World cup, Olympics, Asian games. The absurdity of climate-killing global sporting events

Air-conditioned throwaway stadiums, "shuttle" flights to get to the matches – the football World Cup in Qatar is casting a harsh light on the ecological excesses of big sporting competitions. "These events bring together hundreds of thousands of people from all over the world for a few weeks of travel and consumption on sites that have sometimes only just been built," observes Carole Gomez, a specialist on sport in international relations.

In their wake, greenhouse gas emissions are exploding, particularly due to air travel. FIFA estimates that the World Cup in Qatar will produce 3.6 million tonnes of CO2 equivalent, as much as the emissions of Iceland and Montenegro for one year. Previous World Cups in Russia, Brazil and South Africa were similarly disastrous, with emissions exceeding 2 million tonnes of CO2 equivalent. These abstract figures, which are underestimated, represent a concrete and tangible contribution to climate change.

The preparations for major sports events typically involve much destruction. Infrastructure (sports venues, hotels, motorways, airports, etc.) is built at the expense of valuable wild spaces. For the Winter Olympics in Russia – held in 2014 at the seaside resort of Sochi – the state-owned company Olympstroy built a motorway through the forests of the Caucasus, parts of which are classified as UNESCO World Heritage sites. In South Korea, four years later, the Mount Gariwang forest, made up of thousand-year-old trees and considered sacred by some locals, was partly destroyed to make way for ski slopes. Then, after the athletes had gone, Gangwon Province did not know what to do with the new facilities.

A wind of revolt

In their current form, "these competitions are a waste of money in a world on the brink of collapse, where the average temperature in France could be 3.8°C higher than at the beginning of the 20th century," says Jérôme Santolini, a coordinator of France's Scientists in Rebellion. This group, representing scientists from all disciplines, is taking a stand against climate inaction. "We are in a state of complete uncertainty, except for knowing that the scale of the catastrophe will depend on our choices today. Sports competitions cannot be taken out of the equation."

By highlighting these environmental absurdities, might the Qatar World Cup be a wake-up call? "We are living in an important moment," says sports economist Christophe Lepetit. A wind of protest is blowing, on the theme of "never again". Criticism is rife, including from footballers. Ordinary people are pledging to boycott matches so as to deprive FIFA of its main source of income: television rights. Alternative events are being organised throughout the World Cup.

This disavowal "undermines Qatar's strategy of extending its regional and international influence by using the popularity of a major sporting event", says geopolitics expert Carole Gomez. "The country has underestimated the scale of the pushback, given people's growing concern about environmental disasters and human rights." Does it amount to a threat to such competitions? "One could imagine that if their reputation were to be tarnished, no country would want to host these events. This trend of rejection can already be seen in the case of the Olympic Games, where applications from prospective host cities are becoming increasingly rare," she says.

Asian Winter Games in the Saudi desert

The decision-makers – i.e. international bodies such as the International Olympic Committee (IOC) or FIFA – are carrying on as if nothing has happened. The 2022 World Cup in Qatar is the tree that hides a forest of ugly plans. For example, the next tournament in 2026 will be played by 48 teams, not 32, with matches split between Canada, the United States and Mexico.

"FIFA has imposed such gigantism that individual countries no longer want to take on the organisation of a World Cup," remarks Pierre Rondeau, a sports economist. According to the British daily The Times, following the Spain-Portugal duo and the Uruguay-Argentina-Paraguay-Chile quartet, now Saudi Arabia, Egypt and Greece are preparing to submit a joint bid to organise the 2030 World Cup.

As if that wasn't enough, Qatar will host the Asian Football Cup in 2023. This time, the competition will take place in June and July, when the mercury will hit 50°C. Air conditioning will be dialed to the max. And despite the recent spectacle of the Beijing Winter Olympics – slopes covered in artificial snow in a desolate industrial zone – the 2029 Asian Winter Games have been awarded to Saudi Arabia. They will be held in Neom, a futuristic town still under construction in the desert. The promoters claim that temperatures will fall "below 0°C in winter", but have remained silent about the scarcity of precipitation – and therefore snow – in this barren location. The resort will feature year-round ski slopes, an artificial freshwater lake, chalets, mansions and luxury hotels.

France regularly organises major competitions and is preparing to host the 2024 Olympics in Paris. Is it doing any better than the rest? Not really, despite increasingly green PR. The 2023 Rugby World Cup, which France is hosting, is a showcase for the Emirates airline and TotalEnergies, one of the biggest CO₂ emitters in the world. The Tour de France bike race is always preceded by its "caravan" of sponsors – about 160 vehicles dispensing an avalanche of goodies to spectators - and followed by a bevy of cars (staff, doctors, organisers, media, officials and so on). As a recent Reporterre investigation showed, sailing races such as the Route du Rhum are responsible for the deaths of dozens of cetaceans, from collisions with increasingly fast vessels.