Every few years, a country hosts a tournament that briefly becomes the centre of the sporting world. Stadiums fill. Airports surge. Flags dominate broadcasts.For a moment, the host nation looks transformed. But beneath the spectacle sits a more consequential question: What do large sporting tournaments actually do to economies and communities — and what decisions determine whether the impact lasts? Morocco’s hosting of AFCON 2025, alongside preparations to co-host the 2030 Wo