Spain’s World Cup had another winner, social surveillance | OneFootball

Spain lifted the 2026 World Cup, but its more enduring legacy could be the entrenchment of social surveillance across host cities, according to El Periódico Mediterráneo.

Co-hosted by the United States, Canada and Mexico, it ended on Sunday with Spain beating Argentina, Ferran Torres scoring in extra time.

Authorities used the World Cup to deploy technologies to monitor and control spectators, framed as security and protest deterrence. A web of CCTV, drones and AI processed vast datasets and has remained after the final, strengthening police capabilities in host cities.

An investigation by Ranking Digital Rights identified at least 21 companies profiting from building or upgrading surveillance in 16 cities to track and identify fans. Tools ranged from camera networks and drone swarms to predictive systems, communications interception and real-time police intelligence.

In the United States, the Trump administration subsidised 846 million dollars to upgrade surveillance inside and outside stadiums. In 2024, a federal trade brief highlighted opportunities for US tech firms in Mexico in IoT, cybersecurity and AI-based applications.

Beneficiaries include Motorola, which developed automated vehicle recognition, and China’s Lenovo, FIFA’s technology partner, which built a command centre with virtual maps of the 16 stadiums to analyse crowds and support interventions. The study’s authors, Tayrine dos Santos Dias and Leandro Ucciferri, argue these systems worsen human rights impacts, entrench over-surveillance of minorities, carry high error rates and chill political freedoms, and have been linked to wrongful arrests.

Source: El Periódico Mediterráneo