So we've had journalists and fans banned from entering, a shooting near a training base camp, causing Iran to fly in and out of match days and now banning a referee from entering.
The tournament hasn't even began yet. Giving the World Cup to the USA was a horrible decision.
Gianni Infantino in 2017, talking about the bidding process for 2026 with particular reference to the travel bans the US had in place then:
“Teams who qualify for a World Cup need to have access to the country, otherwise there is no World Cup. That is obvious.
“We are now in the process of defining the bid requirements. In the world there are many countries who have bans, travel bans, visa requirements and so on and so forth. It’s obvious when it comes to FIFA competitions, any team, including the supporters and officials of that team, who qualify for a World Cup need to have access to the country, otherwise there is no World Cup.
“The requirements will be clear. And then each country can make up their decision, whether they want to bid or not based on the requirements.”
The World Cup is meant to unite the world, yet ahead of 2026 World Cup we’re discussing shootings, visa restrictions, and fans being unable to attend. Qatar faced a ridiculous amount of scrutiny, but now many of the same voices are silent. The double standard is hard to ignore.
Gianni Infantino knocked down all the reporting over visa concerns for this World Cup in August 2025: “I think it’s important to clarify this. There is a lot of misconception out there. Everyone will be welcome in Canada, Mexico and the United States for the FIFA World Cup next year.
“There is a process to go through to get visas and so on. This process will be smooth…
“We want to unite the world and we will unite the world next year. The world needs occasions of unity, of bringing teams together, of bringing people together, of bringing fans together... So again everyone will be welcome, be positive and you will see it will be a great, great celebration of the greatest FIFA World Cup ever.”
No, again we are just meant to look the other way and allow this thing we love so much, that we want to enjoy, that we can map our whole lives around, to be used and abused.
Again we are told about unity and inclusion when division, disparity and denial is the reality.
It is a great, great celebration of getting more money whatever it takes, no matter who has to pay the price. The greatest showpiece of allowing - unopposed! - the man who is meant to protect and grow the people’s game into playing celebrity, massaging his own ego and that of heads of state.
The biggest, most expensive, least accessible World Cup ever. The thing we love and all the beautiful pieces of it we’ve lost.
Norway said that they are not going to play in World Cup in Qatar even if they qualified (they didn’t). Denmark left it until the last minute to confirm their participation in the World Cup 2022Germany forced their players to make political statements before the match in FIFA WC 2022 even though some players didn’t want to do it.
BBC literally disrupted the coverage of one of the best opening ceremonies of the World Cup in Qatar just for virtue signaling.
but for World Cup 2026, the whole media is silent other than a few token articles here and there and Norway and Germany aren’t protesting anything when there’s so much to protest about 🤡
Iraola in his first interview saying he's excited about senior players being at the World Cup because it means he gets a chance to work with the young players at the start of pre-season. I love him already.
Liverpool's data dropped off around February 2025 and never truly recovered to the highs of late 2024. I think that's why they had to part ways with Slot. It wasn't a blip. It was the norm. Lots changed but the numbers remained consistent, which points to system over personnel.
Still bewildered that Fabrizio Romano got the Slot dismissal news before others. Specially the crew from the Athletic. They look so foolish just parroting what is fed to them without questioning it more. Ultimately hurts their credibility