The Soccer World Cup in Qatar is expected to shrug off controversies about the host nation’s human rights conduct to deliver record revenue for organisers Fifa.
The one-month tournament, which begins on November 20, is on course to top the roughly $5.4bn (about R93.3bn) the 2018 World Cup in Russia generated for football’s governing body, a person familiar with the matter said, asking not to be identified.
Fifa has pre-sold broadcasting rights, about 240,000 hospitality packages and nearly 3-million tickets for the event, the person said. Marketing sales for its 2019 to 2022 cycle will exceed a budgeted figure of about $1.8bn, the source added.
The World Cup is sponsored by major brands including Adidas and Coca-Cola.
The revenue lift comes despite concerns some fans and sponsors would boycott the event, largely because of Qatar’s treatment of migrant workers who helped build the stadiums and infrastructure needed to stage the world’s biggest sporting spectacle.
Qatar’s government denied allegations labourers were ill-treated and said the event had been a catalyst for improving its labour laws.
A representative for Qatar’s Supreme Committee for Delivery & Legacy said these efforts had been recognised by large trade unions, including Building and Wood Workers’ International and the UN International Labour Organisation.
World Cup revenue has risen from tournament to tournament on the back of football’s growing global popularity, even with a controversial host. Russia faced criticism ahead of the 2018 showpiece for failing to address racism and homophobia among its fans.
Fifa is projected to exceed a revenue target of $6.4bn for its 2019 to 2022 cycle, most of which comes from the World Cup, the person familiar with the matter said. The body uses this money to organise tournaments for the men’s and women’s games, as well as at youth level, and develop the sport across 211 member associations.
A Fifa representative declined to comment.
Qatar wants to use the World Cup to showcase its rapid expansion from a small pearl-diving enclave to Gulf metropolis and expects it to add as much as $17bn to its economy.
That’s lower than a previous estimate, as the worldwide cost-of-living crisis threatens to affect the amount fans travelling to the World Cup will spend when they get there.
Bloomberg
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