Chinese companies are the biggest supporters of the FIFA World Cup, which begins on Sunday, November 20, 2022.
The costs of the World Cup in Qatar have already exceeded 200 billion dollars, so that one of the most anticipated sporting events in the world will not begin until Sunday. By comparison, the World Cup in Russia four years ago cost just over $14 billion.
According to Global Data, Chinese companies were the biggest spenders in Qatar, despite the Chinese national team not qualifying for the tournament. Vg.hu reported.
Chinese companies supported the World Cup with a total of $1.395 billion, surpassing their Qatari and American counterparts. Beijing-based Wanda Group, the project’s largest sponsor to date, has invested $850 million, and smartphone maker Vivo has signed a $450 million sponsorship contract.
American companies have so far contributed $1.1 billion to host the World Cup. According to experts, European and American companies are reluctant to add their names to the World Cup in Qatar, but their commercial interests go far beyond that regarding the most expensive and most watched sporting event in the world.
Despite its massive population, China is not a soccer superpower, but it is spending serious money to change this: between 2016 and 2020, it built 26,000 soccer stadiums with central funding worth $350 million, and by 2025, it wants a stadium in every place. The school. Meanwhile, Chinese football clubs attract world stars for incredible sums: in 2016, Argentine Carlos Tevez moved to top flight Shanghai Shenhua for a record amount of €730,000 per week.
