lenny unencumbered

Some people believe football is a matter of life and death, I am very disappointed with that attitude. I can assure you it is much, much more important than that.

–Bill Shankly, Liverpool Manager, 1959-1974

I still remember with distaste the moment FIFA President Gianni Infantino presented U.S. President Donald Trump with the concocted FIFA Peace Prize in December 2025. The first thought that came to mind was that the beautiful game was coming to America to die.

Realising now that such thoughts were hyperbolic, I wonder whether football will be irreparably scarred after its dalliance with imperialism. There have been far too many deplorable incidents in the lead-up to America’s World Cup kick-off, during the tournament, and even after it, which justify such thinking, even if grudgingly. Could the game survive the humiliating and destructive antics of arguably the two most corrupt men currently in politics and sport?

Sportswashing is the practice of governments around the world to launder their atrocious track record of poor or authoritarian governance and/or human rights abuses. There is no better vehicle than the FIFA World Cup to deflect attention away from a nation’s scandalous governance.

Even back in 2010, when, as one of the project managers working on building South Africa’s communications and broadcast network for the tournament, I had heard murmurs about the ANC government’s corrupt involvement in the awarding of the hosting rights by FIFA. Corruption was alleged even in the local management of the event.

I did not pay much attention at the time because I was focused on gaining valuable work experience and knowledge. Besides, I honestly thought it was a great distinction for an African country to finally host such a renowned sporting event. It was only years later that evidence surfaced of FIFA Vice President Jack Warner’s corrupt activities.

As it turned out, South Africa had a near-flawless tournament that is still spoken of in glowing terms 16 years later. Football had survived former FIFA President Sepp Blatter’s awful reputation for being corrupt. However, Gianni Infantino’s overt corruption makes Blatter look like a rank amateur, and in Donald Trump, he found the perfect partner and collaborator.

Under Infantino’s watch, there have been two other highly contentious awarding of World Cup hosting rights. Russia, which was actively cracking down on political opposition inside the country, invaded Georgia and Crimea, shot down Malaysia Airlines Flight MH17, and armed Bashar al-Assad’s regime in Syria, but was still awarded hosting rights in 2018.

Just before the opening match in 2018, Vladimir Putin awarded Gianni Infantino the Order of Friendship medal. This is a state decoration which is awarded “… among other things, for special acts of merit serving to foster peace, friendship, cooperation and mutual understanding between nations.” It leaves one wondering what dubious special act was being rewarded, but at least Putin was being generous, unlike Trump, who is more accustomed to receiving tributes.

Similarly, the awarding of the World Cup to Qatar in 2022 was mired in controversy because of its human rights and LGBTQ rights violations. Further, Qatar’s Kafala system also came under scrutiny from Human Rights Watch. They were tracking the low pay and dreadful working conditions, including restricted movement for migrant workers constructing stadiums and other infrastructure.

These are just some incidents of FIFA corruption in the last decade or so. There is a long history of misconduct and political meddling, likely dating back to the first World Cup in Uruguay in 1930. Journalist, broadcaster and political commentator Mehdi Hasan conducted a three-part deep dive on The Dark Side of the World Cup on his Zeteo Channel. You can find them here, here and here.

Perhaps the awarding of the last World Cup to America (as the majority co-host with Canada and Mexico) has brought corruption to the forefront like never before. Here was a country that continuously lectures the world about freedom, democracy and rights, but whose president (and political party) was actively following a policy of targeting and threatening (including criminally prosecuting) legitimate immigrants, migrants, protesters, human rights activists, civil society organisations, institutions of learning, journalists, and transgender people.

And it does not stop there!

America has been actively providing funding and weapons, including military and diplomatic support, to another country that practically every reputable human rights organisation has determined was conducting a genocide. Worse! The president of America was also leading a completely manufactured war against Iran on behalf of that very same country, reliably accused of genocide.

It is astonishing that FIFA considered America worthy of hosting, considering that Trump’s bigotry and ostentatious violations of rights fly in the face of its very own Human Rights Policy:

FIFA is committed to respecting all internationally recognised human rights
and shall strive to promote the protection of these rights.

Donald Trump has been at the centre of the most vile acts of dishonesty to ever plague FIFA. From receiving the absurd Peace Prize to meddling in the internal player disciplinary process by demanding that a suspension of a U.S. team player be overturned, to insinuating himself in the victory celebrations of the winning Spanish team.

What moral bankruptcy! This is not the first time Trump has tried to steal attention. He acted in this craven manner at the FIFA World Club Cup, also held in America last year, which Chelsea Football Club won. Imagine having to be coaxed away by Infantino, who’s no less of an attention whore. Also, it must have been so utterly humiliating when Spain edited him out of the published pictures in that country.

But wait, there’s more!

FIFA functions under the banners Unite for Peace and Football Unites the World. However, this last tournament in America has been perhaps the most divisive in history.

Tickets were priced out of the reach of most ordinary football fans. That rendered the game elitist as only the well-healed could afford tickets. FIFA was reported to be hosting a ticket reselling portal, effectively making them scalpers of their own tickets.

America implemented a VISA policy for tourists that was designed to keep many people away, particularly brown-skinned people. Trump personally made abrasive comments that unambiguously stated that even Iran, one of the qualified teams, was not welcome. An official FIFA referee from Somalia, Omar Abdulkadir Artan, was detained and prevented from entering the country before the tournament started.

The Iranian team was treated atrociously and prevented from staying in the U.S. for their matches. They had to reside in Mexico for the duration of their scheduled matches and were only allowed into the country to compete, then return immediately after each match. Despite this unfair treatment, they performed magnificently, no doubt much to the ire of American officials.

Amnesty International Australia released a report on some of these incidents, including the ICE raids during the tournament that led to the detention of tens of thousands of people, culminating in the deaths of two immigrants in Houston and Maine.

To top it all, FIFA’s partisan refereeing and VAR decisions added to the suspicion of corruption and favouritism. There were far too many questionable decisions for it to be simple errors, considering all the technology available to assist the officials.

Perhaps one of the most startling outcomes of this tournament was the division of support between the eventual finalists, Spain and Argentina, and how the endorsement of either team became a proxy for support of Israel or Palestine.

Spain became a treasured idol around the world, not only for eventually winning the World Cup but also for its humanitarian approach, support for the Palestinian cause, and opposition to the genocide in Gaza. Argentina, on the other hand, became the villain not only for their violent and abysmal conduct on the field of play, and suspicion of favouritism by FIFA, but also because of President Gerardo Milei’s endorsement of the depraved Israeli regime conducting the genocide in Gaza, and other race-based discrimination against the Palestinians.

There was also the matter of Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu publicly endorsing Argentina and captain Lionel Messi. When asked who he was rooting for, he reportedly quipped, “Argentina, but it’s going to be Messi.” Indeed, it was, but hilariously not in the way he thought.

As a matter of fact, Argentina has generated so much anger for both its violent on-field conduct and support of Israel that a now-closed petition to kick them out of the World Cup titled Argentina Out has drawn more than 23 million signatures.

Spain’s performance may well have rescued the beautiful game for the time being, but the not-so-little matter of endemic corruption at the heart of the sport cannot be put off any longer.

While Argentina is going to be investigated by FIFA for its violent conduct, who is going to investigate FIFA for its conduct, especially that of Gianni Infantino? At least from this report, it looks like the corrupt conehead is going to survive another term in charge of FIFA.

Utterly disappointing!