Sustainable Resource Utilization in Major Sports Events: A Multi-Criteria Decision-Making Approach

Abstract

Major sports events significantly impact the environment through venue construction, resource consumption, and transportation. This paper examines sustainability in sports tourism, employing a multi-criteria decision-making (MCDM) approach to balance economic, social, and environmental considerations. It addresses the complexities of managing these events, which involve numerous stakeholders and diverse sustainability challenges. The study introduces a linguistic neutrosophic evaluation method, utilizing linguistic variables to handle uncertainty and imprecision in assessment data. This method captures interrelationships among inputs using Einstein operations and Heronian mean operators, offering a framework to evaluate the developmental performance of sustainable sports tourism across multiple dimensions. The research highlights the importance of integrating sustainability practices such as using renewable energy, minimizing waste, and engaging local communities. By analyzing recent global sports events, including the 2020 Tokyo Olympics and the 2022 Qatar World Cup, the paper identifies key strategies for reducing carbon emissions and promoting sustainable infrastructure. The findings emphasize the need for collaborative efforts among event organizers, local communities, and global authorities to monitor and report on the effectiveness of sustainability measures. Comparative and sensitivity analyses demonstrate the interdependence of sustainability dimensions in sports tourism, confirming the proposed method's ability to reflect interrelations without redundant calculations. This research provides valuable insights for sports managers and policymakers to enhance sustainability in future sports events