FIFA’s Double Standard in Global Geopolitics |
The 2026 FIFA World Cup began surrounded by a contradiction that extends far beyond the boundaries of the football pitch.
While FIFA insists on presenting football as a neutral space capable of uniting peoples and nations above political disputes, the tournament hosted by the United States, Canada and Mexico has exposed a different reality: geopolitics continues to determine who can travel, compete and be represented at the world’s largest sporting event.
In the opening weeks of the competition, referees were prevented from entering the United States, accredited professionals were deported, officials encountered visa obstacles, delegations faced immigration-related harassment and supporters had their travel plans disrupted by administrative decisions taken by US authorities.
In the opening weeks of the competition, referees were prevented from entering the United States, accredited professionals were deported, officials encountered visa obstacles, delegations faced immigration-related harassment and supporters had their travel plans disrupted by administrative decisions taken by US authorities.
Perhaps the most symbolic case involved Haiti’s national team. FIFA required the team to remove references to the Battle of Vertières from its kit — the decisive battle of the Haitian Revolution that defeated French colonialism and paved the way for the establishment of the first Black republic in the Americas.
FIFA justified the decision as part of its policy against political expressions. Yet one must ask: since when has the memory of a struggle against slavery and colonial domination become a threat to sport?
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At the same time that it censored an........