Risk Assessment of the 2018 Football World Cup for the National Football Team Introduction Risk assessment is an act of determining the probable events or activities those may occur during execution of those which are undesirable or inevitable before initiating those events. It is called a proactive approach through analysis and finding the probability of occurrence of unwanted events during action. Risk management has been in practice since its inception in space agendas, finances and nuclear activities in 1950. Currently, it is followed in many professions such as engineering, project management, insurance, finance, economics and many more. Risk management is a vital part of sports industry as it is followed in preparing budget, determining eligibility, supervision, consensus on agreement terms and conditions, advertising, natural calamities and many more. Risk management involves formation of back-up plan and facilitating redundancy. This is concrete application of administrative guidelines, procedures, decorum and practices required for running an event. Project Risk Assessment Table for Data Collection Category Sub – Category Project Phase Internal / External Positive / Negative Likelihood Impact Reference / Source Health Illness Throughout Internal Negative Low Performance and morale of team Hanstad (2012) Injuries During Internal Negative Very High Team’s Strategy and morale Sousa, Lima and Martins (2016) Nutrition During Internal Negative High Team Preparation and Performance Leopkey and Parent (2009) Media Risks Media Coverage Before and After Competition External Positive High Boost player morale and performance Dolles and Soderman (2005) Access to athletes During Internal Negative High Players distracted by negative reviews Hanstad (2012) Training & Coaching Poor Morale During Internal Negative Very High Poor Performance Sousa et al. (2016) Poor Leadership Throughout Internal Negative High Poor performance Hanstad (2012) Poor Team Work During Internal Negative Moderate Conflicts and disagreements Bloxsome, Voges and Pope (2011) Psychological Factors Risk of Discrimination During Internal Negative Very High Low Morale and motivations for players Hanstad (2012) Jennings (2011) High Expectation Throughout External Negative High Poor performance and lack of confidence Jennings (2011) Poor Vision & Goal Setting Throughout Internal Negative High Team performance and inspiration Hanstad (2012) Sousa et al. (2016) Practical Issues Travel Risks Before competition External Negative High Tiredness due to inadequate travel means Jenniings (2011) Living Conditions Throughout Internal Negative Moderate Poor performance and reduces its chance of success Hanstad (2012) Souse et al. (2016) Transport Issues During Internal Negative High Inefficiencies and poor motivation Sousa et al. (2016) Financial Issues Before competition Internal and External Negative Minimal Internal operations and participation in competition Hanstad (2012) Dolles and Soderman (2005) Risk Assessment of the 2018 Football World Cup for the National Football Team Health Related Risks Illness There is a risk that members of the team are faced with an illness which affects their participation in the World Cup (Hanstad, 2012). The risk is internal in nature as it involves the team members and negative in nature as it affects the performance and morale of the team negatively. Even though the risk of illness is low given that all team members have undergone several medical checks before choosing them as team members, there is still a risk that a team member can fall sick. The sickness of team members not only affects the player's ability to participate in the competition but also affects the morale of the team. Injuries There is a risk that team members are affected by an injury during the training period to the competition or during the competition themselves (Hanstad, 2012). The injuries are in the health category of risk and is internal in nature as it affects team members directly while being negative as it prevents the injured party form participating in the competition. As stated by Sousa et al., (2016), the likelihood of an injury as very high with statistics illustrating that in very game, an injury is likely to occur. The injury of a player can affect the team’s strategy as well as morale. L Lieva of Liverpool got muscular injury during the match in Football premier league in 2016/17 (Physioroom, 2003). Nutrition There is a risk of poor nutrition for the team members and this is in the health factors category of risks as stated by Hanstad (2012). Nutrition is an important element in the training and preparations of the team for sporting activities as stated. The team members may indulge in poor nutrition such as eating fast foods which may affect their performance and preparation for the games. The risk is internal in nature and can negatively affect the team. As illustrated by Leopkey and Parent (2009), the team live on their own before the World Cup, and only live in camps during the training periods and as such it may be hard to monitor their eating habits. Poor nutrition can result to poor performance as the team may be unprepared health wise. Media Risks Media Coverage Negative news and media attention is the second risk for the team. The negative news and media attention is in the category of media whereby the risk is expected brought the World Cup including before and after the preparations for the competition. As stated by Hanstad (2012), the media often investigate and monitor the team reporting on any news and focusing on news which shed a negative light to the team. As stated by Dolles and Soderman (2005), it is important for a team to be prepared and have a strong PR strategy to ensure that the team is portrayed in a positive light in the news to the public. The risk of negative news is both internal whereby the team members can be the source of risk when they engage in behaviour which is a threat to the team’s reputation as well as external whereby external factors can pose the threat. The risk is negative in nature mostly but with adequate and proper management and planning can be positive in nature. The likelihood of this occurring is very high as the media is interested in the team’s making up and participating in the world cup. As stated by Hanstad (2012), negative publicity and reputation can cause morale issues for the team as well as the fans not offering support for the team which can pose a risk to their success in the World Cup. Access to Athletes The third risk which is faces the team is high levels of access to athletes, a risk in the media risk category. As stated by Hanstad (2012), the media is often very interested in the team and team members and this is can be negative in nature if the access is too much that it distracts the team members from training and preparing for the competition. The likelihood of this happening is high as a lot of interest is generated from the public on the team participating in the World Cup as well as their strategies and hope in regards to winning. As stated by Dolles and Soderman (2005), this can be negative to the team whereby they might be distracted by negative reviews or provocative questions by the media. It is as such important to consider sheltering the team from the press in a bid to protect them from this risk. Training and Coaching Risks Poor Morale Poor morale and motivation is another risk which poses the team and it belongs to the mental factors category of risks (Hanstad, 2012). Poor morale occurs when a team does not have the spirit to win and this can occur from several factors such as negative publicity, an injury among others. The risk is internal in nature and negative as it prevents and reduces chances of the team's success (Sousa et al., (2016). The likelihood of low morale amongst the team is high and can result to poor performance during the competition and as such the need for the team leadership to foster morale in the team. Poor Leadership There is a risk of poor leadership in the team under the coaching and leadership category of risk as stated by Hansatd (2012). Poor leadership is a great risk for the team as leadership is directly linked to team’s performance. Leadership is internal in nature and low leadership is negative in nature as the team looks up to the team and if there is no leadership, there are chances of poor performance as stated by Sousa et al., (2016). The likelihood of poor leadership is high and there is need for team to have good leadership to secure their success. Poor Team Work There is a risk of poor team work in the coaching and leadership risk category as illustrated by Hanstad (20120 whereby the team may have conflict and disagreements which poses a threat to their team. This is an internal risk whereby the risk is amongst the team members and the risk is negative in nature as it affects their performance. The likelihood of the task happening is moderate but can when it occurs can have negative impacts. As illustrated by Bloxsome et al. (2011), poor team work within a sport team is imperative as lack of it can result to the team not working together to meet their goals. Psychological Factors Risk of Discrimination There is the risk of that the players of the Australian Olympic Team for 2018 will face discrimination during the 2018 World the team as it can result to low morale and motivation for the players. It is important to consider this risk and develop strategies to deal with to ensure that it is delimited and that the team members are aware of it and have coping strategies. The risk of discrimination can be expected throughout the World Cup when the team travels to Russia and is external in nature as the risk exists within the fans of the World Cup. The risk of discrimination is mental factors category whereby as stated by Hanstad (2012) expectation of negative experiences for the team is crucial as it ensures that the team is prepared for negative events and this ensure that there are reduced psychological effects. The likelihood of the discrimination occurring during the World Cup is high. As reported by Jennings (2011), there have been accusations of discrimination in the World Cup whereby fans have engaged in discriminatory activities and FIFA done little to condone it. High Expectations There is a risk of high expectations for the team and this is in the mental factors category of risks as illustrated by Hanstad (2012). High expectations from the public, and external factors, can negatively affect the team whereby they may undermine the team’s confidence and make it nervous as it participates. The likelihood of this happening is high as the public may be asking or demanding too much from the team which may affects it performance. As illustrated by Jennings (2011), it is important for the team to be confident as it participates in the games. Poor Vision and Goal Setting There is a risk of poor vision and goal setting for the team, a mental factor risk category as stated by Hanstad (2012). Poor vision and goals setting can negatively affect the performance of the team. It is an internal risk and can occur when the team does not have appropriate leadership to provide direction for the team. As stated by Sousa et al., (2016), poor vision for the team is a problem which faces sport team which have poor leadership and there is need for the team captain to be a leader who can instil and inspire the rest of the team towards a winning vision. The likelihood of this occurring is high and can negatively impact the team. Practical Issues Travel There is a risk of travel issues which is categorized as a practical issues risk by Hanstad (2012). Travel delays, not booking for travels and poor travel modes are risks which can face a travelling team. The Australian team will be travelling to Russia’s and it is important for the travel processes to be smooth for the team. Jennings (2011) argues that being late, tiredness due to inadequate travel means among others, are risks which can impact the sport teams negatively. The likelihood of the travel risk occurring is high as the moving from Australia to Russia’s requires careful planning for the whole team to travel smoothly. Living conditions There is a risk of living conditions not being optimal and this is categorized as a practical issue risk as stated by Hanstad (2012). It is important for the team to have clean and comfortable living conditions during the competition allowing them to relax and get ready mentally for the competition. The risk is internal in nature whereby the team’s management many not have planned properly for where the team will stay during the competition. As reported by Sousa et al., (2016), living conditions is important for sports team which travel to participate in competition and poor living condition can negatively impact the team and reduces its chances of success. Transport There is a risk of transport issues during the competition period, with the risk categorised as a practical aspects risk. Transport is important in moving the team members to Russia during the competition as well as within the country as they move for the competitions. Transport issues are internal in nature and can arise from poor planning by the team management resulting to negative impacts to the team. As stated by Sousa et al., (2016) there have been occurrences of transport issues in sporting activities and as such the likelihood is high. Transport issues can result to the team getting late for games or even practices resulting to inefficiencies and poor motivation. Financial Risks There is a risk that the team will not have adequate financial support, a risk in the practical aspects category of risks as illustrated by Hanstad (2012). As illustrated by Dolles and Soderman (2005), sport teams require financial funding for their preparations and travels allowing the team to operate smoothly and concentrate on winning. A financial risk is internal and external in nature as its source is eternal but affects the internal operations of the team negatively. The likelihood of the risk happening however is minimal in nature as Australia has always supported her national teams. It is important for the management of the team to ensure that the team has adapted financial resources to support them as they participate in the competition. References Bloxsome, E., Voges, K. & Pope, N. (2011). Sport Sponsorship: Appeal and Risks, The International Journal’s Research Journal of Social Sciences and Management, 1(8), 133-145. Dolles, H. & Soderman, S. (2005). Globalization of Sports -The Case of Professional Football and its International Management Challenges, Working Paper 05/1. Hanstad, V. (2012). Risk Management in Major Sporting Events: A Participating National Olympic Team’s Perspective, Event Management, 16, 189–201. Jennings, W. (2011). Governing the Games: High Politics, Risk and Mega-events, Political Studies Review, 11, 2–14. Leopkey, B. & Parent, M. (2009). Risk Management Issues in Large-scale Sporting Events: a Stakeholder Perspective, European Sport Management Quarterly, 9(2):187-208. Sousa, M., Lima, F. & Martins, J. (2016). Models for Project Management in 2016 Olympic Games, International Journal of Economics and Statistics, 4, 32-38. Physioroom. (2003, october 03). EPL Injury Table. Retrieved April 20, 2017, from www.Physioroom.com:http://www.physioroom.com/news/english_premier_league/epl_injury_table.php