A soccer enthusiast uses a hand-held spray bottle with a fan attached to cool off in the hot Chicago weather. The man is attending the 1994 World Cup in Chicago’s Soldier Field. (Photo by © Ralf-Finn Hestoft/CORBIS/Corbis via Getty Images)
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Amid an Ebola outbreak in the Democratic Republic of Congo, the country’s national team squad will begin preparations for the World Cup in Belgium rather than Kinshasa, their capital.
Although the World Health Organization has called the outbreak a “public health emergency of international concern” rather than a pandemic, the global football community is mindful of the impact it could have.
Back in 2020, at the start of the Covid-19 pandemic, a UEFA Champions League match between Liverpool and Atletico Madrid was identified as a superspreader event, whilst organizers of the 2022 World Cup in Qatar feared that people might not travel to the country.
The U.S. has already restricted travelers from the DR Congo, though the country’s overseas-based national team players won’t be affected.
Still, any fans who travel from the central African nation will be, which means that it will have to be diaspora communities that give support to a team that is appearing in the World Cup for the first time since 1974.
Such public health issues and the logistical challenges they pose are indicative of the risk landscape that organizers of the tournament are now having to confront.
Successfully delivering sport mega events is logistically complex and requires a level of vigilance to risk that is both sophisticated and, ideally, action oriented.
Exhaustion looms as temperatures rise
Concerns have been raised that in parts of southern U.S. and Mexico air temperatures in mid-summer can soar to the 90s°F and low 100s°F (35°C to 40°C+).
FIFA has already introduced mandatory three-minute cooling breaks in each half of every match for the tournament, regardless of weather conditions, and there will be climate-controlled benches for technical staff and substitutes at all outdoor matches.
The governing body also has an emergency care manual which states that at or above 32C, match organizers should agree what precautions need to be taken to prevent any heat-related illness from occurring, amongst both players and fans.
However, some scientists believe the protocols that have been put in place are insufficient and have instead called for afternoon matches to be rescheduled.
From a health perspective, this makes sense although tournament organizers and global broadcasters will be nervous at the prospect as matches scheduled later in the U.S. would then be in the middle of European nights, where the most lucrative markets for soccer broadcasts are found.
But the risks don’t end there.
Violence is a possibility
Any sport mega event must be mindful of and sensitive to terrorist attack, something the 1972 Olympic Games in Munich remind us of, though there have also been more recent incidents.
For instance, in 2015 at a match between France and Germany, two explosive devices were detonated outside the Stade d’France in Paris by individuals wearing suicide vests.
This summer’s event can already be considered vulnerable following an outbreak of drug related violence earlier this year in Mexico, attacks that led to several football elite professional football matches being cancelled.
Back in 2011, a Liga MX match between Santos Laguna and Monarcas Morelia also became a scene of direct cartel violence when, during the game, heavily armed cartel gunmen attacked a temporary police checkpoint outside the stadium gates.
The situation inside the U.S. is no less concerning. Security experts warn of soft target vulnerabilities and intelligence gaps as federal agencies prepare to secure 78 matches across 11 cities.
The US-Israel conflict with Iran as well as the situation in Palestine have been assessed as exacerbating the situation, though some experts believe that the biggest threat may stem from homegrown violent extremists and lone wolf actors.
Such episodes have occured in the U.S. before, for instance a 2021 Major League Baseball game between the Washington Nationals and the San Diego Padres was abruptly halted due to gunfire.
Anyone attending a World Cup game this summer should therefore prepare themselves for a highly controlled stadium experience involving stringent police checks and routine surveillance.
Activists may voice their concerns
Yet not all event risks need pose a direct threat to life.
For example, the 2022 World Cup in Qatar proved to be one of the most socio-politically controversial sporting events of the 21st century.
During preparations for the tournament, the Gulf Arab nation was repeatedly called out by activists for its human rights record, notably the treatment of migrant workers, the LGBTQ+ community, and women.
This culminated in fans being searched as they entered games and being prevented from taking flags and banners that FIFA and local organisers had deemed unacceptable.
In turn, players responded by engaging in their own direct actions, perhaps most notably the German national team whose starting-eleven covered their mouths following FIFA’s instruction that they could not wear rainbow armbands during a game.
Given the fractiousness of domestic politics in the U.S. allied to a highly sensitive international environment, the potential for activism at this year’s World Cup seems likely, indeed FIFA has already announced that it plans to prohibit fans from taking pre-revolutionary Iranian flags and related apparel into stadiums.
Such items may pose a security threat, but spontaneous displays of activism also make sponsors, commercial partners and broadcasters feel jittery; not only can they cause disruption, they also may offend key target audiences.
Hopefully this summer’s World Cup will be characterized by lots of goals, great games and fabulous weather.
However, such are the challenges that sport nowadays faces, the tournament is shaping up to be more like an endless flow of risks that organizers must quickly mitigate, before they spiral out of control.