The Economics of the World Cup
The 2022 FIFA World Cup, which was held in Qatar, concluded on 18th of December with Argentina being crowned as the champions of the event. The tournament took place in the span of 29 days with 64 matches being played in eight venues across five cities. This edition of the competition is the most expensive one till date with a budget exceeding $200 billion. According to FIFA, the organization earned an unprecedented $7.5 billion in revenue from commercial deals tied to this year’s World Cup. An increase in the total prize pool was also observed for this edition.
The total prize pool for this edition of the World Cup was a whopping $440 million, which is greater than the prize pool of the previous edition by $40 million. FIFA had announced the prizes for all participating nations back in April 2022. The champions, Argentina received an astounding $42 million for their triumphant win over France, who received $30 million as the runners-up. Croatia and Morocco each received $27 million and $25 million for placing third and fourth, respectively. The four teams that ranked 5th-8th place received $17 million prize money each. $13 million were awarded to each of the eight teams that ranked from the 9th to 16th place each. Finally, the teams with ranks from 17 to 32 received $9 million each.
The overall breakdown is as follows :
8 Stadiums : $6 Billion
Al-Bayt Stadium : $847 Million (Most Expensive Stadium)
Lusail Stadium : $767 Million (Venue for the Final as well as the largest in seating capacity)
Education City Stadium : $700 Million
New Planned City of Lusail : $45 Million
Doha Metro Rail : $36 Million
Expansion of Doha Hamad International Airport : $15 Million
Regeneration of Downtown Doha : $4.5 Million
The major expense has been spent on the stadiums especially on their temperature control & H-VAC facilities due to Qatar’s hot weather. The rising cost of temperature control facilities forced the Qatari Authorities to build the Stadium 974 (built completely with recycled material & freight containers) as a non air-conditioned stadium, a move which was criticised by visitors especially during the Brazil - South Korea match held on 5th December, 2022 when spectators complained about the heat.
Most of the money spent by Qatar and its exorbitant wealth is mainly drawn from the exports of Liquified Natural Gas (LNG) & Petroleum, which makes it one of the richest countries of the world with just a population of 3.5 Lac with a majority of population being expats from South & South-East Asia as well as from Africa.
With the bumper oil prices & increased demand for LNG especially from the European Union due to the Russia-Ukraine War & cutoff of Russian Gas along with the World Cup is expected to give a bumper boost of 13% to the Qatari GDP.
The Qatari Government isn’t just the only financial source to the 2022 Tournament. The financiers for this extravaganza include everyone right from FIFA: The International Football Governing body to big corporate brands such as Nike, Adidas, Coca-Cola, Budweiser, Hyundai, Qatar Airways, Vivo, Qatar Energy as well as media houses across the globe with their broadcasting rights. The table is as follows :
FIFA : $1.7 Billion (including its own hospitality, logistics team & TV Operations)
Nike : $60 Million (with 13 teams including runners-up France)
Budweiser : $5 Million
The World Cup was also a bumper jackpot for FIFA & Qatar with the former gaining money through the following mediums :
Marketing Rights : $1.35 Billion
Broadcasting Rights : $2.64 Billion
Ticket Sales : $500 Million
The International Body also reportedly paid their brand ambassadors handsomely with the main ambassador Mr. David Beckham getting $277 Million in installments of 10 years - a move which was criticized by many across the globe.
The 2022 World Cup was one of the most criticized events of the year - given the host nation Qatar’s abusive Human Rights Record in terms of women & migrant workers from South Asia (who actually built the overall infrastructure & their deaths due to inhumane working conditions) as well as the conservative Qatari Society’s outlook towards many social elements common in the Western World such as public consumption of alcohol, casual relationships, LGBTQIA+ Rights, etc. also forced the organizers such as FIFA & the Western brands associated with the World Cup to set aside additional $120 Million for the additional marketing funds or “Qatar White-Washing Funds” as claimed by many human-rights & LGBTQIA+ organizations as well as by eminent media outlets such as the Guardian.
Covered by: Arya Shinde;
Swarnima Save
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