FIFA has come under scrutiny for the newly expanded Club World Cup for several reasons. It’s not just the cash grab of the tournament and competitive quality, but also how the world soccer governing body has approached playing in the United States.
After FIFA President Gianni Infantino cozied up to Donald Trump in the Oval Office, FIFA’s consistent anti-racism and anti-discrimination messages at international tournaments were conspicuous by their absence. After FIFA received backlash, it was displayed for one day to commemorate the “International Day for Countering Hate Speech.”
The decision to quietly shelve the messaging is reminiscent of the NFL choosing not to put an “End Racism” message in the endzone of the Super Bowl after multiple years of doing so.
The fact that both sports leagues have chosen to forego taking principled stands in the second Trump era has seen many commentators connect the dots to the Trump administration’s crackdown on both DEI (diversity, equity, and inclusion) policies and immigration.
One of those commentators is former ESPN personality Jemele Hill. As part of her Spolitics focus on the crossover between sports and politics, Hill had pointed words for FIFA and Infantino in particular. She played a cut of his infamous speech proclaiming that he was Arab, African, gay, and disabled in an attempt to preach unity and inclusion. She compared it to ICE hovering over the Club World Cup in the United States.
“Considering that Trump and his administration have gone all-in on anything not white, male, heterosexual, or Christian under attack, perhaps Infantino decided that just for the Club World Cup, let’s just let racism feel a little more at home. Since there is clearly widespread support for it in this presidential administration,” Hill said.
Hill noted that sports organizations have tended to support social justice causes when it has been politically and culturally convenient for them to do so, but back down when it comes to more than optics.
“I’ve long let go of any hope that leagues, teams, and other sports organizations actually care about making any real impact when it comes to social justice. They care about looking racist. They don’t care about being racist. They care about performance and optics. Meanwhile the players that power their leagues are impacted by the social issues that they readily abandon when it’s time to take a real stand. Surely Infantino isn’t oblivious to the fact that the Club World Cup is happening just as ICE is cosplaying as modern day slave catchers across this country,” Hill added.”
Despite the controversy, Jemele Hill doesn’t think calls to boycott next year’s World Cup in North America will have a significant impact, given the importance of sports in society, especially among those in power.
“Some have suggested that FIFA should withdraw next year’s World Cup from the United States. But considering the World Cup has been in Qatar and Russia, I’m going to go out on a limb and say moral compass of a country isn’t a high priority for them. Others have encouraged people to boycott the World Cup and the Club World Cup but I can’t say I anticipate there will be any major needle moving in that direction because people love their sports. Which is the reason countries who are shaky when it comes to human rights and dictatorships love to use sports as a shield to cover up the ugliness they don’t want the world to see. I’m Jemele Hill and I approved this message” she concluded.