Is hosting large international sporting events like The World Cup a chance to present the power of the nation or is it just an activity where the country spends a lot of money for nothing? In my opinion, I believe that holding those events are the best stage to show your country’s qualities to the world.
On the one hand, it is a great opportunity to promote the culture of the hosting nation. It is because those events are broadcast world-wide and everyone around the world is focused during the period, so it is easy to reach people outside your country. Therefore, to share your culture to people globally, the country can integrate their cultural elements into the event, maybe through songs, environments and the theme of the game. For example, in the 2012 London Olympic Opening Ceremony, the UK added a lot of their traditional characters, like The Queen, James Bond and Mr Bean, all of those roles are representing their nation’s culture.
On the other hand, the hosting country can show to the world their ability to manage a big event. Holding an international activity is difficult, since the country needs to do a lot of preparations like how to properly settle all athletes, how you control the transport and how to manage a stadium. So if the country handles it successfully it will reflect their strong leadership to others, thereby increasing the national influence. The 2020 Tokyo Olympics is a good example. A month of tournament without any complaint reflects that Japan is arranged very satisfyingly, more importantly after the event everyone admits that Tokyo is the city of global activity.
In conclusion, I completely agree with the point of view that international sporting events provide a chance to the hosting country to represent their national power.