Wikipedia:Reference desk/Archives/Miscellaneous/2014 June 29

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June 29

World Cup base locations

Hello. In the World Cup, do all teams have a base location within the host country? For example, the U.S. team is based in São Paulo for its housing and practices, and then travels to each city of competition. This makes sense for distant teams. However, what about nearby teams such as Colombia or Uruguay? Do they have to find a location in Brazil, or could they stay in perhaps Bogotá or Montevideo? The travel would not be significantly different. Is it any different when the World Cup is hosted in a smaller country, say in Europe? Or is there a rule that requires a team to stay in the host country to prevent a competitive advantage? (Sometimes familiar surroundings can do that.) Of course, the host country would have that, but that is the benefit of being the host.    → Michael J Ⓣ Ⓒ Ⓜ 19:15, 29 June 2014 (UTC)

From this page [1] found with a simple search for 'world cup home base', you can see [2] where it's stated that teams must arrive 5 days before the start of the World Cup and it's also implies each team has to choose a home base in Brazil (the page also mentions Argentina choose their base early). The earlier page also links to [3] which has the full list including Uruguay and Colombia.

While you're right that the need for a home base originates from the fact the teams need somewhere to be during the World Cup since it's unrealistic for the ones who live a long way away to go home, I actually doubt the desire to avoiding giving other nearby teams a competitive advantage is really a major consideration in requiring all teams including those who wouldn't be any further than some of the home bases if they were actually at home. More likely it's mostly because it's an opportunity for marketing for both FIFA and the host nation. This probably includes giving an opportunity for locals to see the teams. And more generally, trying to get the local community more involved and engaged in, and perhaps even supportive of, others teams, at least when they're not playing Brazil; as well as in the world cup.. As well of course as demonstrating the local facilities, alleged legacy and benefits, etc.

Note also if a home base in another country is allowed, there would still be international travel involved both for the players, media and others which frequently (perhaps less so in the EU) adds additional complexity regardless of the distance. And FIFA would need to deal with a different country when it comes to the various issues involved (including sponsorship limitations, media and other access, any possible legal threats). In addition to the problems which don't apply to the home base situation, such as who gets to host the final and the general problem of disagreements between the cohosts, these factors are probably one of the reasons why cohosting such tournaments is so rare, even if the distances involved may not be that different from hosting in a large country like Russia, China or Brazil depending of course where the stadiums are located and the smaller countries have difficulties getting any chance at hosting. There was of course the 2002 FIFA World Cup which seems to have been relatively successful in the end although our FIFA World Cup hosts suggests it may have been one of the reasons cohosting is no longer allowed. I think the 2007 AFC Asian Cup involving four countries was even more problematic.

Nil Einne (talk) 04:43, 30 June 2014 (UTC)

To answer your question in short, yes, all teams participating in the World Cup have a base location in the host country. The base camps for the teams playing in the ongoing World Cup in Brazil this summer were announced on FIFA.com on January 31, 2014. This website lists each country and where in Brazil they will be staying. As shown, it does not matter the distance of the country- they all stay in Brazil. According to southafrica.info , the same 32 teams all stayed in South Africa when it was hosted there in 2010. If you look at the FIFA Rules and Regulations, you can read about how every team has a mandatory arrival date which is at least five days before their first match. During the 2002 FIFA World Cup, South Korea and Japan co-hosted the event, which led to base camps in both countries. This caused several problems and controversy, so FIFA banned co-hosting in 2004. Mochbaum (talk) 02:35, 4 July 2014 (UTC)