Why do you believe the FIFA World Cup is the biggest sporting event in the world?
Although the FIFA World Cup is held every four years, it manages to capture the attention of billions of people from all walks of life and embodies national pride while providing a platform for countries to not only show off their soccer talent but also their culture, history and passion for the game. The World Cup brings people together from all over the world and is the ultimate showcase of the beautiful game filled with the biggest stars vying for the ultimate prize. It is through the significance of the FIFA World Cup that we really understand why soccer is the biggest sport in the world.
What sort of global impact does the FIFA World Cup have across different societies?
FIFA World Cup brings people together and breaks down cultural barriers, racism and social inequality, while creating a sense of unity among different countries. As I experienced in Qatar, during the World Cup, the love for football is all that matters.
What is the economic impact of the FIFA World Cup?
The FIFA World Cup has a significant economic impact, both for the host country and for the global economy. During the tournament, the host country experiences a boost in tourism as millions of fans travel to attend the games, stay in hotels, and eat at local restaurants. This leads to an increase in local economic activity, such as job creation, and can help to boost the country’s overall economic growth.
In addition to the direct benefits for the host country, the World Cup also has indirect economic benefits through increased media exposure, sponsorship deals, and the sale of merchandise and memorabilia. These factors can help to promote the host country’s brand and attract further investment.
The FIFA World Cup is one of the most lucrative sporting events in the world, with the total revenue generated by the event estimated to be over fourteen billion dollars through broadcasting rights, sponsorships, and ticket sales.
What are the different types of stakeholders involved in the FIFA World Cup?
Typically, it would be the host country, FIFA, and LOC (Local Organizing Committee). FIFA is the governing body of the tournament and is responsible for organizing other events such as the Women’s World Cup, FIFA Club World Cup and others. The LOC is responsible for organizing different events such as the opening ceremony, promoting the tournament, and generating revenue; while the host country is responsible for organizing the tournament, providing training facilities and transportation during the competition. FIFA has 6 different continental confederations: AFC (Asia), CAF (Africa), CONCACAF (North and Central America and the Caribbean), CONMEBOL (South America), OFC (Oceania), and UEFA (Europe).
ISL and USYF (United States Youth Futsal – a US Soccer member) have been collaborating for the past 3 years in developing and growing futsal in the US and teamed up at the end of last month for USYF´s international experience in Madrid, Spain.

Over the years, ISL has participated in USYF events (bringing 40 teams to the USYF National in Kansas), has run USYF national and state ID’s in multiple cities/states, and has managed the USYF international experience in Barcelona.
Spearheaded by Futsal legend Keith Tozer under the guidance and expertise of ISL, players, their coaches and some family members traveled to Madrid to train, compete against the top Futsal Academies in the region and tour the beautiful Spanish capital. ISL staff was ever-present and on hand to support USYF and its players. A special thank you is in order for Brian Catrine and Soorena Farboodmanesh, without both of you this wouldn’t have been possible.
Fifteen teams from different age groups enjoyed training on a near daily basis and friendly games were organized for them to showcase their skills and elevate their game by competing against the very best Spain’s capital has to offer whilst representing USYF, the United States and ISL.

Players also were lucky enough to tour downtown Madrid’s Retiro Park, take a tour of Madrid´s historic district and enjoy Madrid´s premier theme park, Parque Warner.
Kaylen and Kylie (two of USYF´s rising stars) commented respectively: “I thought it was really good because we learnt a lot of new things and I loved playing against teams in Madrid,” Kylie added, “I think it was awesome, it was really fun to play against the Spanish teams.”
Stay Tuned for more events coming up! @islagency

On Saturday August 21st, soccer legend Leo Messi announced the launch of his first NFT collection powered by ISL, designed by BossLogic, and available on Ethernity Chain’s platform.
“Art is like football – timeless,” Messi said on his Instagram video announcing the collection.
An NFT is a form of crypto asset which uses blockchain to record the ownership status of digital objects, such as images, videos and text. While anyone can view the item, only the buyer of an NFT has the official status of being its owner.
During this year NFTs popularity has exploded on the digital universe, with collections featuring world icons such as Marilyn Monroe or Muhammed Ali, and prices reaching almost $70 million – In March of this year, Christie’s auction house sold a digital work by the artist known as Beeple for $69 million, the most expensive NFT sold to date
The sales of Messi’s limited edition of authenticated NFTs’ reached $3.4M on the first day, breaking yet another record for the Argentinian star – the most expensive sports NFT in history.
One week after the launch, the huge success of the “Messiverse” collection is still rising, led by “The Golden One” NFT, the rarest and currently most expensive one, now priced on the secondary market at 3,000 ETH, equivalent to more than $9 million.

The crypto artworks designed by Australia-based digital designer BossLogic, worldly renowned for his works with Marvel and Disney, are composed of 4 pieces outlining The GOAT’s achievements, moments, team love, and future accomplishments.
According to the official Ethernity Twitter account, the platform had to extend the sale of “Messiverse” NFTs by three hours, following “unprecedented demand”.
The news of Messi’s NFT collection reached the most important media outlets in the world both online and offline, with ISL making headlines in publications like Forbes and Sport, among many others.