FIFA’s corruption overshadows Spain’s triumph
But FIFA must return to the game. To retain the mystique, the allure, and the sweetness of the World Cup, FIFA must return to the roots of the game, where talent matters.
Opiyo Oloya. (File)
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OPINION
By Opiyo Oloya
On Sunday, the world stopped to watch Spain battle Argentina for the bragging rights of the soccer World Cup. And for a while it appeared that the FIFA script was at work and that Lionel Messi and the Argentinians would repeat their walk to the podium as they did in Qatar in 2022. But it was not to be — Spanish rising star Lamine Yamal gathered the ball at the very start of the second half of extra time, sending it to Pedro Porro, whose long cross into the Argentinian goal area almost went out of play but was headed into play by Nico Williams, allowing Spanish striker Ferran Torres to pull the trigger, sending the ball past Argentinian keeper Emiliano Martinez. Spain took the lead 1-0 in the 106th minute of extra time. The rest is history.
That was not supposed to happen. Look, under the leadership of Gianni Infantino, FIFA has become very corrupt. Other than the fading glory and mystique of Lionel Messi, the Argentina team should never have been in the World Cup final. The instructions to the officiating referees from FIFA must have been — do whatever it takes to ensure no team takes down Argentina.
Until that game, not a single Argentinian player had logged as much as a warning yellow card. Flagrant foul after flagrant foul, the Argentinian players could do no wrong. They shoved, pulled, punched, and pushed, and probably even farted on the other players, yet the referees variously ignored their misdeeds. By contrast, from the qualifying games, despite Argentina’s very physical and rough play, 14 yellow cards were given to teams facing Argentina. Egypt received five yellow cards, Jordan got three, Austria took two, and in the Argentinian game against Switzerland, Breel Embolo was shown the red card for simulation and sent off the field, leaving poor Switzerland with 11 men, which allowed a struggling Argentina to get back into the game, eventually winning 3-1.
But even Vincic could not turn a blind eye to the insufferable rough play from Argentinian midfielder Enzo Fernández, whose late challenge on Spain’s youngest teenage defender Pau Cubarsí, deep into second half stoppage time (90+2’), a bodycheck previously only seen in ice hockey, sent the teenager caterwauling through the air. Up went the second yellow card for the previously booked Fernández, which automatically converted into a red card. After the game was over, Argentinian midfi elder Leandro Paredes was pictured violently shoving Spain’s Eric Garcia by the throat, and was given a red card. These were savages dressed in soccer uniform!
The bottom line is Spain deserved to be the champion, and champion for the second time in a little more than a decade-and-a-half. But the lingering question is whether FIFA has decidedly turned into a money-grabbing machine that only cares about the dollar and will create spectacles that make money, or whether it will allow raw talent, as happened during the time of Pelé and Maradona, to rise to the surface. Will teams from smaller countries have a shot at reaching the semi finals and finals of the World Cup, or will it always be the nations with the richest pockets arriving on the podium?
From the experiences of World Cup 2026, the answer suggests FIFA’s corruption, political machination, and greed have become the dominant features of the beautiful game. For example, the world will never know how the US team would have performed had President Donald Trump not intervened to have FIFA revoke the red card handed to Folarin Balogun during the match against Bosnia-Herzegovina. By allowing politics to be inserted into the game, Infantino created the perception that the rules of the game are not iron-clad, that they can be bought, manipulated, and even suspended to allow certain preferred and favourite teams to advance.
Yet World Cup 2026, with an expanded base of 48 teams, promised to democratise the game, opening opportunities for little soccer dreamers from continental Africa, from the streets of Cairo to the town squares of Sidi Bel Abbès in north-western Algeria, from Dakar’s suburb of Deni Biram Ndao to Casablanca’s working class suburbs and “derbs” (alleys) of Hay Mohammadi and Derb Sultan. This expanded format favoured Africa, doubling from five to 10 continental teams, including Egypt, Morocco, Senegal, Ghana, Côte d’Ivoire, South Africa, Tunisia, Algeria, Cabo Verde, and the DR Congo.
Of course, soccer remains the undisputable most popular game on earth, capable of uniting a constantly warring world, helping to define what it means to be human, civilised, and loving. Despite the war between Iran and the US, for example, it was satisfying to see the Iranian team play its heart out on the field. Despite their defeat, the world saw them as humans, not as animals on whom bombs are dropped every night. They left as humans — and even more beautiful was seeing Mexico’s city of Tijuana, where the team stayed and trained, adopt the players as their own, turning up in big numbers to see them off back to Iran.
But FIFA must return to the game. To retain the mystique, the allure, and the sweetness of the World Cup, FIFA must return to the roots of the game, where talent matters.
It must plough back the extraordinary billions of profits generated by the game into the poorer countries, investing in little clubs, ensuring that talents are spotted and nurtured as one nurtures little kindling to maturity, where they can compete against well-funded and developed talents from South America, Europe, and, in recent decades, from Canada and the US.
Yes, showbiz can still be a part of the World Cup, such as the spectacle involving superstar Shakira and the very talented Uganda’s renowned dance troupe, the Ghetto Kids, that wowed the world by performing at half-time.
But, hopefully, World Cup 2030 will be about players competing honestly, which will be better for the world and the fans.
Opiyo.oloya@gmail.com The writer is the inaugural associate vice-president, equity, diversity, and inclusion at Western University, London, Ontario, Canada