History was written on 15th July 2018 by France beating Croatia at Football world Cup 2018 in Russia. The tournament was conducted in several cities in upgraded or newly built infrastructure. It is learnt that Russia spent more than $14 billion in hosting the event. Main cost items had been transport infrastructure, construction of stadiums, communication infrastructure, and security. During the planning it was estimated that 1,000,000 tourists will visit the country across the four-week tournament period.

Russia deployed more than 700 trains that are free to use for ticket-holding fans with official Fan ID. These trains were expected to move the supporters across the more than 5,500km of railway lines that connect the various stadiums. The distances between the host cities were huge. For instance, Volgograd is 1000 kilometers from Moscow.

There were 12 stadiums across 11 cities and the final game was played at the 80,000 capacity Luzhniki Stadium in Moscow. The construction and rehabilitation of these gigantic structures needed increased production capacity for steel in Russia resulting in a new steel plant to be built.

The communication and broadcasting companies had their own challenges. Massive number of cameras at each match were recording the live events in 4K HDR. Fans around the world were watching matches in full HD. FIFA 2018 used Video Assistant Referees (VAR) – a latest development in football games.

FIFA 2018 needed massive bandwidth in the Mobile networks. Simultaneous video, photo uploads from the stadiums had to be facilitated without interruptions. The Russian 4G Mobile networks which were “not so fast” had to be upgraded heavily.

Security was of utmost concern for this event. Amidst the increased political tension between Russia and West, the physical and cyber security was kept at its highest level throughout without any major incidents.

What is the relevance of Engineering to FIFA success? According to the World Economic Forum, the engineering/ construction/ manufacturing graduates on the top slot includes many from Russia. Further Russian engineers excel in software engineering and aeronautics. The reasons for higher output are the advancement in the field of science and technology and the change in the infrastructure facilities. The specialist training provided in the field of engineering to the students in collaboration with the industries plays a major role. Further Russia produces large number of engineers every year. Such a nation with engineering in their culture can do wonders without much support from outside! As Sri Lankans we have a lot to learn from them.

Eng. Indika Walpitage
Indika.walpitage@gmail.com