The FIFA World Cup will be the biggest sporting event of the year and the largest sports marketing exercise since the last World Cup.

We will, each day through the tournament, look to cover the stories of what is happening off the field of play for our Sport for Business readers.

FAI ENTERS QATAR DEBATE

The FAI has made clear its position on the debate around human rights issues and the protection of migrant workers in the World Cup host country, Qatar.

The Association has corresponded with Amnesty International Ireland ahead of the tournament and has stated clearly its strong belief that football can be a positive force to highlight inequalities in society and should be a catalyst for real, positive and sustainable societal change.

Speaking ahead of Sunday’s kick-off, FAI CEO Jonathan Hill said: “The FAI supports the call for the protection and support of migrant workers and their families and for basic human rights for women and the LGBTQ+ community to be respected at all times.”

“We trust that the significant media attention on the Tournament in the coming days and weeks will do much to shine a light on these important issues and that football can reflect on the role it can play in effecting societal change.”

TODAY’S SPONSOR IN THE SPOTLIGHT – VISA

VISA has been a sponsor of the World Cup since the South Africa tournament in 2010.

It took over in the category from Mastercard who had been in situ for the four previous renewals. A legal claim from them based on a claim of first refusal was settled for a reported €90 million at the time.

For Qatar 2022, Visa has created Visa Masters of Movement, a hybrid experience featuring a pre-event NFT auction and immersive activation for fans at FIFA World Cup Qatar 2022.

The auction featured digital art inspired by five iconic goals available on Crypto.com.

The Visa Masters of Movement experience will be an important part of the interactive zones at the FIFA Fan Festival in Doha.

One of the key areas of a company like Visa’s investment in these mega tournaments is the delivery of new concepts like NFC payments that were launched at London in 2012 and have now become the universal norm.

56 YEARS OF HURT BUT NOT THE WORST

England’s long run since a last World Cup win, in 1966, has become enshrined in song and popular culture but they do not have the longest run since a win.

Only eight nations have managed to lift the trophy and here they are listed in order of the recency of their last win…

France 4 Years
Germany 8 Years
Spain 12 Years
Italy 16 Years
Brazil 20 Years
Argentina 36 years
England 56 years
Uruguay 72 Years

So Lionel Messi was not born the last time Argentina won the tournament. Pause for thought on just how hard it is to win.

CALLING THE WINNER

Opta Analyst is one of the best Data Visualisation sites to follow through the tournament. It has run the numbers on the most likely winner and has forecast that Brazil are the most likely to stand tall the weekend before Christmas.

They are given a 16.78 chance of victory, Argentina are next best with a 12.67 percent chance, followed by France on 11.95 percent and Spain with a 9.22 percent chance.

England, Germany, the Netherlands and Portugal are the other teams that, on the stats, have a greater than one in twenty chance of winning.

THE VIP LIST

French President Emmanuel Macron will attend the World Cup only if France makes it to the Semi-Finals of the tournament according to a report in L’Equipe Newspaper.

US President JOE Biden will not be going but Secretary of State Anthony Blinkedn is reportedly set to attend the game between the USA and Wales in the Group Stage as well as meeting with Qatari officials.