The Tiny Italian Football Club Bidding to Host the World Cup
As more and more strange combinations of nations launch their bids to host the ever-lucrative FIFA World Cup, an Italian football club, who currently plays in the 6th tier, wants to give it a go...
The Announcement
On February 11th, 2023, Centro Storico Lebowki will officially unveil their plans to oust the current hosts and claim the 2026 FIFA World Cup for themselves under the banner of “#Mondeggi2026”. Yes, that World Cup.
In the Facebook post introducing their bid to the public, C.S. Lebowski says this:
“Since football has more than a few problems, we have applied to host the next edition of the World Cup, in a very different approach from the plastic and concrete stadiums seen in Qatar.” (Roughly translated from Italian).
If it wasn’t already clear, this isn’t going to be your typical World Cup bid. But, what are they up against?
The Competition
Qatar - 2022 World Cup
In their totally legitimate campaign to host the 2022 World Cup tournament, the Qatari government says they spent at least $200 billion to build all of the infrastructure required to host the tournament. On top of the cost of the project, it took more than a decade of planning to secure the Middle East’s first World Cup.
Though it’s hard to argue with the architectural beauty of the stadiums they built, the widespread reports of the deaths of migrant workers soils the brilliance of Qatar’s moment.
Uruguay, Argentina, Paraguay, and Chile - 2030 World Cup
Finances aren’t the only thing—or so we’re told—that decides which countries will get the privilege to organize the next World Cup. Football heritage can also be a great tool to win the bid if leveraged properly.
Because of this, Uruguay, Argentina, Paraguay, and Chile are making a strong case to bring the tournament back to South America because the 2030 edition will mark the centennial of the first World Cup which was held in Uruguay. That’s some serious history.
The Plan
In the face of billion-dollar construction projects, centuries of football heritage to compete with, and not having a FIFA-recognized national, what is C.S. Lebowki’s plan to bring the biggest sporting event on Earth to Florence?
Farming.
Yup, to make their case as to why they should host the 2026 World Cup, the club is choosing to invest their limited resources into a local farm called “Mondeggi Common Good”. The farm allows anyone to come and be a part of a community that promotes “self-management, cooperation, and mutualism” through agriculture. In other words, it’s just a cool place that anyone can come and grow with others through a mutual interest in farming.
If you want to learn more, you can check out their website here!
What is the Point of this Ridiculous Story?
Alright, the jig is up. This isn’t a real World Cup bid. But, I wrote this article because I think there’s something commendable going on here.
While most nations invest billions of dollars into stadiums that will soon lay abandoned after the World Cup or build extravagant infrastructure despite having large population of impoverished citizens, C.S. Lebowski is choosing to make their community a truly better place instead of lining their pockets.
I recognize that a true World Cup bid is something entirely different to a community project, however, if every football organization thought a little more like the C.S. Lebowski, I think the world would be all better for it. Though, maybe this is all just naive, wishful thinking…
Nevertheless, thank you very much for reading. I hope you enjoyed this.