The 2022 World Cup in Qatar in Historical Perspective

The FIFA World Cup Qatar 2022™ breaks new ground—the first World Cup to be held in the Middle East, the first in a Muslim majority society, and the first to be held in November. David Goldblatt, a sociologist, journalist, and bestselling author examined the economics, politics, and urban development that have accompanied the upcoming event and compared these to past World Cups.

Goldblatt explained, “The 2006 World Cup in Germany was the first one to have a proper dimension for the environmental aspects of the major sporting event. The 2014 and 2018 World Cup editions had full-scale carbon analysis. 2022 is genuinely different. The commitment of the Qatari government towards the environment is really noteworthy for a carbon-zero event. The seriousness towards this commitment is seen in the construction as well as in the public transport arrangements for the World Cup.”

Speaker: David Goldblatt, is an honorary fellow at the International Centre for Sports History and Culture, De Montfort University, Leicester, U.K., teaches for the Geneva based Football Business Academy, and is a visiting Professor at Pitzer College, Los Angeles.

Moderator: Danyel Reiche, Visiting Associate Professor at GUQ.