Latest news with #FIFACongress
USA Today
18-06-2025
- Sport
- USA Today
FIFA oddly abandoned anti-racism messaging for the Club World Cup
FIFA oddly abandoned anti-racism messaging for the Club World Cup Anyone who has watched an international soccer game in the past decade has will know that FIFA'a anti-racism campaign plays a prominent visible role. There are "Say No To Racism" patches on the jersey sleeves and on the captain's armband. The same message appears on the field-side digital banners frequently throughout a game. But for the inaugural expanded Club World Cup in the U.S., the anti-discrimination messaging has been completely absent. It's been absent to a point that it had to be a deliberate choice to leave the "Say No To Racism" campaign out of the stateside tournament. The reason for that? FIFA hasn't been willing answer. But The Athletic did directly ask FIFA if the absence of the campaign had to do with a U.S. government that vocally opposes inclusivity and diversity, but FIFA didn't respond. Oddly enough, FIFA did reportedly work on an anti-racism campaign for the Club World Cup but has opted to not display any of it in the tournament thus far. In a statement, FIFA affirmed it remains against racism but didn't explain why the campaign has disappeared for these matches in the U.S. Via The Athletic: 'FIFA has a firm, zero-tolerance stance against all forms of discrimination and racism. This commitment was recently reinforced through the unanimous approval by the FIFA Council of the revised FIFA Disciplinary Code, which introduces new measures to fight racist abuse — including increased minimum bans for racist incidents and enhanced financial penalties as duly informed to the 75th FIFA Congress in Asuncion in May 2025.' It's yet another major mistake that FIFA has made with the Club World Cup.
Yahoo
13-06-2025
- Sport
- Yahoo
Potential host cities talk 2031 Women's World Cup after U.S. Soccer initiates selection process
The next five years could be an extraordinary era for soccer fans in the United States — if all goes to plan. The much-hyped, still-unproven, revamped and expanded FIFA Club World Cup kicks off on Saturday and the men's World Cup is set to land here in summer 2026, when the U.S. co-hosts the tournament with Canada and Mexico. However, some organizers are already looking to the 2031 Women's World Cup. Advertisement U.S. Soccer shared bid information for that tournament at the end of May with 29 potential host cities across the nation, according to multiple people familiar with the planning. 'We've received the documents from U.S. Soccer,' Meg Kane, the executive director of the Philadelphia World Cup Host Committee, said during this week's 2026 men's World Cup host committee event in New York. 'There's incredible enthusiasm for the Women's World Cup.' Executive director for the Dallas Sports Commission, Monica Paul, said they've also received bid documents, but with the more imminent tournaments, they have not had a chance to review the 2031 documents closely enough to see what differs from the 2026 tournament. This Women's World Cup is very, very important to me as a woman, but also as somebody working in Dallas, trying to build the landscape, seeing the growth of women's sports in Dallas,' Paul said at the 2026 host event on Monday. 'This is something that's … at the top of our list for the future.' The list of cities is not exclusive, and the door remains open to additional ones interested in throwing their hats into the ring. But time is running short, especially with the news that the 2031 version of the tournament is expanding to 48 teams from the current 32. Advertisement Cities are expected to make a verbal commitment by September, with formal bids due by late November, according to sources familiar with the process. As Sports Business Journal reported last month, the FIFA Congress is expected to approve the hosting roles for the U.S. and Mexico, as well as possible additional countries from the Concacaf region, on April 30 in the Canadian city of Vancouver. Those on the U.S. side of planning are juggling hosting the upcoming men's tournament with what's to come in 2031, including determining the balance of the NFL to smaller stadiums. This is made even more difficult, according to sources, considering maintaining equity with the expanding tournament that will inevitably include smaller match-ups. The economic impact of any World Cup relies strongly on tourism and funding for transportation, security and fan festivals. With the 2026 men's World Cup and the 2028 Olympics in Los Angeles, many state and federal governments have already invested taxpayer dollars and public funds — something that may complicate the equation for 2031. For the 2026 men's World Cup, 17 American cities made the shortlist to host games, and 11 were selected. It will be the most ambitious World Cup yet, with 48 teams from the six global confederations playing 104 games across 16 cities in the U.S., Mexico and Canada in just over five weeks. Advertisement The host nations involved in the 2026 tournament have already completed FIFA's meticulous bidding process, meeting infrastructure demands such as a minimum number of stadiums with specific seating capacities, hotel accommodations, an efficient transportation network, as well as navigating security protocols, and committing millions of dollars to logistics and fan engagement. For example, Miami-Dade County, which will host seven men's World Cup matches in 2026, is predicting $46 million in costs between cash subsidies, police services and other host-related expenses. Atlanta, which is hosting eight matches in 2026, has considered these costs, but is still eager to host games in 2031. 'Having flexibility on the fundraising side will be very important for us because, again, there's always so much public money that we can secure from the state or city to help publicly subsidize it, so we have to get the rest from the private sector,' CEO of Atlanta's host committee, Dan Corso, said. 'I think if we could get ahead of the public fundraising now for 2031 and maybe loosen up some of the categories that have been restricted currently for 2026. If we can open that up a little bit earlier and a little more broadly for us to go after more companies, I think that would help.' However, with training facilities, transport plans and citywide activation strategies already in place, the existing host cities are well positioned to host again, with far less friction, in 2031. And as women's soccer continues to surge in popularity in the United States, these places have a chance to cement their status as true soccer cities, not just once, but twice in a decade. Advertisement 'We're going to sit with the U.S. Soccer here in a few months, whenever they call that summit together for all the cities that are interested, and really go through the big specs with them and get their perspective of what they think they could do to help cities,' Corso said. 'We look forward to that opportunity, but I think cities that are hosting 2026 that are interested in 2031 are taking a lot of notes on what we could apply in 2031 and make it a bit more palatable in some ways.' Even a year out, some 2026 hosts are running into budget-related issues. In California's Bay Area, the issue of money not covered through the host committee's private investment or sponsorships will likely be covered by the NFL's San Francisco 49ers for operating matches at their home of Levi's Stadium. The San Francisco Chronicle reported that the fee could be as much as $37 million, though the hope is that much of that can be offset. 'I want to bid, but for me to bid it, I'm running a business, so it has to work for the business,' Zaileen Janmohamed, the president and CEO of California's Bay Area Host Committee (BAHC), told at the same World Cup event in New York this week. 'We've had a lot of learning from the men's World Cup bid and what's worked and not worked in our region.' San Francisco, and more so the broader Bay Area, is well positioned to take advantage of the world's biggest women's soccer tournament, too. It has a successful NWSL team, Bay FC, and a team in the amateur USL W league, Oakland Soul. The women's youth soccer scene is also strong in the Bay Area. That region of northern California also has multiple venues available for the big event, including the NFL's 68,500-seat Levi's Stadium in Santa Clara, which will host 2026 men's World Cup games; San Jose's PayPal Park with an 18,000 capacity, where Bay FC plays home games; and men's second-tier team Oakland Roots' home at the 63,000-seat Oakland Coliseum. Advertisement Kansas City is another place with both interest and the ability to host in 2031. According to its host committee president and CEO, Kathy Nelson, Kansas City is going to bid. As one of the epicenters of women's soccer investment, boasting CPKC Stadium, one of the world's first purpose-built professional women's sports arenas, with its 11,500 seats, the Women's World Cup is a natural fit for the city. The same goes for New York. Sources close to the NY/NJ host committee are confident the Big Apple will bid to host as well. In Texas, both Dallas and Houston also seem to be interested in hosting matches in the tournament. 'We are reviewing those documents,' Houston's host committee president Chris Canetti told While that body did not make a firm commitment to bid, Canetti said it is likely to do so: 'There's usually not an event that comes out where Houston doesn't want to be a part of it. So my guess would be, at the end of the day, Houston will be very aggressive when it comes to wanting to bring the Women's World Cup to town.' Advertisement Paul also spoke about potentially bidding for 2031 for Dallas. According to Paul, Dallas, which recently wrapped up the inaugural season of its new professional women's team, Dallas Trinity FC, in the USL Super League, is already thinking about how to leverage the moment not just for a potential World Cup bid, but to boost youth development and the broader women's soccer ecosystem. In Miami, host committee president and CEO Alina Hudak won't be making the final call, but she noted that the area's leaders are exploring the opportunity. 'We're a city that loves to host major sporting events and, so, as a resident, I would welcome the opportunity to host a World Cup for women in South Florida,' she said during Monday's host city event. Others remain laser-focused on the men's tournament next year. Boston host committee president Mike Loynd, while enthusiastic about the city's new NWSL team that starts play when the 2026 season kicks off next March, said it's too early to discuss a 2031 bid. Advertisement In Philadelphia, Kane echoed that sentiment. She said her priority is delivering a successful 2026 before turning attention to what comes next, while also acknowledging that the passion for the women's game is growing across the United States. 'Philadelphia, and (the state of) Pennsylvania, would be an outstanding host of the Women's World Cup. Right now, Philadelphia Soccer 2026 is very much focused on delivering a great experience for 2026,' she said. Next year's tournament will put host cities' infrastructure on full display. If the numbers add up, some cities may just want to go again. However, the 2031 Women's World Cup will not be just a matter of scale, it will be about impact, as some of the potential host cities told . That tournament won't be a test of whether the cities staging its matches can handle a global soccer crowd, it will be about how seriously they are going to bet on the women's game. This article originally appeared in The Athletic. Advertisement US Women's national team, Soccer, International Football, NWSL, Sports Business, UK Women's Football, Women's World Cup 2025 The Athletic Media Company
Yahoo
13-06-2025
- Politics
- Yahoo
Human rights expert: FIFA's Infantino and Trump made for each other
German human rights expert Sylvia Schenk has criticised the Gianni Infantino's leadership of the ruling body FIFA and named his closeness to United States President Donald Trump a matter of power-political calculation. "Infantino behaves like a sun king at FIFA. And nobody does anything against it. You can only watch it with amazement," Schenk told the t-online portal in an interview published on the eve of Saturday's start of the FIFA Club World Cup in the US. Schenk is a former member of FIFA's human rights advisory body and chairs Transparency International's working group on sports. She said that Infantino and Trump were made for each other concerning their claims to power. ""These are two men who always push themselves to the fore. To describe them as extroverted is an understatement," she said. Schenk said that Trump is using the month-long Club World Cup starting on Saturday and next year's World Cup, which the US hosts together with Canada and Mexico, for his own interests. "Trump knows how to utilise sport for populist purposes. That helps him in certain voter and demographic groups. As his poll ratings are currently plummeting, he perhaps needs this even more urgently," she said. Schenk said that Trump exaggerates FIFA and "flatters Infantino's ego." Infantino was an invited guest at Trump's inauguration and last month accompanied him on a trip to the Middle East, which controversially made him arrive late for the FIFA Congress in Paraguay. Schenk said that Infantino leads FIFA in a way not even his predecessor Joseph Blatter would have done but said that "he only gets this power because everyone is giving it to him and nobody is opposing it." Schenk also said that Infantino's closeness with Trump would not change the political situation in the US, such as Human Rights Watch calling on Infantino to put pressure on Trump. "So far it has been the other way around: the US has been instrumentalised to put pressure on football and Infantino to change things in other countries," Schenk said. "But I'm of the opinion: please sort things out in your own country first and don't ask FIFA to change the American president now, nobody else can do that either."
New York Times
05-06-2025
- Business
- New York Times
Donald Trump's travel ban undermines Gianni Infantino's World Cup vision
Gianni Infantino could scarcely have been more emphatic when taking to the stage at the FIFA Congress in Asuncion, Paraguay, last month. A meeting had been held with the White House Task Force in the preceding days, and assurances had seemingly been given that hardening immigration policies would not carry a price for the looming Club World Cup and the 2026 World Cup. Advertisement 'The world is welcome in America,' said Infantino, FIFA's long-serving president. 'Of course, the players, of course, everyone involved, all of us, but definitely also all the fans.' Infantino might well have delivered that promise in good faith, but it has not taken long for that cheerfully optimistic assessment to appear misguided. Any notion of the world being welcome must now carry an awkward asterisk. A travel ban against 12 countries was signed by U.S. President Donald Trump on Wednesday, halting movement into the United States for those deemed to be from high-risk territories. Citizens of Afghanistan, Myanmar (Burma), Chad, the Republic of Congo, Equatorial Guinea, Eritrea, Haiti, Iran, Libya, Somalia, Sudan and Yemen will be banned from entering the U.S. starting on Monday. 'Nothing will stop us from keeping America safe,' Trump said in a video announcing the executive order. And least of all, it seems, a World Cup that the U.S. will share with neighbours Canada and Mexico next summer. Although the new ruling will continue to permit entry to athletes, coaches and support staff who attend major sporting events — initially, only the World Cup and Olympics were specifically cited, but the White House clarified to The Athletic on Thursday that the Club World Cup and Concacaf's Gold Cup also fall into this category — fans will not be granted entry. Only 'immediate relatives' of those involved can hope to be exempt. Trump has outlined his reasons, rooted in national security, but the policy shift has given FIFA and Infantino a headache. Iran are already assured of a place at the 2026 finals, extending a run that has seen them travel to Brazil (2014), Russia (2018) and Qatar (2022). A fourth consecutive qualification was secured in March with a 2-2 draw against Uzbekistan. Head coach Amir Ghalenoei and his players, including Inter Milan forward Mehdi Taremi, will be allowed entry into the United States, but the first indications are that their supporters will not. Fans of Haiti, whose only previous World Cup experience came at the 1974 tournament in Germany, would also be subject to travel bans if their team was to continue its promising qualification campaign in Concacaf, as would Libya should they upset the odds and qualify as one of Africa's nine teams when that process is concluded in the autumn. Advertisement Infantino now finds himself in a diplomatic pickle. A close relationship with Trump and his administration was supposed to have its benefits, smoothing the path towards the first of 104 games to be played in the U.S., Canada and Mexico a year and a week from now. The bond was projected on multiple occasions, with Infantino even a guest at Trump's inauguration. He delayed his arrival at the aforementioned FIFA Congress as he wanted to be with Trump on his visits to Qatar and Saudi Arabia – a decision that caused members of the European delegation to leave the event early in protest. But now Infantino is left confronting a policy that threatens to undermine the values of a World Cup he has so often championed. '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,' Infantino told reporters in 2017, a year that had seen Trump ban travel from a number of predominantly Muslim countries during his first term in office. The inference was that any country unwilling to open its doors to all supporters could be prevented from hosting a World Cup. Fans of all competing nations were welcome in Russia and then in Qatar, two countries without America's reputation for freedom and openness. Iran were among those backed by thousands of their supporters at both tournaments. Infantino had been confident that the U.S. would be no different, but the guarantees he told the world that FIFA had last month have since disappeared. Trump indicated there is time for this to change ahead of next summer with the list of banned nations 'subject to revision based on whether material improvements are made.' That the Club World Cup and Gold Cup, both starting this month, have now been included in the list of 'major' sporting events might also indicate a willingness to add flexibility to a hardline stance. Advertisement It is nevertheless a problem that will take some spinning. Either Infantino knew the travel ban and its implications were in the post, but just did not want to let on in his public comments last month, or Trump's capricious nature has caught another supposed ally off guard. The latter feels more probable but still does not reflect well on Infantino after all the meetings, the gifts and photo opportunities of the last six months. Infantino remains that most voraciously political animal who maintains politics have no place in football's harmonious little world. Yet Trump's gear shift on immigration is a reminder about how that vision remains as fanciful as ever.
See - Sada Elbalad
05-06-2025
- Business
- See - Sada Elbalad
Scenes of Sports Diplomacy in Trump's Gulf Tour
Mohamed Mahmoud Abdelwahab The visit of the President of the United States to the Gulf region in mid-May was not traditional; Trump is an exceptional figure, and the version of his second term differs greatly from the first, as he does not care much for diplomatic norms and their boundaries. How could he commit to them if even geographic boundaries do not constrain his economic and investment visions? Talking about annexing Canada to the United States reveals much about his political and economic propositions inside and outside the United States. And if Trump's statements often involve intimidating rhetoric and rough diplomacy, can he be imagined to believe in the importance of soft power in enhancing the state's image and its foreign relations? Does he realize that public diplomacy might contribute to improving political communication between leaders? And can his administration succeed in using the hosting of international sports events, such as the Club World Cup next June and the joint hosting of the 2026 World Cup, to improve relations with neighboring countries like Canada and Mexico? Despite all these questions, the evidence points to an exceptional diplomatic pattern that may evolve into a new school in international relations attributed to Trump , who is eager to achieve accomplishments credited to him. This is in addition to what the first five months of his second term have shown, whether in superiority diplomacy (as seen in his conversation with the President of South Africa at the White House), acquisition diplomacy (such as the mineral deal with Ukraine), and other features that characterize his handling of foreign policy files, although he has some ideas about developing sports and sports investment, and he has good relations with athletes. And due to Trump's lack of conviction in the value of traditional tools for implementing his foreign policies and his preference to rely on advisors and influential economic figures — who accompanied him on his first foreign tour, along with the presence of the FIFA president in two stops of the tour — it is important to pause at some scenes of sports diplomacy during his visit to Gulf countries, as football and sports investment are among the most prominent images of public diplomacy. Especially considering that, despite the presence of the FIFA president among the delegation of investors and CEOs accompanying Trump, and Infantino's pride in participating in a tour full of historic agreements, he faced sharp criticism from members of the FIFA Congress — especially the Europeans — for being late to the Congress meeting in Paraguay, considering his visits to Riyadh and Doha as coming at the expense of official obligations and favoring his personal ambitions. Thus, even sports are not free from political calculations at the level of federations. Scene One: During his participation in the Saudi-American Investment Forum, in the session titled 'The Road to 2034… Partnerships and Progress Towards the World Cup in Saudi Arabia', Infantino affirmed in his speech that Saudi Arabia is one of the world's leading investors in football and that its hosting of the World Cup is a pivotal moment in the history of the world's most popular game. He added that football represents a massive economy, with its related global GDP estimated at about $270 billion annually. Scene Two: The Emir of Qatar presented Trump with the official ball of the 2022 World Cup, enhancing the role of sports diplomacy in strengthening ties between peoples and countries and showing the position of football in the political and diplomatic arena. Qatar has a successful model in sponsoring European competitions, and Paris Saint-Germain's Champions League title supports that investment which began years ago. Scene Three: The conversation that took place in Abu Dhabi between Trump and Khaldoon Al Mubarak, Chairman of City Group, which addressed the preparations for the opening of the New York City stadium before the 2028 Olympics. Trump showed clear interest in the conversation, which highlights how sports diplomacy contributes to supporting countries' infrastructure, noting that City Group, backed by the Mubadala investment fund, has interests in European and Latin American countries. These scenes reflect the development of the relationship between sport and investment. It is no longer limited to club acquisitions, but now includes integrated systems involving teams, stadiums, and brand names. The Russian model in Chelsea, followed by the entry of Chinese investors and the Arab investment that began with Mohamed Al-Fayed entering the field of investing in English clubs — all these moves developed rapidly. Sports investment has become more complex and interconnected both locally and internationally. In conclusion, Trump's visit to Riyadh, Doha, and Abu Dhabi draws new features of the intersection between sports, economy, and politics, and affirms the importance of sports diplomacy, which is gaining increasing interest from world leaders as an effective tool to present soft power and strengthen ties between countries beyond the traditional constraints of politics. Gulf countries are among the most prominent models in employing sports to enhance their foreign interests. read more Analysis- Turkey Has 0 Regional Allies... Why? Analysis: Russia, Turkey... Libya in Return For Syria? Analysis: Who Will Gain Trump's Peace Plan Fruits? 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