The 1998 Football World Cup : competition in sport and management challenge

The Football World Cup is much more than just a sports competition : it is a media event with enormous financial consequences. It is orchestrated by the all-powerful FIFA whose turnover is two hundred and fifty billion dollars and whose President, the Brazilian octogenarian Joao Havelange, likes to say that he is the world's largest employer. For France, it is the country's image which is on the line : ten thousand journalists from five continents will be present and the estimated number of television viewers is thirty-seven billion, twice that of the Olympic games in Atlanta. For the organisation committee, there are a number of challenges : to be ready on time, to balance the budget, to respect the one-sided FIFA rules, to manage the re-deployment of personnel after the event, and to ensure that France's image is enhanced. This talk illustrates the behind-the-scenes activity of this event.