Source: VEVESworld.com, n.d

FIFA X ARGENTINA 2026

FINAL REPORT ADV20001

Matthew Fitzpatrick, Steven James, Kerry-Anne Sherry and Sarah Thomson

TABLE OF CONTENTS

Contents

To the executive FIFA committee: _____________________________________________________ 1

Social Behaviours/Issues: ____________________________________________________________ 2

Treatment of women: ________________________________________________________________ 3

Equality in the workforce: ____________________________________________________________ 4

Stereotypes: _______________________________________________________________________ 5

Minorities and attitudes towards them: __________________________________________________ 7

Conclusion: _______________________________________________________________________ 8

References: _______________________________________________________________________ 9

Page 1

To the executive FIFA committee:

In the year 2026, it will have been 48 years since FIFA was last hosted in Argentina, this report

has been composed to offer the board an insight into all the changes that have occurred in

Argentina in the past five decades and give an analysis of Argentina, its identity and attitudes,

as well as the way that Argentina is perceived on an international stage. To do this the report

has been split into various topics such as

- Social issues

- Cultural behavior

- Equality and the treatment of women

- Stereotypes

- Advertising issues

- Attitudes towards ethnic and sexual minority groups

- Sporting etiquette

These topics should provide an in-depth analysis that assesses whether Argentina is a viable

candidate to host the world cup again, and if successful will also assist in creating a good start

in organising the FIFA X Argentina 2026 World Cup.

Source: unique-southamerican-travel-experience.com

Page 2

Social Behaviours/Issues:

To be able to gain a good understanding of the Argentina, an overview of some of their cultural

traditions could help to be able to give a feel of what Argentina represents as a country and

whether the FIFA brand is still compatible with Argentina since there were the host of the

World Cup back in 1978. The people of Argentina are known to have an open and direct

communication style and visitors often refer to people by physical characteristics such as their

race to identify them. Locals also have a warm way of greeting people to the country and have

customs such as kissing on the cheek which can be uncomfortable for different people.

The people of Argentina also have a sensitive outlook on things such as politics and religion,

therefore for travellers in the country it could result in hostility. Also, if FIFA is to host in

Argentina, any affiliations with religion or politics could create a dilemma for the organisation.

When deciding on what to wear whilst your here do try to dress nice and presentable, Argentina

is very conscious about this.

Traditions based on dress in Argentina are typically that a person should always be “nice and

presentable”. However, for some countries which have a more informal culture their dress

sense could be controversial to the locals and therefore the presentation of the athletes and

tourists that are attracted to the World Cup could create hostility in the host country. And

therefore, give the World cup a poor image.

As a tourist, you should expect to be welcomed by the locals and if you are invited to one’s

home during your stay there are a few things you should be aware of;

Once in Argentina you are officially on Argentinian time so if you are invited to a local’s home

arriving on time is not accustom, 20 to 40 minutes after the invitation time is normal and if you

are invited to a BBQ, women are expected to help prepare and set up however men are

expected to rest and look after the grill.

The crime rate of Argentina is quite high, especially in the night life, it is often suggested that

women do not travel alone. Theft such as pick pocketing is very high in Argentina and

therefore the World Cup could be a potential target for criminals in the country to take

advantage of the tourists. This affects the World cup in a way that could change the brand

image of the World Cup internationally for those who do not understand the culture of the

people in Argentina.

Page 3

Treatment of women:

Attitudes and equal treatment towards women has been a rising movement globally and

Argentina too has made tremendous progress in equality for women over the years. Whilst the

country is lacking in liberating some female rights with an insufficiency of access to

reproductive rights and health care (FSD, 2016), the country has notable and measurable

significance with women in political, social and domestic roles (FSD, 2016).

According to the statistics collected by the Foundation for Sustainable Development (2016),

Argentina’s significant progress towards women’s equality includes;

Women earning 98% of what men do in the workplace, this contrasts neighbouring countries

such as Chile and Brazil where women earn 77% of what males do.

Illiteracy rates between genders are almost parallel with males at 3.1% and females at 3.2%

A significant growth of representation in the National Legislature representation of women in

1983 including 4.3%, juxtaposed to the present with 33.7% being represented by women in

2005. In 2015 Australia had less than 30% (Pash, 2015).

Argentina was supposedly the first country in Latin America to adopt a quota law for women’s

representation within congress, showing overlapping growth within the region.

The country is ranked 15th against the rest of the world for women’s representation within the

national legislature.

Source: BBC News, 2016

Page 4

Equality in the workforce:

“Towards the end of 2015, the unemployment rate was 5.9% which is the lowest Argentina had

seen in years. A year earlier, it stood at 7.5%.” (King 2016) Working life in Argentina is hard if

you do not speak the native tongue which is Spanish. This does not make it impossible but hard

for you to not only pursue job opportunities but it is also seen as disrespectful to not speak at

least a small amount of Spanish in a professional setting. “Argentine workplaces can be quite

formal, and the use of titles is important”. (King 2016) The average working in one week

working week “may be longer than what you are used to, usually 48 hours per week, stretched

over six days. Work is not commonly permitted on Saturday afternoons or Sundays, but anyone

who has to work over the weekend will be paid substantial overtime” (King 2016) Women in

the workplace have no trouble in equally contending for higher paid positions like the men do

which makes the Argentine working environment to be one of the most progressive.

Source: FIFA, ND

Page 5

Stereotypes:

The overview of stereotypes that have been evident through research are that from the outside

people see Argentina as being full of arrogant residents where gender is not balanced in the

workplace or in regular society, the food is below average, the only places to visit with any

relevance to tourists are Buenos Aries and Patagonia, it is not a safe country to travel to and is

just South America’s take on Europe. These are the stereotypes that have been determined

untrue for this most part. Argentina has a rich South American and Latin American culture that

flows through the country. “Argentina is a very safe place for those who take care and respect

the risks inherent in all travel, so don’t let fear define your experience.” (Fowler 2015)”

Argentina, like much of South America, unfortunately suffers from this lazy and outdated

stereotype. While the worry is fuelled by fear of the unknown and a lack of awareness.”

(Fowler 2015)

The sports stereotypes however have stood their ground over time as Argentina has proved to

be one of the most lovers of the world game and the stereotypes that they have prove that it

would be the best place to hold one of the biggest sporting events. “The soccer season in

Buenos Aires is February-November, there are games every Sunday” (Trip Advisor 2016) Not

only is the Football in Argentina very well renowned but also the horse back riding and polo.

“Polo has two seasons in Argentina: March-May and September-December” (Trip Advisor

2016) “Watch rugby matches on weekends from May - November.” (Trip Advisor 2016) A

hidden gem in Buenos Aires is Belgrano Athletic Club. It is located in the leafy neighbourhood

of Belgrano R, where you can stroll along the tree lined streets while gazing at the beautiful

buildings and embassies dotted around this secluded zone. (Trip Advisor 2016) Other sports

that are enjoyable in Argentina are Golf, Tennis and running which can be seen throughout out

the year. There is always a sport being played at some point of the year which makes Argentina

a very desirable candidate to host the world cup.

Argentineans love Maradona - Maradona is a very well known football player and is classed as

one of the greatest players of all time alongside Pele. Maradona played for the Argentinian

National team, he played from “1977-1994 (91 caps, 34 goals)” (Coggin 2016) People have

created almost a cult following just for this one player which has been channelled into a

religion that revolves around the man himself. Maradona is a controversial topic among most as

in the 1994 world cup “He scored against Greece but after failing a drug test for ephedrine

doping, legend in the streets of Argentina FIFA expelled him from the tournament.” (Coggin

2016) The stereotype of Maradona being one of the most controversial but loved players in

Argentina is very much true. He is very much still a

Argentineans love for football is another common but true stereotype and the Argentineans are

known to be the passionate Crowd when supporting their national team. The team has seen

Page 6

stars come and go with the recent retirement of one of the world’s best stepping down from the

international stage which is Lionel Messi. Argentinian’s fans are like other fans around the

world that are passionate about their team reaching for glory however as it is the national sport

of Argentina and South America there is always a little bit more emotion that goes into the

games.

Page 7

Minorities and attitudes towards them:

Argentina is a country that mostly is made up of people from European Heritage, they make up

97% of their population, while their non-white groups make up the other 3% (Central

Intelligence Agency 2016). However, their minorities have often been “overlooked” as part of

the Argentine identity. Although, in more recent times, Argentina has seen a shift from seeing

itself as a more homogenous and “white community to having a stronger emphasis on the

diversity within the nation, and for one of the first times is acknowledging that their indigenous

community in their census (Ko, 2014). Which, according to Ko (2014) is to show the people of

Argentina that “Blacks exist”. For a long period of time the divide between those of European

descent and those with darker skin and hair has long been overlooked as an issue with the

culture in Argentina, and often was met by arguments that those who talked about the Taboo

topic were “inventing a “racial problem”” (Adamovsky 2016). This represents an issues for the

world cup as the brand for the FIFA organisation is based around the idea of an idea of unifying

cultures and backgrounds through sports (FIFA 2016). Furthermore, this is also an issue for the

tourism that the World cup will bring to Argentina, this could mean that different religious

traditions and cultural practices are not respected.

The LGBT movement in Argentina is quite progressive, being the first country in Latin

America to introduce Same-sex Marriage. The LGBT rights movement in Argentina is seen as

being established, as when compared to other countries such as Brazil, where homophobia is

more prevalent, the rights movement is less focused on marriage equality and more on social

protection (Schulenburg 2012). The progressive rights of the LGBT people could bode well for

the World Cup as often having

controversial stances about

homosexual leads to negative

press and protests, which was

shown in the 2014 Russian

Winter Olympics. Where there

were examples of Gay rights

protests in many cities across the

world and country of origin

(BBC 2014). Progressive LGBT

rights are therefore of a benefit

to the World Cup as it avoids the

chances of a PR issue.

1Source: ALGBTICAL, 2010

Page 8

Conclusion:

The above evaluates the viability of Argentina as a host of the FIFA World Club for the year

2026. It discusses things such as the way that culture, traditions and the tourism of Argentina

and the implications that these things have on Argentina’s eligibility to host the World Cup.

Focusing on things such as minorities we have found that Argentina is rather progressive in

terms of the way they treat sexual minorities, and although there are some racial issues within

Argentina, they should not affect the tourism and the World Cup campaign. Furthermore, the

campaign also looks at the Equality that women have in Argentina, and the stereotypes that are

used both in Argentina and towards Argentina that could influence whether the country is an

appropriate place for the FIFA world cup to take place.

Source: Dailymail UK, 2012

Page 9

References:

Academy, V. 2016. Cultural Do's and Don'ts in Argentina - Vamos Spanish School in Buenos

Aires, Vamos Spanish School in Buenos Aires, viewed 25 October 2016,

<https://vamospanish.com/cultural-dos-and-donts-in-argentina>

Adamovsky, E 2016, ‘A Strange Emblem for a (Not So) White Nation: La Morocha Argentina

in the Latin American Racial Context, c. 1900-2015, Journal of Social History Advance, 1

June, vol. 0, no. 0, pp. 1-25

BBC News 2014, Sochi 2014: Gay rights protests target Russia’s games’, BBC, 5 February,

viewed, 18 October 2016, <http://www.bbc.com/news/world-europe-26043872>

Central intelligence Agency 2016, ‘The World Fact book: Argentina’, Central Intelligence

Agency, 11 October, viewed 17 October 2016, <https://www.cia.gov/library/publications/the-

world-factbook/geos/ar.html>

Coggin, S 2016, ‘Diego Maradona - Genius and Urchin Rolled into One’, About.com Sports,

viewed 19 October, 2016, <http://worldsoccer.about.com/od/players/a/Maradonaprofile.htm>.

FIFA 2016, ‘About FIFA, what we stand for’, FIFA, viewed 26 October 2016,

<http://www.fifa.com/about-fifa/who-we-are/explore-

fifa.html?intcmp=fifacom_hp_module_corporate>

Fowler, P 2015, ‘17 Myths About Argentina - We Uncover the Truth! - South America Travel

Blog’, South America Travel Blog, viewed 19 October, 2016, <https://blog.viventura.com/17-

myths-about-argentina>.

King, C 2016, ‘Living and Working in Argentina: The Info’, Journal by Job spotting, viewed 19

October, 2016, <https://jobspotting.com/en/journal/living-working-argentina-info/>.

Ko, CT 2014, ‘From whiteness to diversity: Crossing the racial threshold in bicentennial

Argentina’, Ethnic and Racial Studies, vol. 37, no. 14, pp. 2529-2546.

Schulenburg, S 2012, ‘The Construction and Enactment of Same-Sex Marriage in Argentina’,

Journal of Human Rights, vol. 11, no. 1, pp. 106-125

Trip Advisor, 2016, ‘Buenos Aires: Sports & Activities’, Tripadvisor.com.au, viewed 20

October, 2016, <https://www.tripadvisor.com.au/Travel-g312741-s406/Buenos-

Aires:Argentina:Sports.And.Activities.html>.

Page 10

IMAGE SOURCES

ALGBTICAL, (2010). PRO GAY ARGENTINA.

BBC, (2014). Argentina tries doctors for 'baby theft' during military rule.

Dailymail.co UK, (2012). Peruvian senator reveals his country did throw key 1978 World Cup

game against Argentina

FIFA, (n.d.). 1978 FIFA WORLD CUP ARGENTINA TM.

Unique-SouthAmerica-Travel-Experience.com, (n.d.). FACTS ABOUT ARGENTINA.

VEVESworld.com, (n.d.). ARGENTINA.