Why does a country bid to host the World Cup? Ignore the grandiose claims about a celebration of all things football – the reality is much more nuanced. It’s about global prestige, international business deals, and domestic politics. Football itself is some way down the list, though that doesn’t necessarily make for a bad tournament.
What’s certain is that every host nation wants to tell the world something. It may want to shake off a negative reputation, accentuate its positives, or simply shout about how wonderful it is.
The most recent World Cup in Brazil was awarded to the country during an economic boom that they wished to showcase, but by the time the tournament rolled around it was on the verge of crisis. Russia will host 2018 as a show of strength from an increasingly self-confident nation. For Qatar, World Cup 2022 is an announcement of its presence on the global stage – albeit one that has been fraught with problems.
None are doing anything new, of course. From the earliest years of the World Cup, it has been used as a platform from which countries can make a grand statement about their place in the world.
Every host has had this in mind, but two stand out for doing so in a particularly aggressive manner: Italy in 1934 and Argentina in 1978.
As a follower of football, if not quite a match-going fan, Mussolini understood the sport’s power to connect the elite with the common man. Hosting a global tournament would also allow Italy to showcase its progress under fascist rule.
Europe in the thirties was characterised by competing ideologies: fascism was gaining traction in Italy and Germany, while in the east communism dominated through Josef Stalin’s USSR.
Unlike Stalin, who had used sport as a domestic propaganda tool but did not send his athletes abroad, Mussolini understood that winning on a global stage would make for an even greater demonstration of his nation’s strength.
On the home front, he wanted to use the 1934 tournament to unite Italians under the fascist banner. Thousands of posters went up featuring a bronzed and towering Italian footballer giving the fascist salute; a set of World Cup stamps were issued, and there was even a cigarette brand named Campionato del Mondo (world championship). Eight stadiums in eight cities would play host, taking the tournament from Milan in the north to Naples in the south. To demonstrate the fascist state’s organisational prowess, all eight first-round games would kick-off at exactly the same time on 27 May. Keen to be seen as a man of the people, Mussolini even queued up to buy his own ticket for Italy’s opener, which saw them thump the United States 7-1.
None are doing anything new, of course. From the earliest years of the World Cup, it has been used as a platform from which countries can make a grand statement about their place in the world.
Every host has had this in mind, but two stand out for doing so in a particularly aggressive manner: Italy in 1934 and Argentina in 1978.
THE FASCIST WORLD CUP
When Italy began to lobby FIFA to award them the 1934 World Cup, it was because the country’s leader – the fascist dictator Benito Mussolini – wished to demonstrate his power both at home and abroad. First elected prime minister in 1922, Mussolini had given up any pretence of democracy in 1925 and ruled an authoritarian one-party state where he was Il Duce – “the leader”.
As a follower of football, if not quite a match-going fan, Mussolini understood the sport’s power to connect the elite with the common man. Hosting a global tournament would also allow Italy to showcase its progress under fascist rule.
Europe in the thirties was characterised by competing ideologies: fascism was gaining traction in Italy and Germany, while in the east communism dominated through Josef Stalin’s USSR.
Unlike Stalin, who had used sport as a domestic propaganda tool but did not send his athletes abroad, Mussolini understood that winning on a global stage would make for an even greater demonstration of his nation’s strength. On the home front, he wanted to use the 1934 tournament to unite Italians under the fascist banner. Thousands of posters went up featuring a bronzed and towering Italian footballer giving the fascist salute; a set of World Cup stamps were issued, and there was even a cigarette brand named Campionato del Mondo (world championship). Eight stadiums in eight cities would play host, taking the tournament from Milan in the north to Naples in the south. To demonstrate the fascist state’s organisational prowess, all eight first-round games would kick-off at exactly the same time on 27 May. Keen to be seen as a man of the people, Mussolini even queued up to buy his own ticket for Italy’s opener, which saw them thump the United States 7-1.