Introduction
The FIFA World Cup is a regular soccer competition among the best men’s national teams. It is one of the most prestigious and popular sporting events, and it is held every four years in various countries. In every case, a hosting nation is decided by FIFA officials. In 2014, the FIFA World Cup took place in Brazil from June 12 to July 13. Thus, the given essay will focus on various effects that this event had on Brazil and the challenges that the nation faced while hosting the given international tournament.
Various Effects
Since the FIFA World Cup makes millions of soccer fans reach an appropriate country, it is not a surprise that this state faces numerous effects, both positive and negative. As for the event under consideration, it influenced Brazil socially, economically, and environmentally. Each of these spheres offered both advantages and disadvantages for the hosting nation. Firstly, it is reasonable to comment on the social area. On the one hand, the FIFA World Cup was useful for Brazil because it created numerous jobs, which resulted in the opportunity for citizens to earn money to create better-living conditions.
Furthermore, the authority invested funds in the development of local infrastructure, including roads, airports, and other facilities. On the other hand, the Brazilian social sphere significantly suffered from hosting the event under analysis. Firstly, it was because thousands of Brazilian citizens “were forced out of their homes to make way for the building” of the infrastructure (Townsend, para. 4). Secondly, many other people were forced to live in houses without electricity and water because all the resources were sent to the World Cup facilities.
The same controversial situation also referred to the Brazilian economic indicators. As for positive outcomes, the event attracted numerous tourists and put $14 billion into the local economy (Townsend, para. 2). In addition to that, the competition increased hotel room rates, which resulted in appropriate revenue for these establishments (Barreda, Zubieta, Chen, Cassilha, & Kageyama, 2017). However, it is impossible to state that the World Cup only had positive effects.
Here, it is necessary to mention that the tournament resulted in increased taxation and cost of living (Butler & Aicher, 2015). This effect is not a surprise because the government tried to obtain more benefits with the help of these measures. Furthermore, it is a severe problem that those expensive stadiums that were built for the tournament are misused now. Consequently, these infrastructures create losses for the modern economic sector of Brazil.
In addition to that, one should mention that the event influenced the environment. On the one hand, the adverse effects were represented by the higher use of electricity that brought a harmful impact on Brazil. At the same time, many vehicles reached the country, and they were responsible for producing greenhouse gas emissions. On the other hand, a positive impact on the environment referred to the fact that two stadiums were solar-powered (CELL Staff, 2014). Furthermore, the Brazilian officials hired numerous workers to collect waste and deal with recycling to minimize adverse effects on the environment.
Constructions for Hosting the Event
As has been mentioned previously, Brazil had to develop its infrastructure significantly, which referred to creating new roads, airports, hotels, and others. However, the primary requirement was to build 12 new and refurbished soccer stadiums inappropriate cities. This task became a severe challenge for the hosting nation. It was so because the government spent $4 billion on these buildings, which was “more than three times the cost initially projected” (Antunes, 2014, para. 6).
Main Hosting Problems
The event offered a few problems to the hosting nation, and three of them are the most significant. Firstly, numerous protests against a challenging economic situation in the country created essential issues for the organizers. The second problem was a consequence of the first one because demonstrations that often included clashes between protesters and officials raised security concerns. Thirdly, transportation and logistics also represented some difficulties for the organizers because the inflow of tourists was unusual for this country.
Longstanding Issues
It was in 2007 when Brazil “was awarded the right to host the 2014 FIFA World Cup” (Antunes, 2014, para. 1). Consequently, the nation had seven years to organize the event, and this fact resulted in three essential issues. Firstly, it related to the unpredictable future, and a sudden economic decay resulted in the protests above. Secondly, it was challenging for the organizers to manage time and had some stadiums built on time (Gibson, 2014). Finally, the World Cup became a useful tool for political gambling (Antunes, 2014).
Outcomes
After the event is concluded, the organizing committee has a few issues to handle. Firstly, the Brazilian officials should maintain the stadiums that generate losses after the World Cup. Secondly, the country is left with a developed and expensive infrastructure that, however, does not work at full capacity, and that was not obligatory for the nation. Consequently, the information above has shown that hosting a mega-event offers both advantages and disadvantages. The given analysis can help the UAE government learn that it is impossible to predict everything in hosting Expo 2020, and some issues will appear. That is why the officials should do their best to both predict some issues and know what to do to overcome those harmful effects that will emerge.
References
Antunes, A. (2014). How the 2014 FIFA World Cup became the worst publicity stunt in history. Forbes. Web.
Barreda, A., Zubieta, S., Chen, H., Cassilha, M., & Kageyama, Y. (2017). Evaluating the impact of mega-sporting events on hotel pricing strategies: The case of the 2014 FIFA World Cup. Tourism Review, 72(2), 184-208.
Butler, B. N., & Aicher, T. J. (2015). Demonstrations and displacement: Social impact and the 2014 FIFA World Cup. Journal of Policy Research in Tourism, Leisure, and Events, 7(3), 299-313.
CELL Staff. (2014). Football footprint: How the World Cup impacts the environment. Web.
Gibson, O. (2014). World Cup 2014: Brazil still facing issues with 100 days to go. The Guardian. Web.
Townsend, Z. (2015). Six months later: The World Cup’s effect on Brazil. Web.