{"id":84835,"date":"2023-02-23T15:52:07","date_gmt":"2023-02-23T15:52:07","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/kenya\/all-news\/is-fifas-football-expansion-putting-profits-before-planet"},"modified":"2023-02-23T16:23:15","modified_gmt":"2023-02-23T16:23:15","slug":"is-fifas-football-expansion-putting-profits-before-planet","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/kenya\/all-news\/is-fifas-football-expansion-putting-profits-before-planet","title":{"rendered":"Is Fifa\u2019s football expansion putting profits before planet?"},"content":{"rendered":"

Africa-Press – Kenya. <\/strong><\/span>Last week Fifa president Gianni Infantino announced record revenues in excess of $7.6bn (Sh958bn) \u2014 with football\u2019s governing body also confirming plans for further expansion and growth.<\/p>\n

But do big profits for the global game come at a big cost to the planet? And do they fit with Fifa\u2019s statements on sustainability and emissions reductions?<\/p>\n

Fifa\u2019s expansion plans include:<\/b><\/p>\n

Fifa\u2019s claim that the Qatar World Cup was carbon neutral was considered by experts to be \u201cmisleading and dangerous\u201d, and its plans for further expansion come in spite of the fact Fifa\u2019s environmental strategy includes having signed up to the UN Sport for Climate Action Framework \u2014 with a target of net zero by 2040 and halving of emissions by 2030.<\/p>\n

The majority of sport\u2019s carbon footprint comes from fan travel. Last year Fifa estimated about one million supporters would travel to Qatar for the men\u2019s World Cup \u2014 and more teams in 2026 will mean more fans, with the same applying to the expanded Club World Cup.<\/p>\n

Wycombe Wanderers player David Wheeler, the Professional Footballer\u2019s Association sustainability champion, described the 2026 World Cup logistics as a \u201cnonsense\u201d and a \u201cmoney-making exercise\u201d.<\/p>\n

He also questioned the quality of the football in expanded tournaments such as the Club World Cup, comparing it to \u201cjunk food\u201d.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe\u2019re damaging the climate – the climate is sick and potentially terminally ill,\u201d said Wheeler. \u201cWe know how to reverse course, but instead we\u2019re doing the very thing that\u2019s making it sick and that\u2019s what I think Fifa is suggesting to do\u201d.<\/p>\n

In the women\u2019s game there are fewer travelling fans compared with the men\u2019s, but the number is growing and Fifa has announced more than half a million ticket sales for this summer\u2019s Women\u2019s World Cup in Australia and New Zealand.<\/p>\n

However, a newly created qualifying tournament \u2014 with 10 teams flying to New Zealand for 13 new games in the calendar to decide the final three places \u2014 has been called \u201cunnecessary\u201d.<\/p>\n

Ireland and Reading defender Diane Caldwell, who will be at her country\u2019s first Women\u2019s World Cup, said: \u201cI\u2019m sure Fifa will say they\u2019ve done it to help the women\u2019s game grow. Of course we all want the game to grow, but it can be done in a sustainable way and not by flying 10 teams from different continents to New Zealand to compete. I think definitely it could have been avoided.<\/p>\n

\u201cThey need to really re-evaluate what\u2019s going to be their long-term ethos \u2014 is it going to be profit over planet? You can\u2019t forget the power that football has \u2014 it\u2019s the most followed sport in the world. If football cares about the climate crisis and actually demonstrates cutting emissions, can you imagine the impact that could have on billions of fans across the world?\u201d<\/p>\n

New Zealand and Hearts forward Katie Rood added: \u201cThe sooner we adapt and change the longer we can play and keep enjoying these tournaments. If we truly have our future at the heart of our decisions then we can\u2019t keep talking about expansion and growth of these major tournaments.<\/p>\n

\u201cThese are the pinnacle events \u2014 you want the best of the best. If you are continuously expanding you kind of lose the heart of what that was all about in the first place.<\/p>\n

\u201cWhat does the World Cup mean? Is it for them, for the athletes, for the fans or is it for the advertisers and for the profits?\u201d<\/p>\n

Madeleine Orr, a sport ecologist based at Loughborough University, said she was \u201csceptical\u201d of Fifa and said its growth plans were \u201ccompletely contradictory to sustainability goals\u201d. She added that football should start to consider \u201csmaller venues, smaller scope and scale of tournaments\u201d, meaning \u201cfewer fans\u201d to prioritise local supporters.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe have this influential power that is not being tapped,\u201d she added. \u201cWe have more air time, more media coverage because of sport, and to not use that platform to send a bigger message about sustainability is a missed goal.\u201d<\/p>\n

In a response to BBC Sport, Fifa said the new Women\u2019s World Cup play-off tournament was a collective decision, and that it is \u201cfully aware that climate change is one of the most pressing challenges of our time\u201d, and that as an organisation it has \u201cbeen making substantial efforts to tackle those impacts and, at the same time, to use opportunities to maximise the positive effects of its most iconic tournaments\u201d.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe remain committed to continuously improving our approaches,\u201d it added.<\/p>\n

For More News And Analysis About Kenya<\/a> Follow Africa-Press<\/a><\/strong><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Africa-Press – Kenya. Last week Fifa president Gianni Infantino announced record revenues in excess of $7.6bn (Sh958bn) \u2014 with football\u2019s governing body also confirming plans for further expansion and growth. But do big profits for the global game come at a big cost to the planet? And do they fit with Fifa\u2019s statements on sustainability […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":84,"featured_media":84834,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[2,17],"tags":[6857,7003,544],"class_list":["post-84835","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-all-news","category-sport","tag-africa-press","tag-africa-press-kenya","tag-kenya"],"yoast_head":"\nIs Fifa\u2019s football expansion putting profits before planet? - kenya<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"Last week Fifa president Gianni Infantino announced record revenues in excess of $7.6bn (Sh958bn) \u2014 with football\u2019s gove ...\" \/>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/kenya\/all-news\/is-fifas-football-expansion-putting-profits-before-planet\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Is Fifa\u2019s football expansion putting profits before planet?\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"Last week Fifa president Gianni Infantino announced record revenues in excess of $7.6bn (Sh958bn) \u2014 with football\u2019s gove ...\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/kenya\/all-news\/is-fifas-football-expansion-putting-profits-before-planet\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"kenya\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:publisher\" content=\"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/AfricaPressTunisiaa\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2023-02-23T15:52:07+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:modified_time\" content=\"2023-02-23T16:23:15+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:image\" content=\"https:\/\/static.africa-press.net\/kenya\/sites\/28\/2023\/02\/postQueueImg_1677154935.01.jpg\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:width\" content=\"1000\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:height\" content=\"788\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:type\" content=\"image\/jpeg\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"cfeditoren\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"cfeditoren\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"4 minutes\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\/\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"Article\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/kenya\/all-news\/is-fifas-football-expansion-putting-profits-before-planet#article\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/kenya\/all-news\/is-fifas-football-expansion-putting-profits-before-planet\"},\"author\":{\"name\":\"cfeditoren\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/kenya\/#\/schema\/person\/068c7ab4e9634ae78ec5d54ec46598bb\"},\"headline\":\"Is Fifa\u2019s football expansion putting profits before planet?\",\"datePublished\":\"2023-02-23T15:52:07+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2023-02-23T16:23:15+00:00\",\"mainEntityOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/kenya\/all-news\/is-fifas-football-expansion-putting-profits-before-planet\"},\"wordCount\":775,\"commentCount\":0,\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/kenya\/all-news\/is-fifas-football-expansion-putting-profits-before-planet#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\/\/static.africa-press.net\/kenya\/sites\/28\/2023\/02\/postQueueImg_1677154935.01.jpg\",\"keywords\":[\"Africa Press\",\"Africa Press-Kenya\",\"Kenya\"],\"articleSection\":[\"all news\",\"sport\"],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"CommentAction\",\"name\":\"Comment\",\"target\":[\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/kenya\/all-news\/is-fifas-football-expansion-putting-profits-before-planet#respond\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/kenya\/all-news\/is-fifas-football-expansion-putting-profits-before-planet\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/kenya\/all-news\/is-fifas-football-expansion-putting-profits-before-planet\",\"name\":\"Is Fifa\u2019s football expansion putting profits before planet? 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