ABSTRACT
This work is fully dedicated to the structural changes of football worldwide. Recent FIFA crises have shown some huge challenges that football can represent. With 209 affiliated countries, FIFA is “more important” than the UN, and its president is welcomed everywhere like a head of state. In certain geographical areas, he is even considered more powerful than some G8 leaders! This geopolitical dimension, and just plain political, is obviously linked to the financial burden that football represents today. When countries win the bid for the World Cup, it is a way to position oneself in the world (South Africa in 2010, Brazil in 2014, Russia in 2018, Qatar in 2022). Countries can be considered as a brand (concept of country branding, often nourished by soft power). However, investments in infrastructure are often dizzying, 21 billion for Russia in 2018, and more than 200 billion US dollars for Qatar in 2022! 1 In addition, these forecasted budgets for major sporting events are always underestimated a priori and a posteriori!
