Scotland, Iran, Mexico. This World Cup, these are my teams.
Scotland because I happen to be Scottish and we invented the beautiful game.
Iran because it is currently engaged in a righteous struggle against evil in our time.
And Mexico because of its people and a culture rooted in the celebration not condemnation of the human spirit.
I'm not a football or "soccer" guy but I am Mexican so I'm unfortunately gonna be more Mexican than usual this week it's kind of an unspoken agreement that we're all equally Mexican when Mexican things happen so sorry
FIFA rejecting Haiti’s jersey’s for being “too political” while allowing Israel to play, & the US to host World Cup (while denying visas, restricting entrance, banning Iranian players from staying in country) is a selective, targeted invocation of their “neutrality” policies.
Fun fact. For the 1966 World Cup, England debated denying visas for North Korea. FIFA responded that if any players from any teams were denied visas,they would relocate the World Cup, even at the last minute.
put my brother to rest this week 💔 he used to joke about making people put band stickers on his casket and throwing candy inside. never thought that day would come so soon but we made sure he had the most punk coffin in history
When Russia hosted the World Cup in 2018, it had to suspend normal visa rules for the tournament. Foreigners with tickets could enter visa-free, using a scheme called ‘Fan ID.’
Russia also had to do weird stuff to keep FIFA’s sponsors happy. For example, small shops near Fan Zones and stadiums could only sell Budweiser beer on match days.
So yes, FIFA absolutely does dictate conditions to host governments when it suits FIFA. Infantino pretending otherwise is nonsense.