Insurers shoulder huge World Cup risks

With the FIFA Soccer World Cup underway
in South Africa and set to run until 11 July, insurers and
reinsurers covering risks directly related to the event will be
hoping that nothing goes seriously wrong.

Indicative of what is at stake, Lloyd’s of
London estimates total risk covered at £6.2bn ($9bn) with the broad
breakdown of risk covered being property and contingency at £3bn
each and liability at £200m.

Also of significance is the insurance of
individual players. According to Peter Thompson, a sports insurance
specialist at underwriters Beazley Group, a player at the height of
their career and playing in one of the top leagues for their
country could be insured for £50m.

Assuming there are no pre-existing conditions,
£40m of this insures their entire body for sports disability,
including accidental death and permanent total disablement, 24
hours a day.

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