Football can open trade, investment opportunities ahead of Qatar and US World Cups, says Prof Chadwick
QATAR and the United States have the opportunity to leverage the power of football as a tool to open doors to diplomatic trade discussions as hosts of the 2022 and 2026 FIFA World Cups respectively, said Professor Simon Chadwick from Emlyon Business School.
Prof Chadwick was speaking recently at the US-Qatar Business Council webinar titled Qatar 2022 to the Americas 2026: Creating Connections and Opportunities between the FIFA World Cup Tournaments’.
Speaking about how Qatar and the US can leverage the event specifically for investment and trade purposes, he said: “It is incredible how football can open the door to a kind of diplomatic trade discussion that might normally take months, but with football it might take weeks or nights. So, what Qatar and the United States have ahead of them is a unique opportunity to start engaging and building relationships with key target audiences.”
Prof Chadwick cited how the British Government has worked very hard through the Department of International Trade to leverage the value of the English Premier League soccer competition.
He said that Britain sent a trade mission to Qatar in 2017 to talk to Qatar because they knew there would
be some kind of lucrative commercial opportunities available in advance of, or probably beyond, the 2022 World Cup.
He added that what the International Trade Department often does is go with the representatives of the Premier League teams as part of its trade mission.
In this particular case, he said in 2017 Chief Executive Officer of Tottenham FC was with the government minister when they visited Qatar.
He said, “So, I think it’s a lesson here for Qatar, which is an emerging football nation, and the United States, which wants to flex its soccer muscle a little more, the soccer currency is immersed in political and economic terms.
“I’ve been to a number of corporate hospitality areas and championships, and it’s just incredible what you see there, you’ll see politicians, celebrities, senior industry figures, decision makers, and very often it is predicated on making deals, building connections and doing business. That is what host countries need to do.”
Prof Chadwick advised local businesses and investors looking for opportunities at the World Cup event to work together, share information and set up a network to cater to the more than one million expected fans visiting Qatar.
He added that people who are in Qatar today should understand that when FIFA World Cup finally comes to town, the event will only become a heavily controlled environment, so that intellectual property for trademarks, logos, goods and other materials will be heavily controlled by the governing body of world soccer.
“Businesses in Qatar will not be able to use certain images and words in their pursuit of business. For those associations or businesses, a network can be created and information shared together, so that values can be created collaboratively,” he said.
Qatar expects as many as 1.5 million people for the World Cup in the months before and after the big event.
The relationship between Qatar and the United States has grown steadily and is now worth more than 200 billion. The US has been a key partner in Qatar’s rapid economic growth and diversification, with more than 850 US companies operating in the country.