‘Clearly, The World Cup Format is Not Sustainable’; A Conversation with WilkinsonEyre Sports Director, Sam Wright
The 2022 FIFA World Cup was mired in controversy. Human rights groups saw Qatar’s hosting of the event as an affront to the LGBTQ+ community, free speech, and ethical labor practices. Ethics and standards groups investigated whether Qatar had ‘bought’ the event following rumours of bribery. Fans and sporting bodies alike even questioned the timing of the event, and its interference with domestic league calendars.
While these concerns targeted at Qatar at the 2022 World Cup specifically, the event was also a catalyst for environmental groups to ask broader questions about the carbon cost of major temporary sports and cultural events, and whether they can be justified by long-term economic or social benefits. These questions are not new or bespoke to Qatar; they also formed the basis for our feature articles on both Expo 2020 Dubai and the 2020 Tokyo Olympic Games.
For WilkinsonEyre’s Sports and Leisure Leader Sam Wright, whose team has delivered an abundance of major sports projects, including for multiple Olympic Games, the questions speak to a wider conversation on the role of sports infrastructure in cities, their longevity and resilience, and their material composition.
At the 2022 World Architecture Festival in December, as the Qatar World Cup was underway, Archinect’s Niall Patrick Walsh sat down with Wright to explore these topics in more detail. The conversation was also a moment to reflect on WilkinsonEyre’s practice and culture more broadly, one year after the passing of the firm’s founder Chris Wilkinson at the age of 76.
