Academics in The York Management School, University of York,
who have been conducting a pioneering management history research project of
the 1966 FIFA World Cup believe that the game and its governing bodies could do
well to heed the lessons of history.
Dr Kevin Tennent and Dr Alex Gillett, editors of the ‘Soccer
Mad Boffins’ blog site, which will be launched this summer to coincide with the
tournament in Brazil, identify that such controversies over the organisation of
sports tournaments with international participation are not new for the sport.
According to Dr Tennent, “This is about cross-cultural
management. How do cultural and language barriers effect the success – or
otherwise – of tournaments like the FIFA World Cup? We have seen innovations introduced as a
result of such misunderstandings - the red and yellow card system was, for
example, introduced as a consequence of problems of language and understanding
during the 1966 FIFA World Cup when it was hosted in England.”
Dr Gillett adds: “We are told that we live in an
increasingly globalised society, but as new ‘markets’ open up – or are opened –
by industries including sport, the financial stakes as well as expectations,
are raised. This means that problems are
closely scrutinised. Perhaps sport has never before been quite so under the
microscope in terms of its accountability and transparency. The question is, how will its governing
bodies adapt?”
Dr Tennent and Dr Gillett’s year long study is supported by
FIFA and the Centre International d’Etude du Sport in Switzerland through the João
Havelange Scholarship scheme. They are
particularly interested in the organisation of the tournament in the years
running up to 1966, the day to day management of the tournament itself, and the
management of legacy after the tournament.
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