FIFA 2026: FIFA violates its own Statutes

A very political FIFA and an unsportsmanlike United States of America. Welcome to FIFA 2026. The most glaring story which was hardly covered in the international press was the fact that these grand sporting events, such as UEFA, such as the Olympics, such as FIFA, are a wonderful opportunity to show that Sport has the unique power, alongside religion and culture, to bring people together. Sport is not about winning or losing, or how a team won or lost, it is about competing honestly, following the rules of the game, giving your best performance and accepting the result, accepting that there is an element of luck as well as skill and there is an element of tactical know-how to make the difference at the highest level in a game. It is about taking part in what is, after all, a game and a game is supposed to be fun. It is a pretext for togetherness, devoid of creed or politics or flags and the embrace at the end of the game, congratulating your victorious, or losing, opponent, is what it is all about. At my level, a few beers afterwards, together.