"Across Mexico, World Cup infrastructure threatens biodiversity and communities", 02 July 2024

...In Mexico City and Monterrey, the two other Mexican cities hosting matches, projects associated with the tournament are also accused of undermining surrounding ecosystems, water resources and wildlife conservation...

With Guadalajara planned to host four World Cup matches, environmentalists say they’re worried about a repeat of the real estate expansion triggered by the Pan American Games in 2011...

...[P]lans by the recently elected local administration include several projects to improve urban mobility and widen the roads ahead of the World Cup.

Environmentalists say the area’s pumas could continue losing their ecosystem, which is already under pressure...

Activists with Anillo Primavera and other organizations, alongside residents such as Gloria Sánchez from the Puerta Poniente civil society group, are asking the Jalisco state government to create a buffer area surrounding La Primavera, to prevent the expansion of real estate construction...

In the capital, residents say they’re concerned about the expansion of Mexico City’s Azteca Stadium, which will host the opening match of the World Cup. The area is inhabited mostly by Indigenous peoples...

According to the official documents, the World Cup should lead to the construction of two buildings with seven levels for hotels and offices, a shopping center, and three multistory parking lots. “As residents, we were not consulted or informed of environmental impact assessments”...

The new roads and constructions could cause the clearing of around 800 native trees (42 of which have already been cleared)...Construction will also worsen the current water shortage...

In Monterrey, the capital of the northeastern state of Nuevo León, BBVA stadium will host four World Cup matches in 2026...

Here, residents and environmentalists say they’re concerned that infrastructure building and increased mobility will affect flora and fauna preservation...

Mexico’s environment ministry, known as SEMARNAT, declined to comment...The governments of Jalisco and Mexico City similarly didn’t respond...