The Death of Soft Power: How Fifa Lost Control

Published: 11 June 2026. The English Chronicle Desk. The English Chronicle Online.

Even the brutal Nazi regime tried to tone its actions down before the 1936 Berlin Olympics. The Third Reich actively softened its intolerant edges because it cared deeply about foreign perception. Antisemitic signs were removed from public view and strict anti-homosexuality laws were briefly suspended. By contrast, the 2026 World Cup is hosted by a country indifferent to foreign opinion. The United States under Donald Trump is tonally different from any previous major tournament host. This administration actively projects its internal darkness and seems to enjoy the world’s collective revulsion.

The White House knew exactly what it was doing by targeting referee Omar Abdulkadir Artan. The official from Somalia was turned away at the border just days before the event. Trump has previously made his views on Somalia clear by using highly derogatory language publicly. Andrew Giuliani stated the administration would not allow soccer to let potential terrorists enter America. This display of cartoonish evil united the global community in deep sympathy for a referee. However, this incident was merely one scene in a larger theatre of performative cruelty.

The vice-captain of Iraq faced a grueling seven-hour detention upon his arrival in America. Thirteen members of the Iranian delegation are still waiting for visas with tickets revoked. According to recent reports, eleven participating countries from the global south face heavy travel restrictions. Many of these nations are dealing with unusually high rates of arbitrary visa rejections.

We must examine Fifa, the body that accredited Artan while promising everyone would be welcome. The governing body has rarely been shy about using its immense leverage over hosts. In 2014, it threatened to strip Curitiba of matches due to stadium construction delays. In 2018, it persuaded Russia to relax immigration laws for visa-free fan entry. It even intervened to overturn a ban on an investigative journalist named Hajo Seppelt. Fifa loudly proclaimed then that freedom of the press was very important to them. Those historical statements have aged incredibly poorly in light of current geopolitical realities today.

Fifa succeeded previously because past hosts desperately sought international validation and soft power revenue. Every men’s World Cup host since 2010 needed Fifa more than Fifa needed them. The United States is the first host where this traditional power balance is reversed. America does not need the money generated from this massive global sporting event. Despite incredibly high ticket and transport prices, the nation will barely make a profit. Financial reports indicate the economic benefit will be less than one percent of GDP.

However, the governing body of football definitely needs American money to survive and grow. Unlocking the dynamic US sporting economy is Gianni Infantino’s best chance to maintain power. The multi-nation 2030 World Cup is already forecast to generate much higher infrastructure costs. Fifa must make up the shortfall through massive marketing revenue and lucrative broadcast rights.

With the tournament expanded to forty-eight teams, very few countries can host it alone. Fifa now needs America far more than the United States will ever need Fifa. This reality has a direct effect on the indignities the organization accepts silently. Will Infantino raise his voice if immigration raids take place inside the stadiums? What happens if modern activists decide to protest near an official World Cup venue?

In reality, the football governing body has already articulated its true worldview very eloquently. Infantino continues to parrot the phrase that football unites the world like a doll. By doing this, he tacitly expresses that some people are not part of it. We can now add these targets to the jailed dissidents of past tournaments. Senegalese fans, questioning reporters, and a Somali referee are all victims of this environment. Artan was simply trying to embark on the greatest honor of his professional life.

The only meaningful solution is a smaller tournament less beholden to autocratic power structures. A modest World Cup accountable to the public is the only option ruled out. Instead, the current power imbalance may set a dangerous template for future sporting events. Saudi Arabia 2034 will have noted Fifa’s total spinelessness in face of commercial imperative.

For a generation, Fifa participated in what academics describe as aggressive global event seizure. Big sporting events usually take possession of host cities and rewrite local legal structures. Here, the exact opposite has occurred to the shock of international football fans. The World Cup has completely failed to seize control of the host nation’s infrastructure. Instead, the United States has successfully seized total control of the entire World Cup. They took a cherished global heirloom and turned it a shade of political anger.

Perhaps none of this moves you if you view sport as an escape. In that case, enjoy games split into four quarters and decimated by exhaustion. Enjoy a meaningless group stage, thousands of empty seats, and masked police standing guard. You can watch long shots of Infantino and JD Vance sitting together comfortably.

Infantino is merely a symptom of the deeper disease currently infecting global sports governance. There is supreme irony given his self-image as a messianic pan-global statesman today. This summer will firmly cement his legacy as one of sport’s greatest cowards. He is a weak man who completely lost control of his own tournament. He quivered in the face of conviction and gave the powerful force away.

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