The eyes of the world are once again on the World Cup. Surprisingly, he holds the goalscoring record of Lionel Messi, a Cape Verdean goalkeeper who achieved fame or viral clips from fans.
It’s a familiar and understandable way of diverting attention from the issues that dominated the buildup. Many Argentine fans were refused visas to attend the tournament and see Messi make history, Vojinha’s mother was only granted a visa bond waiver for the country after her son’s heroics for Cape Verde, and the fans watching on TV are often the lucky few who can afford the exorbitant ticket prices.
Infantino, Trump’s relationship has destroyed FIFA’s trust
Several factors have contributed to the growing frustration with FIFA.
The decision to award FIFA’s inaugural Peace Prize to US President Donald Trump last December, shortly before Trump started a war with tournament participant Iran, was reportedly a unilateral move by FIFA president Gianni Infantino and has undermined trust both within and outside the organization.
FIFA adopts a rotation policy for hosting the World Cup – this means that each confederation must take turns hosting a tournament, except for Oceania, which has lacked facilities since Australia began playing in the Asian competition. But with the 2030 World Cup matches being held in Europe, Africa and South America, it paved the way for Saudi Arabia to host the 2034 tournament without any challenge and much earlier than in Asia, in 2042.
with Infantino is willing to exceed the normal term limit for the presidency of 12 yearsLikely to be unopposed again, according to many observers, frustration with FIFA is at an all-time high. But can anything be done?
How does FIFA maintain its power?
FIFA is responsible for the global development of the game but also acts as its commercial operator, a system that has been questioned by many governance experts.
The World Cup is its major financial driver, although the recently revised and expanded Club World Cup is now a more significant contributor. That competition led to widespread complaints from players and players’ associations about an overcrowded calendar that makes unreasonable demands.
Bayern Munich and England striker Harry Kane said last year, “If I’m completely honest I don’t think the players are listened to that much.”
Structurally, each of the 211 member states (which sit in six continental unions) gets one vote for president every four years. These member associations are then rewarded financially, to a greater or lesser extent, through various schemes and programmes.
“The commercial dimension is the basis of FIFA’s system of power. Money is used by presidents to accumulate and consolidate their power,” Miguel Maduro, former chairman of FIFA’s Governance, Audit and Compliance Committee, told DW. He was dismissed from office in 2017 after attempting to enforce political neutrality rules regarding Russia.
“This is what supports the system of patronage through which presidents reward those loyal to them and punish anyone who dares to criticize anything. This explains why sitting presidents are never challenged and remain in power indefinitely.”
Can politics and the EU force FIFA into change?
Like Maduro, Nick McGeehan of human rights NGO Fairsquare agrees that any reforms at FIFA must be implemented. And with individual member states not motivated or able to bring about change, he is calling on the EU to start the fight.
“This requires political intervention. There is no other way to fix FIFA,” he told DW.
“I think the most obvious example would be the EU, which could regulate and govern sports in the same way they regulate other things like Big Tech.”
FairSquare has filed a complaint with the Investigative Chamber to the FIFA Ethics Committee over Infantino’s dealings with Trump, while, separately, fan group Football Supporters Europe (FSE) and advocacy group Euroconsumers filed a complaint with the European Commission about ticket prices shortly before the World Cup.
A Commission spokesperson would not agree on whether the EU could take on FIFA, telling DW only that the FSE and Euroconsumers’ complaint was being handled “in line with our standard procedures.”
Asked whether they could intervene in various questionable World Cup ticketing practices, the spokesperson confirmed that EU laws “do not regulate the price levels of goods and services such as event tickets.” But it also said: “Merchants must adequately inform consumers about the total price of their offers and avoid deceptive commercial practices, such as making attractive introductory price claims for tickets that are not available or making pressure-selling techniques while consumers wait in a virtual queue.”
Although there has been little definite political action on the ground so far, McGeehan remains hopeful.
“There will be a politician somewhere who recognizes the political value of taking people along and actually trying to hold them accountable. And I find that quite an exciting prospect, because I think it’s inevitable right now.”
Could UEFA and FIFA tensions force a separation?
Although it operates under the umbrella of FIFA, tensions have been rising between FIFA and the powerful European confederation, UEFA. He was exposed in UEFA’s appointment of Somalian referee Omar Artan for the Super Cup final, days after he was refused entry to the US to officiate at the World Cup.
“Football is designed to connect people,” said UEFA president Aleksandar Ceferin.
Last year, UEFA delegates walked out of the FIFA Congress, accusing Infantino of prioritizing “personal political interests” after arriving late from a diplomatic tour to the Middle East with Trump.
“There is tension between UEFA and FIFA, and UEFA is a huge confederation and has influence over some of the biggest and most historic countries in football. So if there was any kind of separation within football it would have to come from UEFA or multiple UEFA countries coming together,” Geoff Walters, a sports business professor at the University of Liverpool in Britain, told DW.
“But in terms of the politics of football it’s hard to keep your head above that roof because you get shot at. If you say something, what does it mean? Will it harm your chances of hosting competitions, which could be beneficial? Does it mean you are ostracized from the international community?”
Germany is an example of this. After team members covered their mouths as a political gesture in their first match in Qatar in 2022, the team and federation have stepped back in support of the political cause, possibly with an eye on a bid to host the World Cup in 2034 or 2038.
UEFA itself had to deal with the threat of an elite-club-run breakaway Super League in 2021 and the legal issues that would follow. Maduro said the organization “suffers from the same governance flaws as FIFA, albeit in a less obvious and radical way.”
What’s in it for the rest of the world to secede from FIFA?
UEFA’s position with the rest of the world federations has also been weakened by Ceferin’s recent comments that an expanded World Cup makes too many matches “completely uninteresting”. The alliance of 13 football associations in Africa and Asia said they “strongly reject” the reported comments. Journal24 online newspaper In Ceferin’s native Slovenia.
The prestige and power of Europe and South America, especially Brazil and Argentina, are also not as strong as it might seem compared to Infantino’s power base in Asia and Africa. Walters said this is another reason why the possibility of separation seems remote.
“If it had been led by the leading countries, what would have happened to smaller countries around the world? What would have happened to their ability to develop football in their countries?”
He said, “That’s part of the challenge with the global game that we’re seeing, not just in the context of the World Cup, but in the context of many sports leagues, where you’re seeing the big teams pushing and trying to break away. They want to retain the largest share of commercial income and revenue coming into that game.”
Is FIFA reaching areas others cannot?
While many others have questioned those business motivations, Infantino has insisted that they are for the greater good.
“Every dollar we make goes back into football,” he told reporters on the eve of the tournament on June 10.
“As FIFA president we have to strike a balance. We invest in countries where no one else does – South Sudan, Bhutan. No one else is doing it.”
For now, this much is true. In football terms, no one else has the leeway or the money. And, given how deeply established FIFA is in the game, it seems unlikely that it will fall apart.
Although discontent has rarely been high, unless a federation, coalition of countries, or prominent individual takes hold of the matter, the chances for reform seem slimmer than before.
Edited by: Chuck Penfold