The world is reeling badly three months before the kick-off of the men’s FIFA World Cup. Yet everything is supposed to proceed as planned, as if nothing had happened. Iraq had pleaded in vain with FIFA for a relocation of the playoff games scheduled for late March in Mexico. It had cited the war in Iran and the closed airspace in the Middle East. Now the Iraqi national team will travel by private jet after all. The last six available World Cup spots will be decided in the coming days in Mexico and Europe.
The already qualified Iran had in vain asked for the relocation of its World Cup matches in the summer. Instead of facing the war foe the United States, they would have preferred to play in co-host Mexico. But FIFA President Gianni Infantino ruled that out: “We have a plan. Soon the 48 teams will be fixed, and we want the FIFA World Cup to run as planned.”
He said so this week at the online session of the FIFA Council. At the center of this gathering was “the unwavering commitment of FIFA to peace and freedom,” the world federation said. On the margins of this meeting, the Israeli federation was sanctioned following a complaint by the Palestinian federation for failing to address racist incidents at Beitar Jerusalem. Among other things, banners bearing the inscription “Football Unites the World – No to Discrimination” must now be clearly displayed at three matches of significance in the stadium.
Noble Motto
This could generally become FIFA’s motto to defy political realities. All those who criticize FIFA and especially Infantino for their perceived lack of backbone toward U.S. President Donald Trump, because he can threaten opponents with the withdrawal of World Cup games with impunity, should not come away unscathed. At least 100 times they should write in neat handwriting the sentence: “Football unites the world.”
The same fate should also befall those who publicly demanded a condemning statement from FIFA because recently a Jamaican club team could travel to a competition match in the United States only in a severely weakened state. Primarily Haitian players of the team were denied visas. And all those who still complain that at the World Cup fans from Haiti, Iran, Senegal and the Ivory Coast are not allowed to enter the United States should now, damn it, write it 100 times behind their ears: “Football unites the world.”
Infantino reported from the latest meeting with Trump that he had been told the Iranian footballers would be warmly welcome in the United States during the World Cup. Trump’s later addition that, for security reasons, he regarded it as inappropriate for the team to travel, FIFA did not comment on this again.
In general, the FIFA Council, at its most recent peace session, reminded that it does not resolve geopolitical conflicts, but can build bridges to promote peace. This framing of the unifying power of football has long since been accepted by all national associations with a view to the upcoming World Cup, including the DFB.
How these measures are supposed to work when football is willing to bend to the playing rules of unscrupulous leaders in Russia, Qatar, the United States or Saudi Arabia remains a big riddle. Yet FIFA’s power should not be underestimated. The tax laws of any host country become pliable wherever the world football governing body wishes. As strong as the drive to generate profits is, nothing else defines world football.
