The fourth in a series of posts as we head towards the FIFA Men's World Cup football tournament which starts on the 11th of June.
There are some more stories emerging day by day as we get closer to the first matches.
Japan apparently had to leave their 'sub-standard' training facilities.
This piece from late May describes the event as a "climate catastrophe".
This report provides lots of useful details. (PDF download)
This report also has some details on the 2030 tournament which promises to have an even greater carbon footprint because of its organisation.
The 2030 FIFA World Cup will mark a historic first: the tournament will be jointly hosted by three countries across two continents – Morocco (Africa), and Portugal and Spain (Europe) – signalling FIFA’s continued push toward more complex and expansive hosting arrangements. In an unprecedented move, Argentina, Paraguay, and Uruguay will also each host a single opening match, bringing the total number of host nations to six. This symbolic gesture is intended to commemorate the centenary of the first World Cup, held in Uruguay in 1930, and to honor the tournament’s South American roots.It also describes some of the potential climate-related issues...
The 2026 World Cup's June-July schedule coincides with the early peak of the Atlantic hurricane season, creating potentially catastrophic scenarios for venues along the Gulf Coast and Eastern Seaboard. Hard Rock Stadium in Miami operates in one of the nation's hurricane-vulnerable regions, where Category 1-2 storms can generate storm surge flooding that would overwhelm the venue's 8.1 property flooding risk with additional coastal inundation.18 The period from June to July marks the onset of historical storm activity in the Atlantic Ocean, during which rapid intensification events become increasingly common due to warmer temperatures. Additional extreme weather threats span the tournament's geographic footprint, from severe thunderstorm complexes across the Great Plains to heat dome events that could push temperatures beyond safe operational thresholds. NRG Stadium in Houston faces dual threats from tropical storm surge flooding and the region's notorious severe thunderstorm activity, which produces damaging hail, tornadoes, and flash flooding that can rapidly overwhelm urban drainage systems.
The last one came to pass in a warm up match earlier in the week, when a thunderstorm disrupted the fixture between Saudi Arabia and Puerto Rico. It is likely that other matches will suffer from weather related issues given the timing of the tournament - and the next one as well...
Today we had the story of the top Somalian referee who was turned away. Omar Artan will miss the tournament despite having a diplomatic passport.
And some teams treated 'like criminals' when they arrive. I doubt CR7 would be treated the same.
In Mexico:
World Cup player statues in the capital have been toppled by protesters, with teachers demanding higher wages threatening to disrupt matches if their wishes are not met.
And as it points out, never before has a host nation been at war with a participating nation...
Plenty more to come...
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