Category: International Sports
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FIFA Folded in Three Days. The Fight Over World Cup Money Is Just Beginning
The boycott threat killed Gianni Infantino’s private-investment plan. FIFA’s apology and crisis meeting showed why the president—and the system behind him—survived.
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FIFA Wants to Sell a Stake in the Business Behind the World Cup. Here’s What That Means
A proposed US$4.2 billion investment would give outside shareholders a long-term claim on FIFA’s commercial operations while promising far larger payments to its 211 member associations.
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Iran Played the World Cup in the Country That Bombed It
Iran qualified in March 2025. The US killed its supreme leader in February. FIFA sent the team to Inglewood anyway, and it played under escort.
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Canada’s Historic Point Against Bosnia Was No Breakthrough
Canada earned its first men’s World Cup point, but the 1-1 draw with Bosnia exposed weak finishing and a starting attack that failed.
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Canada Losing Would Break the World Cup Montage
Canada Soccer wants World Cup glow without responsibility for the border-policed, hyper-commercial spectacle it helped legitimize.
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Pep Guardiola Palestine Critics Crossed the Line
Pep Guardiola defended Palestinians in Gaza. The backlash exposed football’s selective neutrality, where approved politics are welcomed and Palestine is policed.
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RIZIN Fighting Federation Kept MMA Weird and Human
RIZIN Fighting Federation survived ten years by preserving the strange, theatrical, collaborative MMA spirit the UFC could never fully absorb.
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Iraq Qualifies for the World Cup for the First Time in Forty Years
Iraq qualified for the 2026 World Cup with a 2-1 win over Bolivia — forty years after their last appearance, through war, closed airspace, and a system designed to keep them out.
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Iran Women’s Soccer Team and the War Behind the Story
Iran women’s soccer team members were stranded in Australia mid-tournament when the US-Israeli war on Iran made returning home impossible.
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When “Just Baseball” Isn’t Just Baseball
Team Israel’s 2026 World Baseball Classic roster exposes how baseball celebrates national identity while Palestinian athletes killed in Gaza disappear from the story.
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How the IOC Made the 2026 Olympics More Political
The IOC’s Russia ban didn’t depoliticize the Olympics. It shifted political tension onto U.S. athletes, turning honesty into controversy on the global stage.
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