Associate Professor S.A. Davydova¹
Dr.Sc.Soc., Professor N.V. Dulina²
PhD, Associate Professor Е.N. Ikingrin³
PhD, Associate Professor Yu.V. Korichko^1
1Nizhnevartovsk State University, Nizhnevartovsk
²Volgograd State University, Volgograd
³Nizhnevartovsk branch of Russian Society of Sociologists, Nizhnevartovsk

 

Keywords: youth, students, sport, football, sport event, top-ranking event, public opinion.

 

Background. Russia is getting ready for hosting the 2018 (21) FIFA World Cup for the first time in the national sport history [1, 2]. What are the popular expectations? Are there any differences in the foreign and local expectations? Is it really a mega-event and a “holiday for the fans and the country on the whole” as believed by Maria Talakina, Sport Business Analyst for Nielsen, a global sport metrics and an official marketing research company for the 2018 FIFA World Cup [3]. Adding why the sport event is a holiday for everybody, M. Talakina underlines that “despite the fact that the crowd emotions will peak at the stadiums, there are still many other ways and places for the global audience to have a feel of the event via hunt for souvenirs, intercity tours to the matches, environments and emotions in the fan zones and the football-glorifying public attractions and entertainments” [4].

Objective of the study was to find the university stutents’ attitudes to the 2018 (21) FIFA World Cup.

Methods and structure of the study. The field phase of the study was run in the period of November 1 to December 30, 2017, with 25 Russian cities and 60 universities embraced by the questionnaire survey. Over 5,000 thousand university students (60% female; 40% male) were sampled for the survey, with the sample dominated (55.7%) by the first- and second year students. The survey project was coordinated by the RSS (Russian Sociologists’ Society) Physical Education and Sports Research Committee headed by Doctor of Sociology and Professor S.I. Rosenko, Social Humanities Department Dean at the National State University of Physical Education, Sports and Health named after P.F. Lesgaft, Saint Petersburg. The questionnaire survey toolkit and software was developed by D.V. Shkurin, PhD, Associate Professor for Ural State University, Yekaterinburg.          

Study findings and discussion. Most of the sample reports positive attitudes to the 2018 FIFA World Cup: see Table 1, boxed data; albeit only a few are ready to join manifestations of the extreme football passion (see Table 2) being rather prone to passive contributions (“going to keep track of the events in the news flow”; “going to watch the most interesting match broadcasts”; “going to have the football news from friends”). Furthermore, one of four (24.0%) respondents reported being lukewarm to the event and unprepared to watch the matches. Only one of three (29.9%) respondents rates him/herself among the frantic supporters (“going to watch every match broadcast”; “going to visit every match”); with 12.2% of the sample even prepared for volunteer service for the event.

 

Table 1. University students’ attitudes to the 2018 FIFA World Cup, %

What is your attitude to the 2018 FIFA World Cup being hosted by Russia?	%
Absolutely negative (-1)	5,9
Rather negative than not (-0,5)	8,9
Indifferent (0)	27,4
Rather positive than not (+0,5)	25,5
Absolutely positive (+1)	28,1
Uncertain	4,2
Total	100,0

 

Table 2. Declared engagement of the sample in the 2018 FIFA World Cup in Russia, %

How are you going to support or contribute to the 2018 FIFA World Cup?	%
Going to keep track of the events in the news flow	33,9
Going to watch the most interesting match broadcasts	30,1
Going to have the football news from friends	27,9
Going to ignore the cup	24,0
Going to watch every match broadcast	16,5
Going to visit every match	13,4
Going to volunteer for the event	12,2
Other	0,9

Note: the total is in excess of 100% since some respondents could check a few options

 

Furthermore, most of the sample holds to the opinion that the 2018 FIFA World Cup is beneficial for the country: see Table 3, boxed data. It should be noted, however, that actually only one of five (20.5%) is confident that the event is positive for ordinary people, whilst one of ten (11.3%) is satisfied on the contrary. On the whole, our analysis of the survey data shows a rather contradictory picture: despite the fact that most of the sample recognizes benefits of the event for the host cities and country on the whole, they find no gain from it for themselves and their social group.

 

Table 3. Pros and cons of the 2018 FIFA World Cup in opinions of the sample, %

What outcome do you expect from the FIFA World Cup?	Mostly gains	Mostly losses	No gain nor loss	Uncertain	Total
For Russia	49,6	12,0	18,8	19,6	100,0
For the host cities	54,6	15,6	12,0	17,8	100,0
For the people like you	20,5	11,3	52,8	15,4	100,0

 

Do the students see benefits of the 2018 FIFA World Cup? Yes, they do. Many of them have positive expectations, although some are prepared for the negative costs of the event, as demonstrated by the above tables, with the data ranked in a decreasing order.

As we mentioned before, such top-ranking global sport events are commonly acknowledged to give a boost to the global image of the country, popular pride and patriotism and propel the socio-economic development in the host areas. It should be noted that these benefits are mostly clear for the young people as 18.0% of the sample believes that the event will improve the international relations; 15.6% expect the global gravity of Russia to grow; 15.0% believe that the event will bring investments; and one of ten (10.0%) expects a surge in the patriotic sentiments in the country. If we now consider the internal social impacts of the event, the expectations are even more positive. One of three in the sample (39.1%) appreciates the new stadiums and sport infrastructure built up for the event; one of four (27.0%) expects a boost in the national tourist service; almost as many (26.7%) people hope for the changes to the better in the living standards in the host cities; and 15.0% expect an inflow of investments.

While hoping for the better life quality in the host cities, the respondents were also offered to rate the choice of the host cities as such. Geographically, their predispositions may be classified into three groups with the separation line going through Yekaterinburg: one group of four favorite cites; a middle group of less favored four cities; and an outsider group of three cities including Volgograd, Samara and Saransk.

Turning back to the above quotation of M. Talakina, we should mention that the junior student population of the country is less optimistic than the international sport business consultant in their expectations as to the 2018 FIFA World Cup. Only one of five (19.7%) respondents perceives the event as a holiday and source of exciting emotions; whilst one of four (26.4%) acknowledges the opportunity for the Russian people to attend the elite football matches; although almost two of three (63.9%) students are not going to visit the fan zones: see Table 4.

 

Table 4. Attitudes of the sample to the fan zones, %

Are you going to visit the fan zones?	%
Yes	15,4
No	63,9
Uncertain	20,7
Total	100,0

 

There is no escape from conclusion that the feel of holiday in the student sample is overshadowed by the following two groups of likely negative costs of the event:

– Financial costs: “claims to much money”; “will push up the prices”; “it is economically unprofitable”; “will push down the popular living standards”; and

– Life safety considerations: “mass unrests may be triggered by the radical fans”; “may be harmful for the environments in the host cities”; “epidemic risks will grow”.

It is only natural that the student population mentions the financial costs since only one of three (29.2%) respondents reports having no financial constrains in the families. This situation is further confirmed by responses to the question “Do you have to do odd jobs for living?”; with only one of three (32,3 %) confessing not having any moonlighting experience (“not yet”); whilst all the rest reported having such an experience, with almost one of five (19.6%) moonlighting all the time; almost as many (21.4%) doing odd jobs only in summer time; and above one of four (26.7%) doing them at times to make up for special shopping needs, vacations etc.

If we now consider the outcomes of the questionnaire survey under the study (and beyond, including the materials unreported here), we have a strong feeling that the young people are somewhat skeptical about the 2018 FIFA World Cup or at least show no joy and enthusiasm. It is not improbable that these attitudes are largely due to the hopeless game quality demonstrated by the national Super League football and, hence, very low win chances for the national team in perceptions of the sample: see Table 5.

 

Table 5. Chances of the Russian national team to win the 2018 FIFA World Cup, in opinions of the sample, %

How would you rate the chances of the national team to win?	%
No chance getting out of the group	21,2
Chance to qualify for the 16 best	27,0
Chance to get to the quarter final	16,7
Chance to make it to the semifinal	7,9
Chance to compete in the final	4,2
Chance to win the Cup	5,5
Uncertain	17,5
Total	100,0

 

It should be noted that the findings of the questionnaire survey could well be expected since the internal and external effects of the global sport events almost never live up to the expectations of the hosts and people of the host countries. The summer 2018 will show what was right and wrong in the hopes, beliefs and reservations around the 2018 FIFA World Cup. Never say die as demonstrated by the victory of the Russia ice hockey team in the 2017 PyeongChang Winter Olympics.

Conclusion. On the whole, the survey data showed generally positive attitudes of the students to the 2018 FIFA World Cup with a reasonable balance of the perceived pros and cons of the event for the socio-economic situation in the country. The students’ concerns about the 2018 FIFA World Cup were mostly related to the following issues: (1) high financial costs of the event that may undermine the living standards; and (2) public safety issues during and after the 2018 FIFA World Cup. It should be confessed that optimists are few and far between the student population, with only 5.5% of the sample expecting the national team to win the 2018 FIFA World Cup and the others having no illusions about its chances.

 

References

1. Davydova S.A., Dulina N.V., Ikingrin E.N. Olimpiyskie igry v Sochi v otsenkakh i mneniyakh naseleniya strany [Sochi Olympic Games. in Ratings and Opinions of People of the Country]. Teoriya i praktika fiz. kultury, 2014, no. 12, pp. 34–37.

2. Dulina N.V., Zasypkin V.P., Ikingrin E.N. Zharkie. Zimnie. Tvoi: obschee i osobennoe v otnoshenii studentov strany k Olimpiyskim igram v Sochi-2014 (Chast 1) (po itogam sotsiologicheskogo issledovaniya) [Hot. Winter. Yours: general and special in domestic students' attitude to Olympic Games in Sochi-2014 (Part 1) (based on results of sociological survey)]. Vestnik Surgutskogo gosudarstvennogo pedagogicheskogo universiteta, 2015, no. 1 (34), pp. 148–158.

3. Nielsen Company. [Electronic resource]. Available at: http://www.nielsen.com/ru/ru/about-us.html.

4. Chempionat mira po futbolu FIFA 2018: ozhidaniya i plany [FIFA 2018 Football World Cup]. [Electronic resource]. Available at: http://www.nielsen.com/ru/ru/insights/news/2017/issledovanie-auditorii-chempionata-mira-po-futbolu-v-rossii.html.

Corresponding author: uni@nvsu.ru

 

Abstract

Russia is getting ready for the 2018 FIFA World Cup, the top-ranking global sport event. Millions of people the world over are waiting for the event and waiting for the news about its progress. The question is does the Russian youth takes the 2018 FIFA World Cup seriously? The study makes an attempt to find their attitudes by a questioning survey “2018 FIFA World Cup: Russian students’ expectations and opinions” sponsored by the Russian Association of Sociologists and performed from November 1 to December 30, 2017 in 25 Russian cities and 60 universities, with more than 5,000 students (60% female and 40% male) sampled for the survey, with the sample dominated (55.7%) by 1-2-year students. The survey data showed generally positive attitudes of the students to the 2018 FIFA World Cup with a reasonable balance of the perceived pros and cons of the event for the socio-economic situation in the country. The students’ concerns about the 2018 FIFA World Cup were mostly related to the following issues: (1) high financial costs of the event that may undermine the living standards; and (2) life safety issues during and after the 2018 FIFA World Cup.