FIFA, Politics, the American Visa Gauntlet and How Football Sold Its Soul

A tournament once built on unity and fair play now operates at the mercy of governments, gatekeepers, and FIFA’s own narcissistic ambitions.

I grew up with football in my blood. I watched it whenever I could, played it through to my late-teens, and lived by the rhythm of weekend fixtures. Later in life, I worked inside the sport as a registered agent and followed that with a 400-page investigative book placing the global industry under the microscope (published April 2025). That work opened my eyes to the forces steering football away from what supporters once recognised as theirs. The steady stream of questionable decisions from FIFA over the years damaged any remaining faith I had in the organisation. The latest World Cup draw delivered yet another blow. I want the game to return to the values that shaped it. The direction we are heading gives me little reason to believe that will happen.

The 2026 FIFA World Cup promises a global celebration of football, a tournament designed to unite nations under a shared love for the sport. The reality, however, could not be further from that promise. What the world will witness in the USA, Canada, and Mexico is not merely a football tournament. It’s a spectacle tailored to political convenience, financial gain, and the spectacle of influence, orchestrated under the watch of FIFA and the complicity of national governments.

FIFA presents itself as the guardian of football’s core values: integrity, fairness, equality, and the promotion of the sport as a unifying global force. These principles, clearly outlined in its official communications, suggest a world where football transcends politics, where competition is fair, and where the game exists as a neutral arena for athletic and cultural exchange. This month’s 2026 World Cup draw, however, demonstrated how far FIFA has drifted from these ideals.

Under Infantino, FIFA has transformed into a profit-driven, politically entangled empire where corruption is normalised and influence outweighs the integrity of the sport.

The recent draw highlighted the prioritisation of spectacle over substance, with rules and procedures bending to accommodate sponsors, broadcasters, and influential host nations.

The so-called “unity” of the sport is compromised when international visitors from countries like Iran were denied visas, barring their participation in ceremonial events and creating diplomatic friction. These exclusions extend beyond Iran. Fans and citizens from the United Kingdom, Australia, France, Germany, Japan, South Korea, Israel, New Zealand, and Qatar face additional layers of scrutiny under stringent US customs checks, including extended processing, invasive questioning around social media activity, and practical barriers to entry. The sport is now entangled in immigration politics, reducing global participation to the whims of government policy rather than sporting merit.

And the irony is stark.