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Sportcal, a sports market intelligence company released on November 3rd their list of the top sport hosting nations as well as the top sport hosting cities worldwide. Russia tops the nation list for the second consecutive year; however, their lead has diminished, while London has retained first position as the top sport hosting city in the world. Where will Rio de Janeiro and Brazil rank after the 2016 Olympics?
Sportcal appears to remain neutral in regards to scandal.
Sportcal uses a 14-year window, with a look at seven years in the past and seven years in the future for their analyses, so major global championships and how they are operated have a major impact on the rankings, therefore it is little surprise that because London hosted a very successful Olympics in 2012, they currently hold that top spot.
Rio de Janeiro sits as the number two city globally. The anticipation of the Olympics is high as South America hosts its first Olympics; into the unknown. Moscow is the third ranked city. They have hosted a number of global events such as IAAF World Indoor and World Outdoor Track and Field Championships. Rio of course graciously hosted the 2014 FIFA World Cup and somehow mysteriously got absolutely trounced by Germany in the final, 7-1. Although Germany plays a methodical, machine-like game, the beating seems impossible.
According to Sportcal, Australia and Qatar are the biggest movers in the top-20 nations list, moving up four places to 15th, and five places to 19th, respectively. Doha, Qatar has been relentless in their efforts to host major global championships. They earned the right to host the 2022 FIFA World Cup and the 2019 IAAF World Track and Field Championships and have been awarded a total of seven more global championships already.
They have hosted 19 major regional and major global championship events since 2004 including FINA Short Course Swimming World Championships and many Asian championships. They also host eight major annual events. The only failed bid so far is for the 2020 Olympic Games; however, it is typical to lose an Olympic bid before winning one.
For outdoor sports, Doha is inhospitable most of the year. The committee and FIFA turned heads worldwide when they decided that they would break with tradition and in a somewhat sacrilegious-like move, disrupt football’s global schedule by hosting FIFA Worlds in winter. This move will have large implications and because of the move, have attracted some unwanted attention, for example there are allegations of bribery and there was a strong pushback by European football associations who have voiced concerns about playing in the heat as well as the re-scheduling of the tournament.
The bribery scandal was centered around Qatari football official Mohammed bin Hammam who was accused of making payments totalling over three million pounds in exchange for FIFA support for the Qatari bid. Interestingly FIFA reviewed the process and announced that there was no wrong-doing.
Additionally, migrant workers have been purported to be living in squalor while building luxurious offices for the organizers. There are also unproven claims of numerous fatalities at construction sites. Doha is the sixth ranked city, Qatar moves up five places as the 19th ranked country.
That’s just FIFA. Papa Massata Diack, the son of the IAAF President Lamine Diack in 2014 was accused of bribery in awarding the 2019 Doha meet. The matter is not yet resolved.
The top American city is Los Angeles at 27, while the top Canadian city is Vancouver at 15; one position below 2014 Commonwealth Games hosts Glasgow.
The rankings go to 100. It appears that a city that wins the bid to host the Olympic Games, win further bids to host other events as they can sell organizing committees on the legacy of facilities and successes from their past major event. Six of the top-15 cities have hosted or will host a Winter or Summer Olympic Games including Vancouver-2010 (15), Beijing-2008 (9), London-2012 (1), Rio-2016 (2), Sochi-2014 (10) and Tokyo-2020 (4).
The top nations go: Russia, Canada, United Kingdom, China, USA, Germany, France and Brazil. One can expect Brazil and Rio to hold the number one position if the Rio Olympic Games are a success.
Sportcal is a resource for the business of sport. They have been in the sports market news, data, analysis and insight for over 22 years. They were founded in 1991.
Sportcal’s product suite includes; News, Calendar, Directory, Media, Sponsorship, Events and Bidding information. They also publish a quarterly magazine
