Students from Miami University and a university in Mexico City have been working together to prepare for the upcoming 2026 FIFA World Cup. The tournament is being jointly hosted by the United States, Canada and Mexico from June 11 to July 19 next year.
The pairing is a result of The Diplomacy Lab, a public-private research partnership between the U.S. Department of State and more than 60 domestic academic institutions with the goal of conducting research on pressing policy issues.
"There was a group of college students in Mexico who were looking to learn a little bit more about sport management, particularly as it relates to hosting the 2026 World Cup" explains Adam Beissel, associate professor of sport leadership and management at Miami University.
Mexico City will host five World Cup matches, including the opening match of the tournament. The idea is to help the students there prepare to assist in the hosting duties.
"The project is really how we can use the faculty at Miami University, as well as our students who are in our sport management program and are well versed in delivering international sport mega events in terms of economics, in terms of facility management, in terms of wider urban development, and try and infuse some of that knowledge with the students at the university in Mexico City," Beissel tells WVXU. "At the same time, our students get to learn a little bit of how the event is going to affect local communities and local community members and local businesses within Mexico City."
Miami students studying sports leadership and management spent the fall semester working in small groups with students at Universidad YMCA Mexico majoring in technology education, most of whom don't have backgrounds in sport or event management. After a series of lessons on technical English for sports, major event management, event operations, crisis management and sports marketing, the students formulated proposals that can be presented to the local tournament organizing committee.
Beissel says they were given hypothetical scenarios about how the city can respond to or benefit from possible scenarios "... whether it's the building of facilities, the staging of the event — how can local businesses benefit from the event? But, also, think through some of the concerns that have plagued the hosting of these events, where sometimes the economic promises don't add up in the end, and if there are economic benefits, they don't always benefit the local community. So we've given them a couple different ideas that they can think about, and it's all in a greater effect of having a better impact on the delivery of the games and the tournament in Mexico City."
Some of the top proposals will be presented to the State Department and its satellite offices in Mexico City.
Beissel says Miami students are benefiting from seeing firsthand the intricacies of staging such a huge tournament across — for the first time ever — more than one country.
"Because this is the first time that three countries have ever hosted the event — and the culture, the economy, the politics, are very different in Mexico City — our students are actually getting a glimpse into how this event is affecting others around the world or in other countries, in a way that they probably wouldn't have access to," Beissel concludes.
There are plans to continue the partnership with a new set of students again next semester, and perhaps even further into the future.
"The 2031 Women's World Cup will be co-hosted by the U.S. and Mexico as well," Beissel points out. "So this sort of partnership between the two countries and the North American continent, it's not going to go away."
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