Fifa Club World Cup: How 16 goals in six days have damaged Auckland City FC's proud 20-year legacy
These are humbling times for Auckland City FC at the Fifa Club World Cup.
Saturday's 6-0 defeat to Benfica was a much-improved performance but the result still stings, off the back of the 10-0 rout against Bayern Munich last Monday. While their struggles have made headlines all over the world,
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Newsroom
39 minutes ago
- Newsroom
FIFA isn't even bothering to greenwash its growing carbon footprint
Opinion: The FIFA Club World Cup has not got off to a smooth start and it is not just Auckland City FC (knocked out after being beaten 10-0 by Bayern Munich and 6-0 by Benfica) that has had it rough. Already beset by controversy and unloved by players and clubs, early fixtures have been marked by mismatches and empty seats. The tournament has also highlighted a threat that continues to cloud sport and FIFA's role in it: climate change. Games have been plagued by high temperatures and oppressive humidity that have put players and fans at risk, triggering an angry response from the international players' union FifPro, who argue that extreme heat is becoming an increasingly important health and safety issue in professional football. These conditions are not an isolated occurrence. Since 1998 the United States has experienced nine of its 10 warmest years on record with 2023 the hottest year on record. The frequency, duration and intensity of heat waves in the United States have also increased significantly. Nor is heat stress a uniquely American problem. Sporting events around the world have increasingly been hit by extreme temperatures, from the 2024 Paris Olympics to the most recent Indian Premier League tournament, in which matches were regularly played in 42C temperatures. Along with extreme weather events and variable rainfall, these conditions are providing an existential threat to sport. Sport is no innocent victim, at least at an elite level. Sport, particularly sporting mega-events such as the Olympic Games and FIFA tournaments, have a substantial impact on the environment. Publicly, FIFA is well aware of its environmental impact and the threat of climate change. In his foreword to the organisation's Climate Strategy, FIFA President Gianni Infantino noted that 'there is no doubt that we are in the midst of a climate emergency', one that requires 'immediate and sustainable climate action'. Further pledges have followed. As part of its 'commitment to promote a green future for generations to come', FIFA has signed up to the United Nations Sports for Climate Action Framework, which requires signatories to halve emissions by 2030 and aim to become carbon neutral by 2040. Actions and aspirations, however, are quite different things. Organisers of the 2022 FIFA Men's World Cup in Qatar, for instance, initially claimed that it would be 'carbon neutral', despite being held in air-conditioned stadiums and requiring substantial international travel for fans and participants. Perhaps unsurprisingly, the event was deemed by Scientific American to be a climate catastrophe. The Swiss advertising regulator later ruled that FIFA had made false claims and that they must 'refrain in future from making the contested allegations'. More than greenwashing, FIFA actions often seem to be designed to increase its carbon footprint. Tournaments are expanding rapidly in scale and geography. The Club World Cup has bloated from seven to 32 teams. The 2026 Men's World Cup has expanded to 48 teams from 32 and is being held in three countries. Alarmingly, the 2030 tournament is being hosted by six countries across three continents. This expansion requires additional facilities and generates more consumption and waste. Most of all, it significantly increases team and fan travel, which typically makes up the majority of emissions from sporting events. Aviation emission, for example, made up around three-quarters of the emissions from the 2010-2018 Men's FIFA World Cups. The Fossil Free Football group has estimated that travel to the Club World Cup by the teams alone will result in 564,877km of air travel. Alarmingly, in 2024 FIFA signed a lucrative sponsorship deal with Aramco, the world's biggest oil producer and the third largest producer of carbon emission of all time, behind only the former Soviet Union and China. Aramco also has similar deals with the International Cricket Council and Formula One. In addition to its commercial partnership with the 98 percent Saudi-owned company, FIFA also awarded the Kingdom the 2034 Men's World Cup after a controversial bidding process. It is this embrace that has fuelled the Club World Cup, which has been driven by the Saudi Public Investment Fund, the 'official partner' of the tournament. The FIFA tournament website sustainability page openly acknowledges that the 'Earth's climate is changing due to human activity, causing a variety of sudden and gradual changes to the weather and the environment. Football is not immune to these significant changes'. FIFA also claims it is committed to delivering a tournament with a positive environmental impact. Instead, it exemplifies the stuck-ness of contemporary environmental action – we know that climate change is affecting everything from food production to football, but there seems to be no energy to tackle the scale of the problem. As footballers present and future will find out, the framing of this inaction as transformation is not going to hold back the rising tides and temperatures of the climate crisis.
NZ Herald
14 hours ago
- NZ Herald
Fifa Club World Cup: How 16 goals in six days have damaged Auckland City FC's proud 20-year legacy
These are humbling times for Auckland City FC at the Fifa Club World Cup. Saturday's 6-0 defeat to Benfica was a much-improved performance but the result still stings, off the back of the 10-0 rout against Bayern Munich last Monday. While their struggles have made headlines all over the world,
Otago Daily Times
a day ago
- Otago Daily Times
Victory for Chelsea
Pedro Neto and Enzo Fernandez each scored goals to propel Chelsea to a 2-0 victory over Los Angeles FC in the group D opener for each team in the Club World Cup in the United States yesterday. Chelsea struck first in the 34th minute, as Neto received a perfect downfield pass from Nicolas Jackson before sending defender Ryan Hollingshead to the ground with a fake and finding the back of the net with a strike past goalkeeper Hugo Lloris. The insurance goal came in the 79th minute as Liam Delap sent in a beautiful cross to Fernandez, who finished with a left-footed shot past Lloris from a few yards out. Meanwhile, Nicolas Otamendi headed in the equaliser in the 84th minute to deliver Benfica a 2-2 draw against Boca Juniors and Flamengo beat Esperance de Tunis 2-0. — Field Level Media
