so.
9. Recommendations
All those who are on the voting committee should be required
to sign a contract of some sort that states that they will be
unbiased and grant each country an equal opportunity to win
the bid to host the World Cup. By doing this, FIFA insures that all
the countries placing bids are going in to voting with an equal
chance of winning
Also, weather reports from the months that the tournament will
be hosted should be submitted from the very beginning of
placing bids.
This will allow officials to examine just how hot (or cold) a place
may be during the time of the World Cup. There should be a
scale in place that determines what temperatures are the
most appropriate and conducive to playing football
Finally, if a situation arises and a World Cup site is chosen and
then deemed unfit to host the tournament, FIFA officials should
not address the media until they have reached a conclusion
as to how they are going to proceed forward.
