This year's FIFA World Cup, the worldwide soccer tournament, will be hosted in Qatar - a first for the Middle East. Whenever a country hosts the World Cup, it is common for national tourism and economy to be boosted temporarily. However, it's not all rainbows and sunshine, as some countries won't be able to participate - like Russia and Turkey.
Italy, which traditionally attends the event, has just been knocked out in the playoffs by North Macedonia on March 24th - making it the second consecutive World Cup for which they failed to qualify. That's right, a four-time world champion and the current European champion will not participate in Qatar. Due to this, their reputation has been damaged in the soccer community and some negative impacts can already be felt throughout the nation. Since Italians are less likely to travel to watch the tournament, the country's tourism has a chance of being affected. This disqualification also impacts the sponsors supporting Italian sports teams, and, collectively speaking, the soulful and united state of the country as a whole.
Nonetheless, another benefit of the World Cup is that people get to know the cultural diplomacy of the host country. One example would be the 2018 edition, which was held in Russia. Given Russia's controversial history and international reputation, everyone that attended the games was forced to wear around their necks the phrase “Скажи нет расизму” (or “Say no to racism” in Russian), in order to project a better image of the country internationally. Moreover, matches were also hosted in lesser- known cities, such as Saransk and Kaliningrad, for foreign visitors to get a glimpse of the entirety of Russia's state, including both big and small cities. This means that for this year's edition, people will get to know better the country of Qatar - but Italians will sadly miss out on that opportunity.
Forza Azzurri, see you next time...
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