The football World Cup begins on June 11, brought to us by FIFA, a corrupt and morally bankrupt organisation, whose current chief Gianni Infantino must not be re-elected next year. He has been obsequious to political power, having given US President Donald Trump a “peace medal” (Trump had wanted a Nobel Prize and got this as a consolation) and having let Trump hold the World Cup trophy; “Can I keep it?” Trump quipped. Also, Infantino’s FIFA has rented an empty office in Trump Tower. The “king of soccer”, as Trump described him.
FIFA is incompetent—not just because you can’t find its full form on its website (Fédération Internationale de Football Association), but because of the shock after shock in the current tournament in North America, starting with the American refusal to allow entry to Somalian referee Omar Abdulkadir Artan, who had a diplomatic passport. Instead, they put him on a flight to Turkey, keeping his phone and tablet. At least FIFA could have allotted him a match in Mexico or Canada instead.
This is Trump, deliberately showcasing to the world his racism. It defines his immigration policy of disappearing brown people. In January 2018 he called African nations “shithole countries”, indicating a preference for Norwegians. Now that Trump has lost the war to Iran, a non-white country, he’s taking his anger out on the World Cup. The International Olympic Committee should really shift the 2028 games from Los Angeles.
FIFA, in reaction to the Artan incident, claimed it could not intervene in countries’ immigration procedures. It nonetheless in 2022 leaned on Qatar to issue a “Hayya card" as a substitute for visas for foreign fans. This did not lessen white racism against Qatar: the BBC refused to broadcast its opening ceremony. Yes, Qatar is no paragon of virtue when it comes to labour or human rights. It did, however, organise the best tournament in memory.
Qatar provided free public transport during the tournament. In America, on the other hand, price-gouging is the norm (much like what has characterised Trump’s business, even in the cost of the White House ballroom, ballooning from $400 million to a billion). In New York, train tickets to the MetLife Stadium that normally cost $13 each have been hiked to $98. In Boston, $20 tickets will cost $80 on match days.
FIFA did show backbone back in 1966, when England, the host country, did not have diplomatic relations with North Korea, which qualified by beating Australia. British mandarins, like those in Lawrence Durrell’s Esprit de Corps, were in a tizzy, and FIFA had to successfully lean on them to not exclude the qualifying nation.
FIFA may argue that it obtains governmental guarantees for hosting the tournament, such as allowing entry to accredited players, officials, media and staff; visas in time; no discriminatory or arbitrary refusals; and no disruptions due to immigration barriers. But it cannot override a country’s immigration laws, and the US currently has draconian rules that are strictly enforced. (For example, the recently overturned $100,000 fee for H1B visas.)
As a result, Iran’s team plays three matches in the US (two in LA, one in Seattle) but thanks to the piecemeal approvals and denials of visas to supporting staff, it will not be allowed to stay in the US for their matches, whereas teams generally stay 24-72 hours before a match to complete media commitments and matchday operations, etc. The team will be staying in Tijuana, Mexico, bordering San Diego, and will travel to each venue (and back) on match day.
Iran’s football federation has said that the US revoked Iran’s eight per cent fan ticket allocation, which is part of FIFA’s standard system where each participating team gets a block of tickets for their supporters. The US says it did so because of sanctions and banking restrictions against Iran. FIFA should have made an alternative arrangement.
Then there are minor irritants. Swiss star Breel Embolo, who was born in Cameroon but became a Switzerland citizen in 2015, was delayed under the electronic system for travel authorization (ESTA), and so could not travel with the rest of his team. Iraqi striker Aymen Hussein was detained and questioned for several hours before being allowed entry. A typical American mass shooting incident took place in Kansas City where the England team has a base camp; the team was not there at the time, nor was it linked to the incident, but it must have unsettled the players. Teams from Senegal and Uzbekistan underwent full-body searches, while players from white nations stood and watched.
None of this gives confidence to the players, the staff, and the fans; and it all serves only one purpose: to show off Trump’s authoritarian rule over the US and, by extension, the world.
Politics and sport
One has forever heard the homily of how “politics should not be mixed with sport”, especially cricket. Again, rubbish. Even before India became independent, the Olympics in 1936 was politicised when Adolf Hitler, the ruler of Germany who hoped to showcase the physical superiority of the Aryan race, congratulated only German winners on Day 1 of the Games. The Olympic Committee wanted him to congratulate all athletes, so he just stopped showing up for medal ceremonies. Then, when African American track star Jesse Owens won four medals, a myth began (incorrectly) that Hitler refused to shake his hand.
Handshaking has also gone out of style in India-Pakistan cricket matches thanks to politicisation. Heck, the head of world cricket is a politician’s slow-speaking son.
Be that as it may. Most of us football enthusiasts will push these matters out of our minds and lean back to enjoy the matches. If Trump shows up at a match, we can roundly jeer him, as happened at the basketball championship game in New York this week. Americans truly have balls (and not just footballs and basketballs). Booing a fascist leader is exactly the kind of mixture of politics and sport that we approve of.
Aditya Sinha is a writer living on the outskirts of Delhi.
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