300 billion dollars spent in 12 years... Has Qatar World Cup 2022 been a colossal waste of money?
Qatar has reportedly spent 300 billion dollars in the 12 years since winning the FIFA World Cup 2022 hosting rights. Has the gulf nation reaped the benefits of such a massive investment? How much has the country gained from the showpiece tournament?
FollowFrom major upsets like Belgium, Spain and Brazil's shock elimination and VAR consistencies to the display of rainbow colours in support of the LGBTQ+ community and journalists' 'sudden' death, the Qatar World Cup 2022 has been filled with drama both on and off the field. With less than a week left for either Argentina, Croatia, France or Morocco to lift the coveted trophy on December 18, football fans would be interested to know how much money the gulf nation spent on hosting the showpiece tournament and what has been the nation's gains so far.
Qatar has reportedly spent a staggering 300 billion dollars in the 12 years since winning the rights to host the FIFA World Cup 2022. A large portion of that spending spree was used to construct infrastructure, including a modern metro system to accommodate the 1.5 million guests expected for football's largest fiesta. According to the organisers, the construction will continue to be useful even after the last goal is scored. However, research proves otherwise.
According to researchers at the University of Lausanne, between 1964 and 2018, 31 of the 36 mega-events, including World Cups and Olympics, suffered massive losses. Only one of the 14 World Cups they examined had ever produced a profit: Russia's in 2018 brought in a surplus of 235 million dollars and was helped by a sizable agreement for broadcasting rights. Even yet, the tournament's return on investment was only 4.6%.
Almost all of the significant costs are borne by the host nation. Only operational costs are covered by FIFA, the sport's regulatory organisation. However, it keeps most of the money; sponsorships, television rights, and ticket sales go to its coffers. For instance, FIFA received around 5.4 billion dollars from the last World Cup, with some money going to the national teams.
The Lausanne data only includes costs associated with locations, like building a stadium, and logistics, like paying employees. It disregards the importance of indirect initiatives like Qatar's new hotels and metro system. In the long run, some infrastructure upgrades increase economic productivity. However, many expensive stadiums eventually go underused, and the events rarely stimulate local economies.
The advantages of their governments spending billions of dollars on major sporting events are being questioned by residents in host communities. Only some nations volunteer to be hosts as a result. In 2016, seven cities submitted bids to host the summer Olympics; in 2024, only two cities won the competition.
The sporting world has never experienced such high prices. Sixteen teams competed in the 1966 World Cup, which averaged almost 200,000 dollars per player (in 2018 prices). In 2018, it increased to 7 million dollars. The construction of additional new stadiums for each round has raised costs. Seven of the eight stadiums in Qatar were entirely new construction; no stadiums were built in England in 1966.
Aside from the economy, Qatar's dismal human rights records, prohibition of alcohol, stance concerning homosexuality, etc., may have hurt the desert nation and kept them from making monetary gains from travelling fans. Hosting a sporting event of a football World Cup magnitude would never be easy. According to estimates, the tournament is expected to inject only 17 billion dollars back into the nation's economy, leaving many football enthusiasts to wonder if all this was truly worth it for a host nation. Only time will reveal the true numbers.
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