FIFA World Cup Research Paper 2022

“In any other corporation, if there were so many things that were found to be corrupt, then the
man at the top wold go – but the doesn’t seem to be the case with FIFA”
Gary Lineker
5th April 2020
MA Global Diplomacy
Centre for International Studies and Diplomacy
School of Oriental And African Studies
Word Count:
This dissertation is submitted in partial fulfilment of the requirements of MA Global
Diplomacy of the School of Oriental and African Studies (University of London)
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I have read and understood the plagiarism regulations for students of the University
of London International Programmes. I undertake that all material presented for
examination is my own work and has not been written for me, in whole or in part, by
any other person. I also undertake that any quotation or paraphrase from the
published or unpublished work of another person has been duly acknowledged in the
work which I present for examination. I give permission for a copy of my dissertation
to be held at the University’s discretion, following final examination to be made
available for reference.
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Table of Contents
TABLE OF CONTENTS...............................................................................3
1. CHAPTER 1 – INTRODUCTION..........................................................6
1.1. BACKGROUND OVERVIEW...................................................................6
1.1.1. SOUTH AFRICA 2010 FIFA WORLD CUP..............................................7
1.1.2. BRAZIL 2014 FIFA WORLD CUP......................................................10
1.2. RESEARCH AIMS AND OBJECTIVES.......................................................11
1.3. RESEARCH QUESTIONS.....................................................................12
1.4. PURPOSE AND OUTCOME OF THE STUDY...............................................12
2. CHAPTER 2 – MEGA SPORTS EVENTS AS A TOOL FOR DIPLOMACY: A
REVIEW OF LITERATURE....................................................................13
2.1. GAPS IN THE REVIEW OF LITERATURE.........................................23
3. CHAPTER 3 – SPORTS DIPLOMACY, SOUTH AFRICA AND THE 2010
FIFA WORLD CUP..............................................................................24
4. CHAPTER 4 – SPORTING DIPLOMACY, BRAZIL AND THE FIFA WORLD
CUP OF 2014....................................................................................34
5. CHAPTER 5 – CONCLUSION............................................................45
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Abstract:
This piece of research goes into the depth of how mega sport events are now a part of the
diplomacy that takes place worldwide. The institutions mega event that will be under
discussion is the FIFA World Cup (Federation International Football de Football
Association). Over the years FIFA has made its mega event, the FIFA World Cup, a sought-
after event, and countries not only bid, but invest billions of dollars in infrastructure costs, in
compliance with FIFA to hold the event. The research will discuss aspects of the FIFA World
Cup in relation to diplomacy. Primarily, what the research will investigate is the impact the
FIFA World Cup had on the host nations of the 2010 and 2014 World Cup, which were South
Africa, and Brazil and how the politics of hosting a mega event encourages developing
nations to take on debt to develop infrastructure, which in turn can prove to be quite
detrimental for the states that are involved in the hosting of such events..
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Acknowledgments
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1. Chapter 1 – Introduction
1.1. Background Overview
FIFA since inception has set out its scope as to “help support the development of the
game and organize international competitions. FIFA also gives guidance on the rules and
management of the sport” (FIFA: 1).
FIFA (Fédération Internationale de Football Association) has overtime with 211
member associations become the World’s biggest sports organisation (FIFA, 2017). Also,
over the years the FIFA World Cup has become a mega event, which is sought after by
countries due to its pull in bringing in tourism and making the host nation centre stage
worldwide due to the high viewership of the FIFA World Cup (Nauright: 1). An examination
will be made in regard to the role of the FIFA World Cup in international diplomacy, and
how governments and their respected football associations bid for the FIFA World Cup due
to its importance as being a symbol of development and progression in the country it is
hosted in. FIFA in being an autonomous entity has been in the spotlight for having little or no
oversight, and performing as an autonomous entity (Brannagan and Giulianotti,: 1). Also in
awarding the rights to the FIFA World Cup, FIFA holds all decision making related to the
development, that the host nation needs to take to host the mega event, this includes being
involved in infrastructure planning and stadium development (Abdi: 365). The FIFA World
Cup in South Africa and Brazil will be used as case studies to assess the gain and loss
attained by both countries in hosting the World Cup, against the promises of prosperity that
go along with hosting the FIFA World Cup. Further an assessment will be made on how
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diplomacy takes effect in the awarding of the FIFA World Cup, and how much of a role does
FIFA have in regard to the bidders for each edition of the World Cup. Sport and diplomacy
theory will be analysed in relation to the FIFA World Cup along each aspect of study, to
further understand the extent to which diplomacy and sport are related. For the 2010 and
2014 FIFA World Cups the theory of cultural diplomacy will be assessed and how it helped
portray Brazil and South Africa’s culture worldwide. Also, how mega events like the Football
World Cup are a part of a countries soft power strategy and how the 2010 South Africa
World Cup intertwined with the foreign policy of South Africa. Along with, how events such
as the World Cup as was held in Brazil can be responsible for giving a soft image of a nation-
state. Theories in relation to neoliberism, globalisation, remapping a city’s image, and how
the socio-economic benefits sometimes allow to act as a trigger for economic growth.
Another point of discussion is how Brazil used the 2014 FIFA World Cup to gain a bigger
role in global politics. Perhaps the most intriguing aspect to assess is how the impact of
hosting the event such as the FIFA World Cup can have on the future of diplomacy for the
host nation.
1.1.1. South Africa 2010 FIFA World Cup
The South Africa 2010 World Cup will be used as the case study for this study. The
reasoning for this is that it was the first African World Cup to ever take place, and it made a
place for South Africa in the history books and worldwide (Abdi: 147). Also this is an
important case study for the reason that the country when bidding, did not have the
infrastructure to host such a mega event, the government at the time had to agree to FIFA for
infrastructure and stadium development before the event could take place. This case study
gives us an insight into the control the World Cup gives FIFA over a country in giving it the
rights to hosting the World Cup (Abdi: 147).
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It was in the year of 2010, that the International Federation for Football gave the
country of South Africa the right to go ahead and host the World Cup Football tournament.
This is an opportunity that was seized by the South African administration at the time, as it
gave South Africa the perfect opportunity to engage in cultural and public diplomacy by
hosting a sporting event of such a stature, while providing the nation with the opportunity to
re-brand itself once again (Brannagan: 251). Yet it needs to be remembered that this was for
the very first time, that an African state was being given the scope to host an international
sporting tournament of the magnitude such as the FIFA World Cup, and at the time, a great
deal of scepticism was expressed by the international media about the ability of South Africa
to host this tournament. This scepticism was based on the general alarm that had been
triggered in South Africa by high rates of crime, something that had kept tourists from the
world from vising the country for quite a few years until then (Brannagan: 251). However,
the government of South Africa wasted no time at all in seizing the opportunity to host the
FIFA World Cup 2010 and viewed as a rebranding and rebuilding exercise for the nation
state. A budget of as much as forty billion South African dollars was set aside for bringing
about improvements in sporting infrastructure, including transportation links and the building
of stadiums, in order for the country to successfully prepare for the hosting of the world cup
(Jarvie: 22). This opportunity that was given by FIFA to host the World Cup of 2010 over
here, was viewed by the South African administration very positively and they saw in this
opportunity the scope to rekindle all the racial relations that had been on the decline in this
multi-racial state and where race barriers had come to be replaced quite unfortunately by a
wide range of socio-economic divides (Grix: 36).
In the year of 2009, a year ahead of the FIFA World Cup 2010, the South African
administration had launched a campaign that came to be known as Brand South Africa 2010
Campaign. This campaign was segregated into four crucial segments, the first of these
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