Welcome to Sports Politika, a media venture founded by investigative journalist and researcher Karim Zidan that strives to help you understand how sports and politics shape the world around us. My mission is to offer an independent platform for accessible journalism that raises awareness and empowers understanding.

If you share this vision, please consider supporting my work by joining becoming a paid subscriber. We are currently offering 60% off annual subscriptions to celebrate Sports Politika’s third anniversary. Don’t miss out!

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In 2018, as Saudi Arabia prepared to invest billions in the world of sports, it embarked on a charm offensive in the United States.

Enlisting the services of Churchill Ripley Group—an international consultancy that touts “unique access to Hollywood, Silicon Valley, and the Middle East”—Saudi officials, including Princess Reema bint Bandar Al Saud and Prince Abdulaziz bin Turki Al Saud, lobbied companies and senior executives to help advance the development of the kingdom’s rapidly expanding sports and entertainment sector.

According to the foreign registration documents, the Saudi officials went on to have conversations with the likes of the late Kobe Bryant regarding the “development of basketball in Saudi Arabia”; Sophie Goldschmidt, the former CEO of World Surf League, regarding the “development of the sport of surfing in Saudi Arabia”; the CEO of Thinkwell regarding the “development of a sports mall in Saudi Arabia”; Bing and Twitch about advancing esports in the kingdom; the NHL commissioner on developing floor hockey in Saudi; Madison Square Garden regarding the development of “stadium infrastructure”; and many more.

Given Saudi Arabia’s historical opposition to Western-influenced sports and entertainment, these developments signalled a notable shift in the ultra-conservative Islamic nation’s policies. Within a few short years, the kingdom would position itself as a global sports hub, hosting major events once thought unimaginable in the Gulf state. Saudi now owns a prominent English football club, its own golf league, and has lured some of the world’s biggest football stars, such as Cristiano Ronaldo, to its revamped domestic league. The kingdom also hosts the world’s richest horse race, a Formula 1 race, regular UFC events, marquee boxing showdowns, and will play host to the 2034 edition of the FIFA World Cup.

And though there was a time when Saudi’s ascension seemed inevitable, the US-Israel war on Iran, and the subsequent fallout in the Middle East, has jeopardized its ambitions and raised doubt about the kingdom’s future investments across sports.

It started in early March, when the Saudi Arabian Grand Prix in Jeddah was cancelled due to safety concerns amid incoming drone strikes from Iran. Similar cancelations took place in the neighbouring Gulf states of Qatar and Bahrain. AFC Champions League matches were also postponed due to wartime disruptions. Several other sports soon followed, suggesting that the cancellations may also have been driven by a strategic—and potentially desperate—scaling back of investments.

In late March, Bounces reported that the Women’s Tennis Association (WTA) is looking for a new host for its marquee year-end championship, the WTA Finals, following a three-year stint in the Saudi capital of Riyadh. Two weeks later, The Financial Times reported that Saudi Arabia’s Public Investment Fund—the sovereign wealth fund chaired by Crown prince Mohammed bin Salman and valued at nearly $1 trillion—was on the verge of cutting its support for LIV Golf. Despite the rumours of its imminent collapse, the golf league hosted an event in Mexico City, with officials later stating that the league is “full steam ahead” moving forward.

There have been other signs of change. Last year, the kingdom abandoned a 12-year deal with the International Olympic Committee (IOC) to host video gaming Esports Olympics in Riyadh. The kingdom also announced that the 2029 Asian Winter Games had also been postponed indefinitely in January 2026.

The US-Israeli war on Iran has forced a sharp reassessment of priorities across the region. Governments are increasingly reconsidering how and where resources are allocated, with security concerns rising to the forefront. Investments in air defence and military readiness now appear far more urgent than funding high-profile sporting ventures. This became even more apparent when the PIF announced its new five-year investment strategy on April 15, 2026.

“The 2026-2030 strategy marks a natural evolution as PIF moves from a period of rapid growth and acceleration to a new phase of sustained value creation,” read the press release, which added that the PIF will reprioritize its spending and narrow its focus to six “ecosystems,” one of which is “Tourism, Travel & Entertainment.“ `Sports was not one of the six areas listed in the PIF press release, even though it was combined with entertainment and leisure as one the 13 strategic sectors in the PIF 2021-2025 program.

Yasir al-Rumayyan, the governor of the PIF, noted that privatization will be a core component of the wealth fund’s strategy moving forward. “The 2026-2030 strategy is a natural next step in PIF’s growth journey. It offers our partners more opportunities to invest in high-quality assets and ecosystems, alongside PIF,” al-Rumayyan said in the April 15 press release. The next day, the PIF announced it had sold a 70% stake in Saudi Pro League side Al Hilal to Kingdom Holding Company, the firm run by billionaire businessman and member of the Saudi royal family Prince Alwaleed Bin Talal. Al Hilal was one of the four Saudi clubs that the kingdom had bought controlling interests less than three years ago.

While the PIF initially anticipated that there would be more foreign direct investment taking place in the kingdom by now, the vast majority of its privatization strategy is now targeting local investors and wealthy royal family members. During the Sports Investment Forum in riyadh this week, the Saudi Ministry of Investment revealed that it is developing and offering diverse investment opportunities, including projects related to sports infrastructure and preparations for hosting the 2034 FIFA World Cup, and has invited the local private sector to submit proposals.

Basim Ibrahim, the Sport Sector Investment Development Director at the Saudi Ministry of Investment, claimed in an interview with Saudi state-funded Al Arabiya that the kingdom was still committed to hosting major sports event but that “we need all the partners in the sports sector to join us in this journey.”

And yet, it appears that the Saudi sports gold rush may finally be drying up. Most recently, Saudi ditched plans to host the 2035 Rugby World Cup, while uncertainty hangs over its wider ambitions in combat sports, gaming, and motorsport. What once looked like an unstoppable expansion is now a reminder that Western sports organizations, in their reckless pursuit of profit, staked their futures on a partner that never had to prove it could sustain the weight of what it was being asked to build.

Sports Politika is a media platform dedicated to the intersection of sports, power and politics. If you like what you see, upgrade to a paid subscription ( or gift a subscription if you already have your own). We would appreciate if you could also like the post and let us know what you think in the comment section below.

Welcome to Sports Politika, a media venture founded by investigative journalist and researcher Karim Zidan that strives to help you understand how sports and politics shape the world around us. My mission is to offer an independent platform for accessible journalism that raises awareness and empowers understanding.

If you share this vision, please consider supporting my work by joining becoming a paid subscriber. We are currently offering 60% off annual subscriptions to celebrate Sports Politika’s third anniversary. Don’t miss out!

Get 60% off forever

After opening the week by threatening annihilation — warning that “a whole civilization will die tonight” in Iran if the country’s regime does not surrender to the U.S. — Donald Trump ended it in familiar territory: cageside at a UFC fight.

The U.S. president attended UFC 327 in Miami on Saturday evening with secretary of state Marco Rubio, US ambassador to India Sergio Gor, and several members of his family. It was Trump’s first appearance at a major sporting event since launching a war alongside Israel against Iran last month.

And yet, as Trump took in the fights at the Kaseya Center, his vice president JD Vance announced that the U.S. had failed to reach a deal with Iran to bring an end to the war following marathon negotiations in Pakistan. Vance blamed the failure on Iran’s refusal to abandon its nuclear weapons programme, adding that the breakdown in talks was “bad news for Iran much more than it’s bad news for the United States of America.”

While the war decimated Iran’s political leadership and destroyed about a third of the country’s missile arsenal, Americans are also facing the grim reality of Trump’s war in Iran. With rising inflation and soaring gas prices to travel disruptions and market panic due to fear of a prolonged conflict, Americans are blaming Trump for dragging them into an unnecessary war.

In a poll released on April 1 by CNN/SSRS., Trump received his worst approval rating on the economy across both presidencies: 31%. His overall approval rating was 35%. Even the share of Republicans who strongly approve of his job performance has dropped to 43%, from 52% in January. Trump has also faced calls for impeachment from Democrats and some of his longtime supporters over his threat to commit genocide in Iran.

And yet, despite the difficult political circumstances, Trump still found time for his cagefighting constituency at the UFC. On Saturday night, Trump received a warm welcome from fight fans, albeit not as loud as past events. There was also a smattering of boos— a rarity at UFC events, especially in his adopted home state.

Trump has attended a total of four UFC events since being elected president for a second time in November 2024. He attended UFC 309 at Madison Square Garden less than two weeks following his electoral victory. He then appeared at UFC 314 in Miami in April 2025, where he made a pro wrestling-esque entrance to Kid Rock’s “American Bad Ass” while enjoying a standing ovation from the raucous crowd in attendance. It was an elaborate display of propaganda from the UFC, which had mastered the spectacle of the Trump walkout.

At the time, Trump was also facing pressure and low approval ratings due after launching trade wars with several U.S. allies, including neighbouring Canada. Yet when the president was asked to gauge voter support for his controversial policies on Air Force One after the UFC show, he bragged about the “legendary” ovation he received during the fights.

“What did you think of the reaction?” he asked reporters aboard Air Force One on the way back Sunday morning. “It’s a great honor to have that kind of ovation. It says we’re doing a good job. If we weren’t doing a good job, we’d get the opposite.”

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Trump followed up by attending UFC 316 in June 2025, just hours after signing a memo ordering the deployment of 2,000 national guard troops to Los Angeles county after ICE immigration raids sparked mass protests. He nevertheless enjoyed a standing ovation from the fans in attendance, and glowing endorsements from the fighters, one of whom even kneeled before Trump. UFC champion Kayla Harrison embraced him, planted a kiss on his cheek and wrapped her championship belt around his waist.

This pattern is nothing new. For years, Trump has used UFC appearances to bolster his popularity and divert attention from controversies and criminal convictions. In the aftermath of the Jan. 6 insurrection—which led to his second impeachment—he began reconnecting with the UFC as a way to seek political rehabilitation. In July 2021, seven months after leaving office, Trump attended UFC 264 in Las Vegas, where he was greeted by chants of “USA” from an enthusiastic crowd. A similar moment unfolded in 2024, when—just two days after being found guilty on all 34 felony counts of falsifying business records in his New York hush-money trial—he attended UFC 302 and received a hero’s welcome.

This relationship will reach a new, unprecedented stage in June when the UFC hosts its “Freedom250” event on the White House lawn to mark Trump’s 80th birthday. Trump called it the “hottest ticket that I’ve ever seen” with reports of lobbyists, mega donors and members of Congress clamouring to be part of the 5000 VIP seats on the south lawn of the White House. It “feels like people are willing to brawl to secure a seat!” Rob Lockwood, a former top aide to Interior Secretary Doug Burgum, told Axios.

An advertisement for the White House event played in the arena during Saturday’s UFC show. “History is made by revolutionary ideas,” read the tagline at the end of the ad, which was clearly made using AI tool.

There is longstanding precedent for politicians using violent spectacles as potent symbols of their power. In ancient Rome, officials sponsored lavish games to drum up public support and advance their careers while emperors deployed them to distract, pacify and mold the masses in moments of crisis. The Roman satirist Juvenal referred to this panem et circenses—“bread and circuses”—whereby popular approval isn’t sought through good governance but by means of spectacle.

In many ways, the UFC has become Trump’s Colosseum—a spectacle of bloodsport and gratuitous violence that stands as the ultimate culmination of a partnership that was instrumental in Trump’s return to the White House. And even as Trump stands on the edge of ruin, facing a prolonged war and angry Americans at home, the UFC will always make him feel like a champion.

Sports Politika is a media platform dedicated to the intersection of sports, power and politics. If you like what you see, upgrade to a paid subscription ( or gift a subscription if you already have your own). We would appreciate if you could also like the post and let us know what you think in the comment section below.

Welcome to Sports Politika, a media venture founded by investigative journalist and researcher Karim Zidan that strives to help you understand how sports and politics shape the world around us. My mission is to offer an independent platform for accessible journalism that raises awareness and empowers understanding.

If you share this vision, please consider supporting my work by joining becoming a paid subscriber. We are currently offering 60% off annual subscriptions to celebrate Sports Politika’s third anniversary. Don’t miss out!

Get 60% off forever

When I first decided to launch my own media platform three years ago, my life was in a very different place. I had just lost my longtime job as an investigative journalist for Bloody Elbow when VOX Media decided to shutter the site as part of its downsizing efforts. I was burning through my savings trying to stay afloat as a freelancer at a time when sports journalism as a whole was being made redundant. I made the front page of the New York Times with one of my biggest scoops, only to watch in shock as the paper of record shuttered its century-old sports section just two weeks later. It was a difficult, frustrating period with seemingly no end in sight.

Then came Sports Politika.

Upon launch, thousands of you subscribed and I quickly amassed enough paid subscribers to warrant the time and effort I planned to dedicate to the site. I became obsessed, building on years of research and a unique lived experience to establish the biggest platform dedicated solely to the intersection of sports, power and politics. This isn’t hyperbole—it is a fact.

Over the past three years, I have published nearly 400 articles—investigations, longforms, essays, personal reflections, and narrative podcasts—covering more than a dozen sports across five continents. I’ve covered everything from MMA to surfing, hockey to track and field, and chess to tennis, taking readers on a kaleidoscopic journey across strange lands and even stranger politics. I wrote about how the world’s “coolest dictator” wants you to surf in El Salvador, and the incredible tale of the Norwegian footballer who stole The Scream; I covered China’s fighting robots, the Hindu nationalists weaponizing yoga, and how misogynist and alleged sex trafficker Andrew Tate profits off Islam and MMA.

I investigated how Saudi Arabia bought Messi’s silence; the role of Brazilian jiu-jitsu in shaping the UAE’s national identity; how football emerged as a battleground between political aspirations and popular dreams in Morocco, and wrote at length about the football fans who shaped Egypt’s Jan. 25 revolution. I shed light on the outsized role that MMA plays in American politics, writing on topics such as how the UFC helped get Donald Trump elected, the MMA fighter who joined the Jan. 6 Capitol riot, the rise of fascist fight clubs, the cagefighter who now runs ICE, and the propaganda spectacle known as the UFC White House event.

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It goes without saying that none of this reporting would have been possible without the generous support of my loyal subscribers. You’ve helped me establish my own independent space to continue to build on my work and, for that, I am eternally grateful. The newsletter has been cited in major outlets, academic articles, and on podcasts. I have also represented the outlet as major conferences around the world, as well as a guest lecturer at colleges such as the University of Michigan, the University of British Columbia, among others.

The revenue generated from this newsletter has also allowed me to achieve one of my major goals when starting this venture: paying guest writers to tell compelling and important stories that would otherwise never find a home—stories like this look inside the Saudi-backed lobbying effort to reshape boxing; a day in the life of a footballer in Gaza; and this story about how Ultimate Frisbee players are mounting protests against Israel’s participation, bolstered by IDF soldiers on the roster. These stories are only possible with your support.

And yet, 2026 has been an especially difficult year for Sports Politika. The site has lost more than 50 paid subscribers since the start of the year—an unprecedented rate that speaks volumes about the state of the world at the moment. From rising inflation and stagnant wages to economic instability as a result of lopsided tariffs and ongoing wars, times are tough for most people. Several of you who did cancel paid subscriptions included notes about how you had recently been laid off or were struggling to make ends meet. Others complained that I wasn’t publishing enough articles to make it worth the cost. Fair enough; I’ve been focused on completing the manuscript of my debut book and haven’t been publishing more than once a week. For some, that isn’t worth the $5, and that’s fine. Those of you who remained, however, are the reason this site is still alive.

With that being said, I have no plans to shutter Sports Politika. In fact, I intend to double down over the coming months. Expect a new narrative podcast series in May 2026, more guest contributions, wall-to-wall coverage of the 2026 World Cup, investigative reporting, and exclusive content from my new book.

In order to achieve this, I must call on you, my able-and-willing subscribers, to continue supporting this unique platform, especially at a time when sports have become a cornerstone of statecraft and authoritarian ambitions. Unlike other more established outlets, Sports Politika is entirely independent; no government grants, no billionaire backers—just a contingent of concerned sports fans with a couple of dollars to spare.

To sweeten the deal, I am offering a lifetime 60% discount on annual subscriptions, which means that subscribers will gain full access to Sports Politika for a little more than $2/per month. The offer is limited to 20 subscribers so make sure to secure your spot!

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Running Sports Politika has been one of the great joys of my professional career. After years of working for other organizations, it’s been deeply cathartic to build something that’s entirely my own, supported by subscribers who genuinely care about the work.

Here’s to the next three years.

-Karim

Sports Politika is a media platform dedicated to the intersection of sports, power and politics. If you like what you see, upgrade to a paid subscription ( or gift a subscription if you already have your own). We would appreciate if you could also like the post and let us know what you think in the comment section below.

Welcome to Sports Politika, a media venture founded by investigative journalist and researcher Karim Zidan that strives to help you understand how sports and politics shape the world around us. My mission is to offer an independent platform for accessible journalism that raises awareness and empowers understanding.

If you share this vision, please consider supporting my work by joining becoming a paid subscriber.

Subscribe now

A few days ago, I received an email informing me that I had won the J. Anthony Lukas Work-in-Progress Award for my debut book, In the Shadow of the Cage.

The prestigious award, co-administered by Columbia Journalism School and the Nieman Foundation for Journalism at Harvard University, honors the best in American nonfiction book writing. The winners were chosen from 473 entries and selected by three teams of judges from across journalism, publishing, and academia.

Simply getting shortlisted for this award was a major achievement—one that I proudly shared with you all last month. I didn’t, however, expect to win. The competition was stiff and the other nominees were worthy selections authoring important works. I had come to view myself as a perennial runner up; someone recognized among top contenders but who always seems to stumble at the final hurdle. I was nominated for four consecutive MMA Journalist of the Year awards but lost it to the same person each year. Other nominations met similar fates.

Then came the email announcing I had won an award for the book I have poured my heart and soul into for the past year; pure, unrelenting joy. It wasn’t just because the judges—whom I had granted access to the drafts of several completed chapters—had recognized the book’s potential, they had recognized the importance of the work I had spent the past decade of my life shedding light on.

You can read the full announcement here but I wanted to highlight what the judges had to say:

In the Shadow of the Cage will be a vital and stylish work of reportage and memoir about mixed martial arts (MMA) and the Ultimate Fighting Championship (UFC), especially in the age of Trump, whose alliance with UFC has helped mainstream, in Zidan's words, a ”brand of aggressive nationalism and anti-establishment rhetoric that has since bled into broader American politics.” Zidan’s work is an indispensable guide to a sport and culture not well known outside its fanbase, but which has, as his journalism has shown, links to neo-Nazis, Gulf autocrats, gendered propaganda, and much more. With deep sourcing and narrative command, Zidan’s story traces UFC from its outlaw origins—once denounced as ”human cockfighting” by Senator John McCain—to its emergence as a cultural arm of the MAGA movement, with its politics of dominance, spectacle, and grievance. He has a gift for illustrating these sweeping themes with intimate human stories, from a former UFC champion turned QAnon-peddling city councilman to the fighters who cheered Trump even while their own labor rights were gutted. Zidan, an award-winning, Cairo-born journalist, has reported on this beat for over a decade, despite bans, death threats, and the hostility of powerful institutions—demonstrating the same defiant persistence as the fighters he covers. The Lukas Prize will help him complete his ambitious reporting, which spans Russia, the Middle East, and the United States, all the way to the White House.

Writing this book has been one of the most challenging experiences of my professional career. And while I know there will be many more difficult days ahead, today—today is a good day.

Here’s to many more.

Sports Politika is a media platform dedicated to the intersection of sports, power and politics. If you like what you see, upgrade to a paid subscription ( or gift a subscription if you already have your own). We would appreciate if you could also like the post and let us know what you think in the comment section below.

Welcome to Sports Politika, a media venture founded by investigative journalist and researcher Karim Zidan that strives to help you understand how sports and politics shape the world around us. My mission is to offer an independent platform for accessible journalism that raises awareness and empowers understanding.

If you share this vision, please consider supporting my work by becoming a paid subscriber.

Subscribe now

When Donald Trump first announced that the White House would host a UFC event to mark the United States’ 250th anniversary, the US president told supporters it would be a “big deal”. Evidence over the last week suggests that, not for the first time, Trump may be exaggerating a little.

Trump has promised a spectacle unlike anything the UFC has staged before. “They’re going to have eight or nine championship fights – the biggest fights they’ve ever had,” Trump said in December of plans for the White House event. “Every one is a championship fight, and every one is a legendary type of fight.”

The UFC was just as bullish, with CEO Dana White promising “the greatest fight card ever assembled”; a “one-of-one incredible opportunity” to put on the “baddest card of all time”. The hype surrounding the event feels even more obnoxious when you consider that it is being held in honor of a president whose administration has overseen a brutal immigration crackdown during which two US citizens were killed, alienated many of its former allies and engaged in dubious military actions abroad

It appears that the hype is also as unjustified as it is obnoxious. When the UFC finally announced the fight card for the event last week, it fell short of Trump and White’s boasts. Instead of the “eight or nine” title fights promised by Trump, the event will feature exactly two: a lightweight championship fight between Ilia Topuria and Justin Gaethje in the main event, and an interim heavyweight title fight between Alex Pereira and Ciryl Gane. The four remaining primetime fights will feature a handful of fighters who are vocal Trump supporters such as Michael Chandler, who will face Brazilian fighter Mauricio Ruffy, and Bo Nickal, who will challenge Kyle Daukaus.

The lineup, to put it mildly, was not well received. Many fans lamented the missed opportunities to include veteran UFC stars such as Conor McGregor and Jon Jones. Even former UFC champion Ronda Rousey – once fiercely loyal to White and the UFC – admitted that “UFC’s White House card sucks”. But perhaps it was former UFC fighter Tom Lawlor who summed it up best when he tweeted: “LOL THATS IT?”

Lawlor has a point. The UFC White House event – which the organization dubbed “UFC Freedom 250” despite being timed to coincide with Trump’s 80th birthday on 14 June – can hardly be considered one of the best MMA fight cards of all time. That is not to suggest that it doesn’t have the potential to be exciting; it is just that there is very little to distinguish it from any other recent UFC event.

The blame falls squarely on White and the UFC, who fueled Trump’s hyperbole surrounding the event and allowed fans to dream. But the disappointment is also a testament to something more poignant: the UFC has become a victim of its own success.

Since purchasing the UFC in 2016, Ari Emanuel’s Endeavor has approached the UFC less as a traditional sports league and more as a scalable media property. In 2005, the year the UFC signed its first broadcast deal with Spike TV, the UFC staged just 10 events. Each felt consequential – a showcase stacked with recognizable names and fights that captured the imagination. By 2009, when I began watching the sport, that number had doubled to 20 events annually – no longer rare, but still appointment viewing. As the UFC continued to grow exponentially over the following decade, the schedule more than doubled again, ushering in an era of relentless volume. Watching UFC events no longer felt like an occasion, but an obligation.

As one fight fan wisely commented in a social media post complaining about the UFC White House card: “UFC peaked 2007-2016.”

In August 2025, the UFC signed a seven-year deal with Paramount valued at about $7.7bn. The deal moved the UFC’s marquee events away from the pay-per-view model that had sustained the organization since its inception. Instead, Paramount’s direct-to-consumer streaming platform, Paramount+, would air 13 marquee numbered events and 30 Fight Nights for a total of 43 UFC shows in 2026. And though White sold the deal as “incredible for UFC fans and our athletes” in the official press release, the truth is that it seemingly ended the UFC’s desire to assemble blockbuster events, since the promotion is no longer trying to sell individual pay-per-view cards.

The UFC White House card is just one of the 43 events that the organization is obligated to produce in 2026. Instead of exhausting its resources to appease Trump’s whims, the UFC took the sensible – albeit disappointing – decision not to place all its eggs in one basket. The UFC White House card is also expected to cost upwards of $60m, with the organization expecting to recoup at least half that sum through sponsorships. This has likely factored into the UFC’s decision not to add to its hefty bill by including marquee names like Jones or McGregor, the former claiming he was “lowballed” by the UFC when negotiating to be on the White House fight card. White, in turn insisted that the UFC had no intention of featuring the former two-division champion on the show. It is not as though the organization had a shortage of (cheaper) options outside of Jones. “Everybody wants to fight on this card,” White said last year. “Literally everybody.”

The irony, of course, is that the UFC White House card is supposed to be more than just another UFC event. It is the Trump show – a one-of-a-kind spectacle on the South Lawn of the White House, held both to commemorate America’s birthday, and his own. The UFC spent the better part of the last decade laundering Trump as the quintessential fighter. White maintains a close friendship with Trump and has stumped for him across three presidential campaigns. He has also credited himself with convincing Trump to pivot to podcasts during the 2024 campaign, a decision that helped the president win over undecided young male voters.

As I wrote in an article in the Guardian nearly six years ago, the UFC is the sports arm of Trump’s Maga regime. It helped put Trump back in the White House and remains a platform for his loyal base of supporters. The UFC White House event is the culmination of that union: a night of authoritarian theatre for a president whose second-term politics – from terrorizing immigrants to dropping bombs across three continents – boils down to a single governing principle: might is right.

It’s just too bad the fights themselves won’t be worth the price of admission.

First published in The Guardian.

Sports Politika is a media platform focusing on intersection of sports, power and politics. Support independent journalism by upgrading to a paid subscription ( or gift a subscription if you already have your own). We would appreciate if you could also like the post and let us know what you think in the comment section below.

Welcome to Sports Politika, a media venture founded by investigative journalist and researcher Karim Zidan that strives to help you understand how sports and politics shape the world around us. My mission is to offer an independent platform for accessible journalism that raises awareness and empowers understanding.

If you share this vision, please consider supporting my work by becoming a paid subscriber.

Subscribe now

In the months since I announced I was writing a book about mixed martial arts and strongman politics, U.S. President Donald Trump has gone out of his way to prove my premise.

It began shortly after I signed my deal with Simon & Schuster: Trump announced plans for the UFC to host an event at the White House to commemorate America’s 250th anniversary, as well as his 80th birthday. “Trump’s UFC stunt is more than a circus. It’s authoritarian theatre,” I wrote in a piece for The Guardian at the time.

Then came the announcement this week that Trump had tapped Oklahoma Senator Markwayne Mullin, a former pro MMA fighter, to replace Kristi Noem as Secretary of Homeland Security. In a post on Truth Social, Trump praised Mullin’s both his political and his fighting acumen.

“A MAGA Warrior, and former undefeated professional MMA fighter, Markwayne truly gets along well with people, and knows the Wisdom and Courage required to Advance our America First Agenda,” Trump wrote.

A member of the Cherokee Nation, Mullin ran several family companies and hosted a home improvement radio program that was syndicated across Oklahoma before pivoting to politics. He was elected to the U.S. House of Representatives in 2012, where he represented eastern Oklahoma for a decade as a Republican before becoming a junior senator in 2022.

Mullin also wrestled in college and is officially 3–0 in MMA, though he has claimed a 5–0 record. He was inducted into the Oklahoma Wrestling Hall of Fame in 2016. The following year, while serving as a congressman, Mullin proposed legislation that would force the UFC to share financial information with fighters and create an independent ranking system that would offer fighters greater leverage when negotiating with the organization. The UFC fiercely opposed the bill, called the Muhammad Ali Expansion Act, and reportedly spent upwards of $100,000 lobbying against it. “I wish the UFC would use that money to pay their fighters instead of lobbying against them,” Mullin said at the time.

Despite enjoying bipartisan support, the bill ultimately failed to pass. However, even if the bill did make it through the Democrat-controlled House of Representative and a Republican-led Senate at the time, the prevailing view was that the bill would likely get vetoed by Trump as a favour to the UFC and his personal friend Dana White. Mullin promised to reintroduce the legislation in the Senate in 2023, during Joe Biden’s presidency, but never moved forward with the plan.

Despite his failure to pass the reform, Mullin never quite distanced himself from his reputation as a fighter. He was known for his intense “MMA-style workouts” in Congress and was one of two congressmen who confronted rioters during the Jan. 6 insurrection and assisted officers with barricading the doors to the House floor. He also witnessed a U.S. Capitol police officer shoot the infamous pro-Trump rioter Ashli Babbit as she tried to breach the Capitol through a window. He later defended the officer who killed Babbit, arguing that “there was a lot of members and staff that were in danger at the time” and that the officer’s actions “saved people’s lives.”

During a 2023 Senate hearing, Mullin challenged a witness, Teamsters boss Sean O’Brien, to a fight. After some back-and-forth comments about their past social media exchanges, Mullin told O’Brien, “If you want to run your mouth ... we can finish it here.”

O’Brien: “OK, that’s fine, perfect.”

Mullin: “You want to do it now?”

O’Brien: “I’d love to do it now.”

Mullin: “Well stand your butt up, then.”

O’Brien: “You stand your butt up, big guy,”

Mullin stood up and appeared ready to remove his wedding ring to throw a punch only to be restrained by Sen. Bernie Sanders.

“Sit down, you’re a United States senator,” Sanders told him. “This is a hearing and God knows the American people have enough contempt for Congress.”

After later challenging O’Brien to a charity MMA fight that never took place, Mullin and the Teamster boss appear to have squashed their beef. In a statement to the New York Times following Mullin’s nomination, O’Brien said in reference to their tense Senate interaction: “If anyone is willing to stand their butt up to protect America, it’s Markwayne Mullin.”

Mullin isn’t guaranteed to become the next DHS secretary. He still needs to go through a Senate confirmation hearing, though he is unlikely to face many obstacles with a Republican majority. If he succeeds, Mullin’s rise—from former MMA fighter to one of the country’s most powerful politicians, overseeing border control, counterterrorism, and immigration enforcement—would would say a great deal about the kind of figures who flourish in Trump’s America.

Mullin is currently the only sitting senator without a college Bachelor’s degree and has almost no experience in the department he is expected to lead. And yet, he says he and Trump “have a really good relationship” and “talk all the time.” He is also a full-throated supporter of Trump’s policies, including his embattled immigration policies. He would regularly defend the president on cable news, which earned him the “MAGA warrior” title from Trump.

When Trump announced the UFC White House show, Mullin appeared on cable TV to discuss the genius behind the event, despite once opposing the UFC’s exploitative labour practices.

“The American people love it,” Mullin told FOX Across America. “This is what they like about him, right? He’s just one of them, but yet he’s president of the United States.”

It’s a reminder that, in Trump’s America, it helps to know when to throw a punch…and when to kiss the ring.

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Sports Politika is a media platform focusing on intersection of sports, power and politics. Support independent journalism by upgrading to a paid subscription ( or gift a subscription if you already have your own). We would appreciate if you could also like the post and let us know what you think in the comment section below.

Welcome to Sports Politika, a media venture founded by investigative journalist and researcher Karim Zidan that strives to help you understand how sports and politics shape the world around us. My mission is to offer an independent platform for accessible journalism that raises awareness and empowers understanding.

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When FIFA president Gianni Infantino handed U.S. President Donald Trump the organization’s inaugural — and conspicuously improvised — “FIFA Peace Prize” during the official World Cup draw in December 2025, he justified the honour as recognition of Trump’s “unwavering commitment to advancing peace and unity throughout the world.”

It was an absurd scene: a global sports body anointing a sitting president as a harbinger of peace, beneath the bright lights of a tournament built on spectacle. FIFA offered no details about the selection process or its exact criteria. Instead, Infantino made vague statements about hope, unity, and the future.

“You definitely deserve the first FIFA Peace Prize for your action, for what you have obtained in your way, but you have obtained it in an incredible way,” infantino said. “You can always count, Mr President, on my support, on the support of the entire football community – or “soccer” community – to help you make peace and make the world prosper all over the world.”

In the two months since Infantino’s declaration, the US has launched airstrikes on Venezuela and captured the country’s president, Nicolas Maduro. Trump also threatened to invade Greenland, saying the US is “going to do something [there] whether they like it or not”. Then, on Saturday Feb. 28, the US and Israel launched airstrikes on Iran, hitting more than 500 targets in the “largest military air raid in the history of the Israeli Air Force.”

Iranian Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei was among Israel’s targets. The radical cleric was reportedly killed in an Israeli strike on his Tehran compound, along with several members of his family. The Iranian Red Crescent also reported that at least 201 people were killed and 747 wounded in Saturday’s strikes. This includes U.S. strikes on two elementary girls’ schools, killing more than 80 people. Iran has since retaliated with airstrikes of its own targeting Israeli cities and several neighbouring countries where US forces are stationed, including Bahrain, Kuwait, the United Arab Emirates, and Qatar.

In the wake of the strikes, FIFA said it will “monitor developments” in Iran, which is among the 48 teams that have qualified for the 2026 World Cup. Iran is assigned to play in Group C along with Belgium, Egypt and New Zealand. Seattle will host Iran vs. Egypt while Iran’s other two group stage games will be played in Los Angeles.

“We will continue to communicate as we always do with three [host] governments as we always do in any case,” said FIFA secretary general Mattias Grafstrom. Everybody will be safe.”

Despite the fact that Trump has now launched military operations in three continents since the start of his second term in office, the US President has long claimed to be the anti-war president. He campaigned on his “record of no new wars” and promised to end America’s interventionist foreign policy. On Trump’s re-election night in November 2024, he had told supporters he was “not going to start a war, I’m going to stop wars.”

Over the past few months, Trump has been obsessed with winning the Nobel Peace Prize, lobbying aggressively for the prize after claiming to have stopped multiple conflicts. When Venezuelan opposition leader, María Corina Machado was awarded the prize in 2025, Trump expressed displeasure at the decision. When the US captured Maduro and charged him in a drug trafficking case, Machado gifted her Nobel Peace Prize medal to Trump.

Aware that Trump had been snubbed of his peace prize legacy, FIFA rushed to create its own prize to appease the president. And when the organization faced criticism for its decision, FIFA defended its actions by pointing to Machado’s choice to bestow Trump with her medal.

Nevertheless, FIFA isn’t the only sports organization that helped sell the image of Trump as the “peace president.” The UFC has spent the better part of the last decade laundering Trump as the quintessential fighter. UFC President Dana White maintains a close friendship with the president and has stumped for him across three presidential campaigns. During his speeches at the Republican National Convention, White reinforced the narrative of Trump as a “fighter,” saying he is the “toughest, most resilient human being I’ve ever met.”

The UFC helped put Trump back in the White House and remains a platform for his loyal base of supporters. Trump frequently attended UFC events, basking in the admiration of the young, predominantly male crowd. He cultivated relationships with fighters, leveraging their support to portray himself as a symbolic strongman. And he is even leveraging the UFC to stage the biggest example of sports propaganda in American history: a UFC event at the White House.

Initially conceived to commemorate the 250th anniversary of the United States in July 2026, the event was reportedly rescheduled to June for logistical reasons. According to Trump, it is now expected to take place on June 14, coinciding with his birthday and fuelling perceptions that the celebration is as much about him personally as it is about American nationalism.

In an article for The Guardian last year, I called the event “authoritarian theatre,” with “shades of fascist Italy under Benito Mussolini, particularly its obsession with masculinity, spectacle and nationalism – but with a modern, American twist.”

From the article: “Since Trump returned to office in January, his presidency has been marked by a purge of federal agencies, crackdowns on dissent and immigration, and hollowing out institutions once designed as guardrails against abuses in presidential power. Loyalty to Trump, rather than the constitution and the American people, has become the primary litmus test for political advancement. Meanwhile, sports have emerged as a central feature of his administration, advancing his policies while projecting a cult of personality and the celebration of violence. All of these are the hallmarks of authoritarianism.”

Trump’s warmongering efforts mark the latest escalation in his creeping authoritarianism. According to Article 1, Section 8 of the U.S. Constitution, only Congress has the power “to declare War, grant Letters of Marque and Reprisal, and make Rules concerning Captures on Land and Water.” This is prevent a president from having the unchecked power to launch wars that do not serve their nation. Nevertheless, Trump launched a regime change campaign in Iran without Congressional approval, and in blatant violation of international law (for whatever that is worth, these days).

Even George W. Bush and his cabinet of war criminals, who justified the 2003 invasion of Iraq by lying about Saddam Hussein possessing weapons of mass destruction, sought congressional authorization before the invasion. Trump, however, doesn’t even care to present the illusion of democratic process.

Speaking of Iraq, history has made one lesson painfully clear: foreign intervention breeds instability far more often than it delivers freedom. Bombs do not bring salvation; they leave behind devastation, scorching the very soil where democracy might have taken root. Yet Trump and his allies in FIFA and the UFC would have you believe that peace is forged through displays of strength.

“America needs a strong leader, and I think the world needs a strong America…I just want to bring common sense back. Want some peace in the world,” White told TIME Magazine ahead of Trump’s reelection. “And I truly believe, friendship aside, that Donald Trump can fix a lot of the issues that are out there right now.”

Sports Politika is a media platform focusing on intersection of sports, power and politics. Support independent journalism by upgrading to a paid subscription ( or gift a subscription if you already have your own). We would appreciate if you could also like the post and let us know what you think in the comment section below.

Welcome to Sports Politika, a media venture founded by investigative journalist and researcher Karim Zidan that strives to help you understand how sports and politics shape the world around us. My mission is to offer an independent platform for accessible journalism that raises awareness and empowers understanding.

If you share this vision, please consider supporting my work by joining becoming a paid subscriber.

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Dear readers,

It has been a while since I last updated you about In The Shadow of the Cage, the book I’ve been working on, and which has consumed nearly all of my time, energy, and no small measure of my soul.

Part memoir, part investigative excavation of the underbelly of MMA, the book tells the story of how political operators have captured mixed martial arts and turned it into a tool to radicalize young people toward a mindset that centers individualism and survival of the fittest while shirking empathy.

The book will expand upon much of my reporting over the past decade—reporting that earned me death threats for exposing how Chechen dictator Ramzan Kadyrov used state-sponsored MMA gyms to train soldiers for combat; reporting that uncovered the rise of an international network of neo-Nazi MMA fight clubs preying on disaffected young men; reporting that revealed the growing influence of Gulf state autocrats within the sport, tracing how MMA has become a powerful tool for political agendas, propaganda, and control.

Now, after eight months of sustained writing, I’m finally approaching the finish line of my 80,000-word manuscript. What will follow is months of editing, rewriting, and then some more editing and rewriting. And though there are moments when it feels as if this process will never truly end, I recently received some exciting news that has given me a renewed surge of motivation: In The Shadow of the Cage has been shortlisted for the prestigious J. Anthony Lukas Work-in-Progress Prize.

The awards are given annually to “aid authors in the completion of significant works of nonfiction on American topics of political or social concern.” The award is presented by Columbia Journalism School and the Nieman Foundation for Journalism at Harvard University.

Here are the shortlisted works:

• Bryce Andrews, Seaworthy (W.W. Norton)

• danah boyd, Data Are Made, Not Found: A Story of Politics, Power, and the Civil Servants Who Saved the U.S. Census (University of Chicago Press)

• Esmé E. Deprez, Inviting Death In: How I Helped My Dad Die, and the Fight to Control How Life Ends (Atria)

• Sarah Esther Maslin, Nothing Stays Buried: Trauma, Truth, and One Town’s Fight for Justice in the Aftermath of a Massacre (Spiegel & Grau)

• Karim Zidan, In the Shadow of the Cage (One Signal)

The winners and finalists will be announced on Tuesday, March 17, while the awards will be presented at a ceremony at Columbia University in May 2026.

You can read the full announcement here. In the meantime, expect more updates about the book over the coming weeks!

-Karim

Sports Politika is a media platform dedicated to the intersection of sports, power and politics. If you like what you see, upgrade to a paid subscription ( or gift a subscription if you already have your own). We would appreciate if you could also like the post and let us know what you think in the comment section below.

Welcome to Sports Politika, a media venture founded by investigative journalist and researcher Karim Zidan that strives to help you understand how sports and politics shape the world around us. My mission is to offer an independent platform for accessible journalism that raises awareness and empowers understanding.

If you share this vision, please consider supporting my work by becoming a paid subscriber. I am currently running a special offer whereby you can secure a subscription at a 40% discounted price…forever.

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As the November fog descends over the industrial town of Zenica in Bosnia-Herzegovina, the floodlights of the Bilino Polje Stadium cut through the mist, illuminating a night burdened by the weight of expectation. Bosnia Herzegovina’s national team coach Sergej Barbarez takes his place in the dugout at a ground where he wore his country’s captain’s armband time and again, knowing his nation now has a momentous sporting achievement that eluded him as a player within its grasp: a place at the 2026 FIFA World Cup.

Few national team coaches can boast as colourful a career as Sergej Barbarez. After spending much of his post-playing career on Europe’s professional poker circuit, in 2024, fourteen years on from completing his coaching badges, he was given his first ever managerial position and the most prestigious in the land: the national team’s top job. Upon being appointed, Barbarez’s stated objective was qualification for Euro 2028, but eighteen months into his reign, Bosnia-Herzegovina may soon be holding a winning hand.

Victories over Romania and Austria this coming week will guarantee their place at the World Cup, for what would be only their second appearance at a major tournament for a country still healing from the 1992-1995 Bosnian War, in which around 100,000 people were killed and over 2 million people were left displaced.

Barbarez is hampered by daunting obstacles, such as the severe lack of investment in the domestic game, which obliges the national team to rely on scouting players from the diaspora. Not a single member of the current 24-man squad plays for a Bosnian club, and as many as seventeen players were born abroad, with twelve having previously represented another country.

Barbarez brought some of his former teammates from the national team into his coaching staff, and they have received praise for their effective recruitment of young, gifted players from the Bosnian diaspora and rebuilt morale in the camp. The squad’s average age is one of the lowest in Europe, but their captain and stalwart is the seemingly evergreen 39-year-old Edin Dzeko, who made his international debut in 2007 before one of the team’s newest talents, Kerim Alajbegovic of Red Bull Salzburg, was even born.

Revered as a national icon in Bosnia-Herzegovina, Barbarez is lauded not only for his footballing achievements but for his leadership and statesmanlike persona. During a highly-charged, decisive World Cup qualifier against Serbia & Montenegro in 2005, with a place at the finals on the line, violence erupted on the terraces and overshadowed the game. Barbarez famously remonstrated with the referee that the game should be abandoned amid the unrelenting crowd trouble. On a night where the national team had a historic triumph within its sights, the spotlight turned to matters away from football.

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Thirty years on from the end of the war, football is symptomatic of the issues modern-day Bosnia-Herzegovina faces. The peace agreement that ended the war created a constitution that foments the divisions between the three ethnicities involved in the conflict – Bosniaks, Serbs and Croats.

The country has three presidents, representing each ethnicity, who rotate every 18 months. The Bosnian FA mimicked this system of three presidents until 2011, when FIFA and UEFA suspended Bosnia-Herzegovina as this arrangement was deemed to be against FIFA’s statute. Barbarez was chosen, alongside other legends of Bosnian football, to be part of the “Normalisation Committee” that FIFA set up. The ban was eventually lifted, with the Bosnian FA vowing to appoint a single president.

But even with a single president, the FA has not been short of problems, and the tenure of the current president, Vico Zeljkovic, has been shrouded in controversy. During the calendar year 2023, the national team had four different head coaches, which was unsurprisingly not conducive to any consistency on the pitch. But it was his decision to arrange a friendly with Russia in 2022, mere months after the invasion of Ukraine and the subsequent banning of Russia from FIFA and UEFA competitions, which incensed the fanbase the most. It was only once veteran players Edin Dzeko and Miralem Pjanic pledged a boycott that the game was called off. Zeljkovic’s uncle is Milorad Dodik, a Kremlin-aligned Bosnian Serb politician who has spent most of his political career undermining state institutions in order to push for the secession of the Serb-dominated part of the country to Serbia. Given that connection, cynics would argue that this meddling of politics into the game should come as no surprise.

Banners and chants calling for the FA to stand down are common at games, and it was recently reported that the leading organized fan group, BH Fanaticos, would be prevented from attending the upcoming qualifier against Romania by the FA. A new fan group, BH Hooligans, has been formed ahead of these games, and though there is little in the way of verified information about this group, it has been claimed the FA had a hand in their establishment. Suggestions the BH Fanaticos were denied tickets to the game against Romania have been dismissed by the FA, amid widespread shows of solidarity for the nation’s largest fan group from players and public figures alike.

The BH Fanaticos have nonetheless announced a boycott of the game as their long-standing feud with the FA shows no signs of abating. On the eve of one of the most significant moments in the nation’s football history, almost all of the media attention in Bosnia-Herzegovina has been focused on non-footballing issues.

As the players step out onto the pitch for these crucial World Cup qualifiers, they will stand to the country’s national anthem that is deprived of lyrics, because it was feared that the sentiments expressed would privilege one ethnic group over another. For a nation still searching for common ground, Barbarez has built a team defined by its togetherness.

As the country prepares to mark thirty years since the end of the war later this month, a place on the grandest stage of all in world football would serve as a rare reminder that unity, however fleeting, is possible in a divided country still bearing the wounds of war.

Sports Politika is a media platform focusing on intersection of sports, power and politics. Support independent journalism by upgrading to a paid subscription ( or gift a subscription if you already have your own). We would appreciate if you could also like the post and let us know what you think in the comment section below.

Welcome to Sports Politika, a media venture founded by investigative journalist and researcher Karim Zidan that strives to help you understand how sports and politics shape the world around us. My mission is to offer an independent platform for accessible journalism that raises awareness and empowers understanding.

If you share this vision, please consider supporting my work by becoming a paid subscriber.

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“Boxing as we know it is over.”

Those were the words of Luke Thomas during a livestream in early December 2025. Thomas, one of combat sports’ most prominent figures, had gone live shortly after attending the House Subcommittee on Workforce Protections hearing on H.R.4624, also known as the Muhammad Ali American Boxing Revival Act (MAABRA).

It’s now almost two months later and the bill has passed the Education and Workforce Committee by 30 votes to 4, moving to the floor, albeit with some amendments. At this point, it looks as though nothing can derail the act from becoming law. The house floor vote is likely to be merely procedural, almost guaranteed to pass.

The primary purpose of the MAABRA is to allow for the creation of Unified Boxing Organizations (UBOs). If passed, boxers will be able to choose to fight under a UBO’s system rather than solely under traditional sanctioning bodies (like WBA, WBC, IBF, WBO). These UBOs can manage their own rankings and championships, similar to how the Ultimate Fighting Championship (UFC) operates.

While the bill is framed by those lobbying for it as expansion, TKO would be uniquely positioned to dominate given its power in the world of combat sports.

UBOs would effectively set their own title systems, contracts, rankings and matchups, TKO could effectively corner the market for elite boxing by virtually bypassing some of the protections afforded to boxers under the original Ali Act. Nonetheless, the Revival Act allows for UBO’s to coexist alongside existing regulatory bodies.

UFC CEO Dana White has been keen to point out that there is nothing in the bill to stop boxers and promoters operating under the rules currently in place. Additionally, the bill has drawn some praise, even from its critics, for certain protection measures it introduces. After amendments made in the Committee stage, a $200 minimum per-round payment to boxers is included in the bill. Additionally, boxers under a UBO contract will be allowed to talk to other UBOs upon entering the final month of their contract. Increased health-insurance coverage for fight related injuries (minimum $50,000) is also included.

Before delving any further, it is worth trying to get our head around the relationship between the various companies and subsidiaries discussed in this article. At the top sits Silver Lake. Below it is Endeavor, which controls TKO Group Holdings, the parent company of the UFC and World Wrestling Entertainment (WWE). Ari Emanuel is a Hollywood super-agent who is now the CEO of both Endeavour and TKO. Finally, Zuffa is historically the UFC’s operating entity whilst Zuffa Boxing is a joint venture between Sela (a company owned by Saudi Arabia’s Public Investment Fund) and TKO. Ultimately, all of these parties stand to benefit more than anyone else from the signing of MAABRA into law.

TKO has conducted a carefully coordinated public campaign, involving the likes of Muhammad Ali’s widow, in support of the reform. However, campaign finance and lobbying disclosures reveal that money, access, and relationships which have been cultivated over many years may be what actually leads to the bill’s eventual passing. Political spending linked to Emanuel, White, Zuffa, and TKO predates MAABRA by a considerable margin, while personal and institutional connections are also likely to help push the act through.

These connections reach all the way to the very top of politics.

The President

Dana White’s relationship with the 45th and 47th President of the United States needs no introduction. As the myth propagated by the UFC goes, White was in dire need of a home for UFC’s events in the early 2000’s, a time when the sport of MMA was recovering from a crusade led by Republican senator John McCain to destroy the organization. White found an ally in businessman Donald Trump, a well-known fight fan who had briefly promoted boxing events headlined by the likes of Mike Tyson in the late 1980’s and early 1990’s. Trump agreed to a trio of events at the Trump Taj Mahal in Atlantic City, New Jersey, including the first two events under the Zuffa banner. White has stayed loyal since, personally donating millions to Trump affiliated PAC’s and Super PAC’s over the years. He even spoke at the Republican National Convention in 2016. In his speech, White said “Donald was the first guy to recognize the potential that we saw in the UFC, and encouraged us to build our business”.

Though it is Trump’s relationship with White that receives the most publicity, what often gets overlooked in the UFC-Trump relationship is the fact that it is Endeavour CEO Ari Emmanuel who is the main player behind the scenes. Long before Trump entered the White House, Emanuel had a direct line to him, even serving as his agent during The Apprentice years. When Trump was sworn in as President in 2017, Emanuel was among the first figures to visit him, and at one point was reportedly being vetted for a formal role within the White House.

Whilst it may be true that Emnauel is much more of a Democratic than a Republican, he has been careful to keep the President onside. It’s no coincidence that the fusion of the UFC with Trumpism accelerated in 2016, the same year Endeavor acquired the UFC and began reshaping its ethos. Unlike White, Emanuel has the ability to operate as a genuine bipartisan power broker. His Hollywood and familial connections have allowed him to navigate politics in a way few sports executives can match.

Though White and Emanuel’s loyalty now means they have a friend in the White House, the President isn’t the only politician TKO will need if they are to be successful in their quest to amend the Ali Act. They will also need someone to champion the bill in Congress and that is where Representative Brian Jack, a Republican representing Georgia’s 3rd Congressional District, comes into play.

The Sponsor

Though only first elected to congress in 2024, Brian Jack is no stranger to big-time politics. He has been a staunch ally of Trump from early on, first working for Trump during his 2016 presidential campaign. Once Trump was elected, Jack went on to serve in numerous White House roles during his first term, including White House political director. It is during his time working at the White House where Jack has been said to have bonded with Trump “over their shared interest in boxing and MMA fighting”, according to a piece published by the Georgia Trend Magazine, who interviewed the then Congressman-Elect in December of 2024.

Jack later rejoined the Trump campaign team, this time ahead of the 2024 election, serving as a senior advisor. He is clearly highly rated by the current President, as evidenced by the fact that the pair made a deal that Jack would stay on working for the Trump campaign, forgoing his own campaign for Congress, until Trump secured the Republican nomination. This is despite the fact that, according to The Hill, who interviewed Jack last January, he first told Trump of his intention to run for office in December 2023.

It appears TKO identified Jack as a potential legislative vehicle early on. In the aforementioned Georgia Trend Magazine piece, it is noted that Jack had met with UFC CEO White at Mar-A-Lago months before MAABRA was ever introduced in Congress. In fact, it is likely this meeting took place before he even took congressional office. Trump himself was also present at the meeting, reportedly referring to Jack as “the go-to guy for any fighting-related legislation”.

However, Jack’s backing alone will not be enough to get the bill through the House of Representatives. To pass, White and his allies will need to secure the support of at least 217 members. With the Republican majority now razor-thin - and House margins generally tighter than they have been in years - Democratic support is not just likely to be necessary, it is also highly desirable as a means of legitimizing the bill. Indeed, the bill having bipartisan support has been a key part of TKO’s sales pitch so far. As of January 22 2026, the bill has attracted thirteen co-sponsors: eight Democrats and five Republicans.

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Bipartisan Co-Sponsors

When Brian Jack first introduced H.R.4624 on July 23, 2025, there was one original co-sponsor attached.

Enter Sharice Davids, a Democrat from Kansas who also happens to be a former MMA fighter with a 1-1 record. Davids has championed the bill whilst leaning into her former career saying she “knows firsthand the physical and financial risks that come with stepping into the ring,” and that she is “proud to work across the aisle to help strengthen the future of American boxing and ensure athletes are treated fairly and safely.” Endeavor Action (now known as Endeavor PAC) has contributed over $14,000 to Sharice for Congress, a designated principal campaign committee whose authorizing candidate is Davids, since 2018. Both Ari Emanuel and Dana White have also personally contributed to Davids’campaign, each more than once, with the most recent donation from Emanuel being $2,800 in December of 2019.

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Welcome to Sports Politika, a media venture founded by investigative journalist and researcher Karim Zidan that strives to help you understand how sports and politics shape the world around us. My mission is to offer an independent platform for accessible journalism that raises awareness and empowers understanding.

If you share this vision, please consider supporting my work by becoming a paid subscriber.

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“Stay away from the USA!”

This was the specific phrase uttered by Mark Pieth, a Swiss attorney and corruption expert who chaired the Independent Governance Committee which oversaw FIFA’s reform between 2011 and 2013, during a recent interview about the 2026 World Cup.

“What we are seeing domestically—the marginalization of political opponents, abuses by immigration services—doesn’t exactly encourage fans to go there,” Pieth continued in his interview with Swiss newspaper Der Bund. “You’ll see it better on TV anyway. And upon arrival, fans should expect that if they don’t please the officials, they’ll be put straight on the next flight home. If they’re lucky.”

Pieth is right. Since taking office in January 2025, U.S. President Donald Trump and his revamped administration have pursued a dramatic reorientation of both domestic and foreign policy. This shift has included misguided tariff policies and sweeping visa bans, imperialist ambitions toward Canada, Greenland, and Venezuela, and a violent crackdown on immigrants that has resulted in the killing of two Americans by federal agents.

As the U.S. prepares to co-host the 2026 World Cup alongside Canada and Mexico this summer, calls for a boycott of the world’s biggest sporting event have gained traction among prominent figures in international football. Former FIFA President Sepp Blatter backed Pieth’s comment on X, adding “I think Mark Pieth is right to question this World Cup.”

Blatter stepped down as FIFA president in 2015 amid several scandals and was replaced by current boss Gianni Infantino. He was acquitted last year on charges stemming from a delayed payment of two million Swiss francs ($2.5 million) FIFA made to French football legend Michel Platini in 2011 for consultancy services.

European lawmakers have also backed calls for a boycott. German Member of Parliament Jürgen Hardt told tabloid Bild that Germany’s national football team might consider skipping the tournament “as a last resort” to bring Trump “to his senses.” Another German MP echoed Hardt, adding that he has a “hard time imagining that European countries would take part in the World Cup.”

Oke Göttlich, a vice president of the German soccer federation, said in an interview last week that it was time to “seriously consider and discuss” a boycott similar to the Olympic boycotts during the Cold War.

“What were the justifications for the boycotts of the Olympic Games in the 1980s?” Göttlich said. “By my reckoning, the potential threat is greater now than it was then. We need to have this discussion.”

Göttlich’s intentions may be well meaning, but his underlying premise is fundamentally flawed. While Europe is fully within its rights to threaten a boycott of the United States, likening such a move to the Cold War–era Olympic boycotts—among the least effective in the history of international sport—ultimately undermines the argument.

On March 21, 1980, U.S. President Jimmy Carter announced the US would boycott the 1980 Summer Games in Moscow to protest against the Soviet invasion of Afghanistan. This marked the first of numerous times that the two superpowers would use boycotts as part of their political arsenal.

“Neither I nor the American people would support the sending of an American team to Moscow with Soviet invasion troops in Afghanistan,” Carter said on Meet the Press.

Despite Carter’s claim, both the domestic and international response to the boycott varied greatly. The closest US allies that ultimately joined the boycott were Canada, West Germany, and Israel. Great Britain and Australia also supported the boycott, although both sent athletes to the Games.

In an attempt to bolster support for the boycott in Africa, Carter called upon boxing legend Mohammad Ali to take part in a goodwill tour through the continent to persuade African governments, including those in Tanzania, Nigeria, and Senegal, to join. But the trip fell apart when Ali himself was persuaded to withdraw his support for the boycott during his meetings.

Within the US, public support for the boycott was mixed. The American political elite were united in their support of the boycott, while many Americans sympathized with the athletes who were forced to give up on their dreams of participating in the Olympics.

Furthermore, despite its size, the boycott had no impact on the war, as the Soviet Union remained in Afghanistan until 1989. Since then, the US has not attempted to boycott the Games. Carter went on to lose in the 1980 presidential election in a landslide to Ronald Reagan.

Meanwhile, the Soviet Union slowly began planning its retaliation for Carter’s boycott. On May 8, 1984, the USSR announced its intentions to boycott the 1984 Summer Olympics in Los Angeles, citing “security concerns” and “anti-Soviet hysteria being whipped up in the United States.” Thirteen other Eastern Bloc satellite states and allies joined the boycott,

Despite Soviet officials claiming the boycott was due to security concerns and other similar issues, the boycott was viewed as a retaliatory measure following the US-led boycott in 1980. Nevertheless, 140 nations were still part of the games — a record at the time — while the USSR and its allies hosted the Friendship Games, an alternative to the Olympics.

There have been other boycotts across Olympic history. Taiwan staged the first official Olympic boycott when it withdrew from the 1952 Helsinki Games due to China’s participation for the first time under communist rule. China would go on to boycott the Games until 1980 in protest of Taiwan’s inclusion. During 1984 Los Angeles Games, the IOC made Taiwan compete as compete as Chinese Taipei and under the Olympic flag. This has not changed despite Taiwan being an independent nation.

During the Cold War, Egypt and its allies Iraq and Lebanon boycott the 1956 Olympic Games in Melbourne in protest over the country’s invasion by Britain, France and Israel during the Suez Canal crisis. Nothing changed.

In 1976, 29 African and Arab countries—including Algeria, Cameroon, Chad, Congo, Egypt, Ethiopia, Gabon, Gambia, Ghana, Guyana, Iraq, Kenya, Libya, and Zambia—boycott the 1976 Summer Games in Montreal in protest against the inclusion of New Zealand, which maintained sporting ties with apartheid South Africa.

In 1988, North Korea boycotted the Summer Olympics in Seoul, South Korea in anger over not being invited to co-host the event. It was the last full boycott of an Olympic event.

While there were calls to shun the 2008 Summer Games in Beijing and the 2014 Winter Games in Sochi due to human rights abuses in China and Russia respectively, no such boycotts ever materialized. However, this did not stop countries from finding other ways to snub their political rivals.

In 2022, the U.S. announced a diplomatic boycott of the Beijing Winter Games, citing “genocide and crimes against humanity” in Xinjiang, a northwestern region of China. The boycott did not affect athletes but precluded government officials from attending the event. Australia, Britain and Canada followed suit thereafter.

It is worth noting that there was no boycott of the 1936 Games in Berlin, Germany, which was then under the control of Adolf Hitler’s Nazi Party. Some U.S. politicians advocated skipping the Games in protest but the Olympic bodies lobbied against it. At the time, the U.S. Olympic Committee President Avery Brundage called the attempted boycott a “Jewish-Communist conspiracy.”

Meanwhile, the World Cup has faced even fewer boycotts than the Olympic Games. In 1966, all African nations boycotted the World Cup in England because FIFA offered Africa, Asia, and Oceania only one shared qualification spot. FIFA later guaranteed Africa its own automatic slot, which helped open the door for teams like Cameroon, Nigeria, and Ghana in later years.

There have since been calls to boycott the 2022 World Cup in Qatar due to the country’s migrant worker exploitation but that never materialized.

In truth, the vast majority of mega-event boycotts fail to achieve their intended effect. Although they are typically framed as tools to pressure governments into changing policy—by raising global awareness and stripping host nations of legitimacy and prestige—they rarely succeed on those terms. Visibility alone does not translate into leverage. Unless a boycott is paired with sustained economic sanctions, diplomatic isolation, or meaningful institutional exclusion, it remains largely symbolic. By the time a World Cup or Olympic Games arrives, host governments have already absorbed the bulk of the financial and political costs, locked in sponsorships, and secured broadcast deals, leaving them with little incentive to concede under external pressure.

In some cases, the strategy backfires entirely. Rather than delegitimizing the host, international shaming can be repurposed into a narrative of national grievance, reinforcing domestic support and hardening political resolve. This dynamic is particularly pronounced in the United States under Donald Trump, where the administration has openly embraced spectacle and confrontation as instruments of power. Far from being vulnerable to reputational damage, Trump has leveraged America’s hegemonic status to centralize control and project defiance, using external criticism not as a constraint but as proof of dominance.

Interestingly, the most significant pushback to Trump’s policies has come from fellow World Cup co-host Canada. Last week, prime minister Mark Carney made global headlines for a speech in Davos blaming unconstrained super powers for the rupture of the post-WWII world order. Though Carney did not reference Trump by name, the U.S. President responded in his own Davos speech the following day by saying that “Canada lives because of the United States.”

While Trump has made it clear that he no longer views traditional powers like Europe as a partner in his vision for a new world order, there is little evidence of any real appetite on the continent to challenge him—economically, politically, or in the sporting realm. And even the few leaders who recognize what is at stake are unwilling to let that mortality interfere with their most cherished sporting spectacles.

When asked about a potential boycott, France’s Sports Minister Marina Ferrari told reporters that there is “no desire for a boycott of this great competition.”

“The World Cup is an extremely important moment for those who love sport,” she explained.

Boycotts demand backbone, moral clarity, and a willingness to absorb real costs. European leaders have shown, time and again, that they possess none of the three.

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“This great dream and this great ambition will have to wait,” opined writer Abdelkader El-Aine following Senegal’s dramatic 1-0 victory over Morocco in the final of the 2025 African Cup of Nations (AFCON).

The match itself was extraordinary, ranking among the greatest ever seen on the African continent. Remarkably, the chaos was confined to the closing moments. Senegal had a goal disallowed in stoppage time, and minutes later Morocco were awarded a penalty. This prompted Senegal’s players to walk off the pitch in what appeared to be a forfeit.

After a long, dramatic delay—during which Senegalese fans invaded the pitch and clashed with Moroccan security—Brahim Díaz missed a poorly executed Panenka, sending the match into extra time. Pape Gueye then scored the decisive goal in the 94th minute, extending Morocco’s 50-year AFCON title drought and turning Rabat’s dreams of glory into the stuff of nightmares.

And despite several days having passed for tensions to cool, there is little indication that Morocco intends to let the incident die down anytime soon.

In a strongly worded statement, the Royal Moroccan Football Federation said it would seek redress from both the Confederation of African Football (CAF) and FIFA. “The Royal Moroccan Football Federation announces that it will pursue legal action with the Confederation of African Football and Fifa to rule on the walk-off of the Senegalese national team from the field during the final against the Moroccan national team, as well as on the events surrounding this decision, following the referee’s awarding of a penalty that was deemed correct by all experts,” the statement said.

“This situation had a significant impact on the normal course of the match and on the players’ performance,” it added, reflecting a belief within the Moroccan camp that the lengthy delay contributed to Díaz’s miss by unsettling him at a crucial moment.”

CAF has also condemned the walk-off, describing Senegal’s actions as “unacceptable” and “inappropriate”, and confirming that it would be “reviewing all footage and will refer the matter to competent bodies for appropriate action to be taken against those found guilty”.

Nevertheless, there is little that Morocco can do to rewrite history. Despite investing billions to transform the African kingdom into a football powerhouse, sometimes at the expense of its own population, Morocco has little to show for its efforts.

This extends beyond sports and the prestige of winning football tournaments. Since Morocco’s unexpected fourth-place finish at the 2022 World Cup in Qatar, football has played a pivotal role in the country’s soft power strategy. Months later, Morocco was awarded co-hosting rights for the 2030 World Cup alongside Spain and Portugal—a diplomatic boon that has tilted public policy has tilted toward a single, obsessive goal: turning Morocco’s major cities into luxurious playgrounds for the global guests who will descend upon the country for a single month in 2030.

Billions of dollars are being poured into infrastructure, stadiums and urban makeovers. This obsession reached a tipping point following the death of eight women in a maternity hospital in Agadir in late September 2025. The incident sparked widespread youth-led protests demanding better healthcare and public infrastructure. Demonstrators criticized the government’s spending on sparkling football stadiums at the expense of hospital funding.

By late October, approximately 1,500 protestors—including several minors—were still behind bars awaiting trial on charges familiar to dissidents from any authoritarian regime: armed rebellion, incitement to commit felonies, and incitement against the state. At the same time, King Mohammed VI approved increased budgets for healthcare and education, as well as a new fund to support young candidates in upcoming elections—a sign that the kingdom was listening to its young critics.

Unlike many of its North African neighbours, Morocco maintains nominally free and fair elections, though its government is centred around the monarchy and palace-aligned elites, usually termed al-makhzen. Many youths aged 16–30 feel particularly disenfranchised in this authoritarian system and view political parties and state institutions as averse to their engagement and interests.

In the wake of the 2011–2012 popular uprisings, the makhzen bolstered repressive measures, curbing protests and online activism and constricting outlets for citizens to vent frustrations. Two years of strict Covid lockdowns further limited educational and job prospects, leaving the country’s youth reeling.

As was the case in Egypt, Morocco’s youth took to chanting slogans at football game. Stadiums were among the few places free of state control, where citizens could air grievances in hoarse, passionate cries.

The first ultras to emerge on the scene in Morocco were the “Green Boys,” who arose around the football club Raja Casablanca in 2005. Raja CA was founded by the Moroccan resistance to French colonial rule in 1949, including the first president of the Moroccan Workers’ Union and ex-prime minister Mohamed Maâti Bouabid.

Apart from chanting slogans and intimidating rivals, the Green Boys pivoted to politics and activism. They launched a drive to make stadiums safer for women following national media attention on sexual violence at football matches in 2018. They also shouted at police overseeing the match and booed the national anthem, with their most famous chant being “Fbladi Delmouni,” which translates to “I was wronged in my country” or “In my country, I suffer injustice.”

“Fbladi Delmouni” has become a cultural phenomenon since it was first sung in 2017, gradually morphing into a rallying cry of an entire generation of Moroccans fed up with the lack of opportunities in their country. Some of the clips of the chant have accumulated more than 11 million views on YouTube.

Here is a complete translation of the song:

Oh oh oh oh

I was wronged in my own country

Oh oh oh oh

To whom shall I raise my grievance?

Oh oh oh oh

To the Lord Almighty

Oh oh oh oh

He, the only one who knows my sufferings

We live a miserable life in this country

We are seeking peace

Oh, our Lord, make us victorious

They killed us with drugs

And left us like orphans

We will seek revenge on Judgement Day

You wasted our youth’s talents

And you destroyed them with drugs

As you always wanted it to be.

You sold our country’s wealth

And gave it to foreigners

You repressed a whole generation

Oh oh oh oh

You killed the passion

Oh oh oh oh

You started the provocation

Oh oh oh oh

You killed the passion

Oh oh oh oh

You started the provocation

No one feared what you invented,

What you used on us

You just wanted to rule us

For a flare you sentenced us with Huis Clos, 1

You banned the Tifo

You waged a war against the Ultras

You accused us of inciting riots

You forgot how much you applauded us

Now you reward us with months in prison

You’ve ruined the Rajaouis’ lives,

Their jobs and their studies

Because you didn’t understand the meaning of passion

Oh oh oh oh

I’m sorry, my family

Oh oh oh oh

The talk about me has become too much

Oh oh oh oh

It’s getting on my nerves

Oh oh oh oh

Just understand me already

Every day the same speech

At home or in the streets:

“What did Raja give to you?”

“You lost your whole life for it.”

“So much money spent on it.”

“And never abandoned it.”

My dear ones, just understand me

Why do you want to separate me

From Raja which consoles me?

This is my final word

Written from my heart

With tears in my eyes

Oh oh oh oh

Repentance belongs to the Almighty

Oh oh oh oh

Our Lord, accept our repentance

Football clearly occupies a central place in Moroccan society, culture, and politics. At the same time, the government’s new wave of investments suggests an effort to harness the sport as a form of soft power on the world stage, drawing on the global prestige and brand value associated with hosting the world’s biggest sporting event.

It is also an opportunity to exert pressure on occupied territories. Morocco is tied in a long-standing dispute with the Western Sahara, a desert territory annexed by Morocco following Spain’s colonial departure in 1975. The Sahrawi people, an indigenous group native to the region, continue to seek independence, which Morocco vehemently refuses. Morocco administers about 80% of the disputed territory, including resource-rich areas with phosphates and fisheries. Morocco also has a deteriorating relationship with neighbour Algeria, with the latter claiming that Morocco was mining for phosphate on land belonging to Algeria.

However, by closely linking its national passion for football with broader political ambitions, Morocco has invited criticism domestically and internationally.

The Royal Palace has been quick to respond to the AFCON fallout. Prince Moulay Rachid received the members of the national football team at the Royal Guests Palace in Rabat, where they posed for a commemorative photo.

King Mohammed VI, meanwhile, also offered words of support to the team and the nation following the defeat to Senegal, emphasizing that the team has “shown the world an example of what Moroccan and African youth can accomplish when they have confidence in their talents and capabilities.”

“You have also proven, by the determination and heroic and honorable performance you displayed, the importance of our strategic vision to invest in human capital and modernize the Kingdom’s infrastructures, which demonstrated their resilience and world-class level of readiness in anticipation of hosting the 2030 World Cup,” the King said in His message.

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When Algerian striker Mohamed Amoura scored a blistering winner in the final seconds of extra time at the 2025 African Cup of Nations (AFCON), sending the Democratic Republic of Congo out of the tournament, he added salt to the Congolese wound with a gesture made towards its fans in the stadium.

After scoring the goal, Amoura celebrated by mimicking a stiff, upright pose—a move that has been interpreted as mocking Michel Nkuka Mboladinga, a well-known DR Congo superfan known for standing motionless at matches. His pose is an homage to Patrice Lumumba, the former Congolese Prime Minister and independence hero assassinated in 1961.

Lumumba was a revolutionary independence leader and pan-Africanist who played a significant role in Congo’s transition from a Belgian colony to an independent state. He became Congo’s first elected prime minister but immediately faced a breakdown of order and, eventually, a coup. He was assassinated by Congolese soldiers under Belgian supervision in January 1961, with significant involvement and planning by Belgium and tacit approval from the United States, who saw him as a Cold War threat. At one point, the CIA had plotted his assassination, including schemes like poisoned toothpaste.

Despite his tragic demise, Lumumba was remembered as a standard bearer for decolonization and African liberation, as well as a cautionary tale of the sacrifices that come with challenging the Western overlords. So when Amoura, a fellow African as well as an Arab, mocked the DRC’s national hero, it was seen as disrespectful. He has since apologized, claiming he did not the understand the significance of the superfan’s pose. Nevertheless, it is a reminder of the deep political trauma running through Africa’s veins, and how that inevitably spills out on the football pitch.

When the Africa Cup of Nations was first held in 1957, it was an inherently political event. In June 1956, on the sidelines of the FIFA Congress in Lisbon, Egypt met with representatives from Sudan, South Africa, and Ethiopia to devise a plan to establish the Confederation of African Football (CAF), the governing body for football in Africa. The organization was a priority for Egypt’s charismatic military leader Gamal Abdel Nasser, whose “Free Officers” movement had ended Britain’s colonial rule over Egypt in 1952. Nasser viewed CAF and the subsequent AFCON tournament as a powerful propaganda tool that would help unite African nations against their colonial rulers.

In 1957, the inaugural Africa Cup of Nations (AFCON) was held in Khartoum, Sudan. There was no qualification process; the tournament field consisted solely of the four founding members of the Confederation of African Football (CAF): Egypt, Sudan, Ethiopia, and South Africa. South Africa was disqualified after insisting on selecting an all-white squad in accordance with its apartheid policy, a decision that granted Ethiopia a bye directly to the final. As a result, only two matches were played. Egypt was crowned the first continental champion after defeating host nation Sudan 2–1 in the semi-final and Ethiopia 4–0 in the final.

Egypt’s victory carried far more than mere national pride. The country had just emerged from the Suez Canal Crisis, during which British and French forces—acting in concert with Israel—invaded Egypt in an attempt to protect their interests in the recently nationalized canal. The ensuing international backlash forced a humiliating withdrawal, dealing Britain a severe blow to its legitimacy and global standing and marking one of the final nails in the coffin of its imperial ambitions. The fact that Egypt—newly free and independent—had won the inaugural competition so closely associated with decolonization became a powerful symbol for a burgeoning African continent.

Egypt has since continued to make AFCON history. The Arab world’s most populous country has won the event a record seven times, including three consecutive wins in 2006, 2008, and 2010.

However, the country has not managed to reclaim its former glory since the 2011 Arab Spring, which was the same year that Salah first appeared on the national team. Since then, Egypt has reached the finals on two occasions (2017 and 2021). In the 2021 edition of AFCON, Salah’s team came close to winning the cup but fell short in a penalty shootout against Sadio Mané’s Senegal.

Despite the loss, it had been Egypt’s best performance in years. In 2018, Egypt crashed out of the World Cup without winning a single match. The following year, Egypt hosted AFCON but failed to reach the quarter-final stage in a tournament plagued with scandals including accusations of sexual harassment against Salah’s teammate Amr Warda.

While Egypt is no longer as successful as it once was on the continent, countless other African countries attempted to emulate its sporting and political success at AFCON. Over the decades, countless African leaders have utilized AFCON as a tool for propaganda and self-aggrandizement. Among them was Mobutu Sese Seko, the infamous Congolese dictator whose coup ultimately led to Lumumba’s execution. Seko rechristened the DRC as Zaire and went on to establish a violent kleptocracy, amassing grotesque personal wealth at the expense of his impoverished population.

Seko was obsessed with turning Zaire into a sporting superpower. He hosted the 1974 edition of the African tournament, and spent lavishly on infrastructure to support the event and the national team. Zaire went on to win the tournament, though they performed terribly at that year’s World Cup. Seko later hosted the Rumble in the Jungle event pitting Muhammad Ali against George Foreman for the heavyweight championship. It was one of the most watched televised events at the time, breaking countless records.

Seko wasn’t the only dictator to take advantage of AFCON’s prestige. Muammar Gaddafi’s Libya hosted the event in 1982 while Hosni Mubarak’s Egypt won the event four times during his tenure in office. In 2012, Equatorial Guinea hosted the event, which served as international image-laundering exercises for one of the world’s longest-ruling dictators in Teodoro Obiang Nguema Mbasogo.

The latest AFCON host, Morocco, has also courted its fair share of controversy. The country, which is ruled by an Islamic monarchy that has reigned since 1631 and claims descent from the Prophet Muhammad, has spent the heavily in preparation for the 2026 AFCON and the 2030 World Cup. That spending resulted in a series of youth-led protests demanding significant improvements to public education and healthcare, while criticizing the government’s spending on football tournaments. Following the protests, the Moroccan government introduced a set of reforms intended to enhance political participation and improve social services.

Morocco is also tied in a long-standing dispute with the Western Sahara, a desert territory annexed by Morocco following Spain’s colonial departure in 1975. The Sahrawi people, an indigenous group native to the region, continue to seek independence, which Morocco vehemently refuses. Morocco administers about 80% of the disputed territory, including resource-rich areas with phosphates and fisheries. Morocco also has a deteriorating relationship with neighbour Algeria, with the latter claiming that Morocco was mining for phosphate on land belonging to Algeria. The border between the nations has remained closed since 1994, complicating matters for Algerian football fans looking to attend the tournament.

The final nail in AFCON’s shift away from its decolonization roots came on the even of the 2025 edition of the tournament, when CAF president Patrice Motsepe announced that would now take place every four years instead of biyearly. When making the announcement Motsepe was flanked by FIFA secretary general Mattias Grafström, a subtle confirmation that the decision was heavily influenced by the European powers at FIFA and UEFA, who hated that clubs had to release some of their most prominent African players mid-season to participate in the tournament.

Africans living on the continent have rarely had the opportunity to watch their star players perform in person. The biennial Africa Cup of Nations (AFCON) was one of the few occasions when that aspiration became reality. Most of Africa’s leading footballers are based in Europe, competing in some of the world’s most lucrative leagues in England, France, and Germany. Yet European football authorities deemed even this arrangement unreasonable and exerted pressure on the Confederation of African Football (CAF) to extend the tournament cycle to four years. One could argue that AFCON’s increasing subordination to European interests amounts to a re-colonization of African football.

What began as a nationalist and pan-African project has, in this view, deteriorated into a second-tier event increasingly shaped by forces beyond Africa’s control.

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As paramilitary fighters from the brutal Rapid Support Forces (RSF) overran the largest city in western Sudan – carrying out mass executions, rapes and ethnic cleansing with weapons supplied by the United Arab Emirates – the NBA’s annual in-season tournament, the Emirates NBA Cup, tipped off on Halloween night, proudly sponsored by the very same Gulf state.

The tournament is the most visible example of the NBA’s expanding partnership with the UAE – a partnership that includes annual preseason games in Abu Dhabi, a lucrative sponsorship deal with Emirates airlines, and plans for a new NBA Global Academy at NYU’s Abu Dhabi campus.

Larger deals are expected to follow. The NBA is reportedly seeking Abu Dhabi’s investment in a new NBA-branded European league, which could launch as early as 2027.

This blossoming partnership has already paid dividends for both sides: the NBA has gained a deep-pocketed investor, while the UAE has found a willing partner to help further normalize its autocratic regime, especially now that it is facing accusations of inflaming genocide in Sudan.

For its part, the NBA says it is following advice from the US government on its relationship with the UAE.

“Basketball has a century-long history in the Middle East, and our activities in the UAE – which include bringing live NBA games to fans in the region and teaching the fundamentals and values of the game to thousands of boys and girls annually – are consistent with our efforts to engage fans and aspiring players in more than 200 countries and territories around the world,” a league spokesperson told the Guardian. “We will continue to rely on US state department guidance everywhere we operate.”

Beneath its image of opulence and modernity, the UAE enforces silence with an iron fist. Dissidents and human rights advocates languish in prisons on arbitrary charges, punished for daring to oppose the state. The nation’s economic prosperity rests on the backs of migrant laborers, who make up 88% of the workforce and who toil with few rights and little recourse against abuse.

The UAE’s influence extends into bloodier terrain beyond its borders. A growing body of evidence links the Emirati government to Sudan’s RSF, the paramilitary faction behind many of the atrocities and crimes against humanity being committed in Sudan.

Sudan’s civil war began in April 2023, when tensions between the Sudanese military (SAF), under army chief Abdel Fattah al-Burhan, and the RSF paramilitary group, led by his former deputy chief Mohamed Hamdan Dagalo, commonly known as Hemedti, plunged the country into a state of all out war. Urban centers such as the capital Khartoum were transformed into battlefields, destroying critical infrastructure and creating the world’s largest displacement crisis.

As the civil war approaches its third year, death toll estimates vary widely. The United Nations and other aid agencies have recorded 20,000 confirmed deaths. A more recent report by the London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine’s Sudan Research Group claimed that more than 61,000 people have died in Khartoum state, 26,000 as a direct result of the violence. Meanwhile, former US special envoy for Sudan Tom Perriello claimed last year that up to 150,000 people had been killed.

The civil war has also been marked by horrific atrocities such as sexual violence, torture, mutilation and ethnic cleansing. This was further underscored when the Sudanese military’s last remaining stronghold in Darfur fell to the RSF recently. The militia embarked on a mass killing spree so severe that images of the blood saturating the ground could be seen from space.

Since the start of the conflict, the Emirates have helped fund and arm the paramilitary group, effectively sponsoring the group’s war crimes and atrocities. Sudan’s military government even brought a case to the International Court of Justice accusing the UAE of genocidal complicity in West Darfur. Despite substantial evidence to the contrary, the UAE continues to deny any role in the conflict, carrying on as though business were proceeding as usual.

In the past few months, the UAE has staged the Asia Cup in cricket, NBA preseason matchups, a Ultimate Fighting Championship (UFC) event, and Formula 1’s year-end race, which featured a performance by Katy Perry. Next come the Abu Dhabi HSBC golf championship and a major padel tournament. Outside of Grammy-award winning rapper Macklemore, who canceled his Dubai concert in protest last year, no other entity attempted to distance itself from the controversial Gulf state.

The UAE has reaped enormous benefits from the sports world’s apathy. Abu Dhabi’s investment in Manchester City FC was a masterstroke, recasting the Al Nahyan ruling family as savvy investors rather than ruthless autocrats. Its stake in cricket carries a diplomatic edge, given the sport’s popularity across South and Southeast Asia, the same regions that supply much of the UAE’s migrant labor force. Meanwhile, investments in artificial wave pools, tennis and motorsports have broadened its growing sports tourism strategy.

And yet, the ongoing massacre in Darfur seems to have garnered some rare bad publicity for the UAE. Some Manchester City fans have even condemned their owner for “his country’s role in the Sudan conflict, where civilians continue to suffer.”

The silence around the NBA’s new partnership with the UAE is concerning. One of the few to call out the NBA for normalizing the UAE’s role in Sudan is Refugees International, an NGO that advocates for the rights of displaced people. “The Emirates NBA Cup COULD bring out the best in everyone. Instead, it’s being used to sportswash atrocities fueled + funded by the UAE in Sudan,” read the tweet. “The NBA shouldn’t let itself be a pawn in the UAE’s normalization of famine + genocide.”

Nevertheless, sports teams and organizations rarely sever lucrative partnerships without resistance. At FC Bayern Munich’s annual general assembly last week, lawyer and activist Michael Ott, who previously led a successful campaign to end Bayern’s sponsorship deal with Qatar Airways, was heckled by attendees after raising concerns about the club’s new agreement with the UAE’s Emirates Airlines.

Ott accused Bayern of “buttressing the image of sketchy political regimes that contradict our values” and warned that the deal with Emirates risked causing “lasting damage to the reputation of our club”. For his remarks, he was openly mocked by board chairman and CEO Jan-Christian Dreesen.

Despite ending previous sponsorship agreements with Qatar and Rwanda, the fact that Bayern Munich’s leadership refused to budge on its ties to the UAE further emphasizes how effective the Gulf state’s brand management and public relations strategies have been.

Don’t expect the NBA, which also maintains partnership with other autocrats like Rwanda’s Paul Kagame, is unlikely to speak out about the UAE’s human rights record … but imagine if they did. Imagine if genocide, war crimes and entrenched authoritarianism were red lines for global sports.

This article was first published in The Guardian on December 13, 2025.

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As people around the world prepare to celebrate Christmas and the holiday season, an Iranian boxing champion is believed to be at imminent risk of execution after authorities rejected his request for a retrial.

Mohammad Javad Vafaei Sani was arrested in 2020 for taking part in nationwide democracy protests in 2019 and accused of supporting an opposition group, the People’s Mojahedin Organization of Iran (MEK). The 30-year-old was convicted of “corruption on Earth” and sentenced to death for a third time in September 2024 after “a grossly unfair trial”, according to Amnesty International. The supreme court upheld his death sentence on 4 October.

Furthermore, Vafaei Sani was informed last week that his request for a retrial has been rejected by Iran’s Supreme Court. His mother was also granted a visit to her son—a common occurence for convicts on the brink of execution.

“His life is now in grave danger,” the National Council of Resistance of Iran (NCRI), the MEK’s political arm said in a statement.

Iran’s Islamic leadership has a long history of executing athletes who dared to oppose the regime, including Habib Khabiri, captain of the national football team, in 1984, and Fourouzan Abdi, captain of the national women’s volleyball team, in 1988.. In September 2020, Iran executed Navid Afkari, an Iranian wrestler who confessed to crimes allegedly under torture that included participating in the 2018 anti-regime demonstrations.

Afkari and his brother were arrested in September 2018 on dozens of charges that include insulting Iran’s supreme leader, robbery, “enmity against God,” and murder. Iran’s Supreme Court upheld a death sentence by a criminal court in Shiraz against Navid and a 25-year prison sentence for Vahid for assisting in the alleged murder, despite evidence that they were tortured into confessing.

The case drew international attention and widespread condemnation from nation states and sports leagues alike. International Olympic Committee (IOC) president Thomas Bach said he is “extremely concerned” about the case, and the Fédération Internationale de Football Association (FIFA) requested that “the life of sportsman Navid Afkari will be spared.” UFC President Dana White even called on U.S. President Donald Trump to intervene to save Afkari’s life.

Amin Bazrgar, another Iranian wrestler, went missing in August 2021, a day after he took to Instagram to protest the September 2020 execution of Afkari. Then in 2023, Iran executed a karate champion who was charged with killing a soldier during the nationwide protests triggered following the death of Mahsa Jina Amini. The 22-year-old Kurdish-Iranian woman was detained and tortured by Iran’s morality police for allegedly showing too much hair beneath her compulsory veil. She died in custody, triggering Iran’s longest anti-government protests since the 1979 revolution that transformed the country into an Islamic theocracy.

Mohammad Mehdi Karami—a Kurdish-Iranian karate champion—was among the protestors who took the streets. He later was arrested and charged with murder in a sham trial that was condemned by human rights organizations, as well as the UN Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights (OHCHR).

There are others like Afkari and Karami. Ali Mozaffari, a professional volleyball player, was shot and killed by security forces during the 2022 protests. Mohammad Ghaemi Far, the goalkeeper for an under-21 soccer club in Dezful, Khuzestan province, was cornered in a dead-end alley on October 22, 2022 during a street protest and shot in the back of the head. National bodybuilding champion Ehsan Ghasemifar was killed by security forces during the protests. Others, like footballer Amir Reza Nasr-Azadani was sentenced to 26 years in prison on the charge of “waging war” on the Iranian state by participating in the Amini protests.

It wouldn’t be the first time Iran’s regime has weaponized sports and athletes. For example, Iran’s martial arts federations are involved in training the regime’s brutal security forces. Several members of the Fatehin (Conquerors) Special Unit—an all-volunteer militia attached to the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps—are currently positioned within Iran’s martial arts federations. The unit is regularly deployed to quell protests and suppress unrest in Iran.

The vice president of Iran’s kick-jitsu committee, Mohammad Yaran, is a senior members of the Fatehin Special Unit and has been regularly pictured alongside the unit’s commander. Iran’s Judo Federation appointed Hassan Kordmihan—a militant cleric who was the alleged mastermind behind the 2016 attack on the Saudi mission in Tehran—as the head of the federation’s cultural committee in 2020. He also serves as an adviser to the federation’s president.

Kordmihan runs his own judo club called Ali Heydar, which is reportedly used as a recruitment centre for the Fatehin Special Unit in southern Tehran. Furthermore, a former bodyguard and close confidant of Iran’s Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei was named the president of the country’s National Olympic Committee.

In November, the World Boxing Council (WBC) condemned Vafaei Sani’s death sentence, with its president Mauricio Sulaiman Saldivar saying it would be an attack on the “fundamental values of sport and human dignity”. More than 20 Olympic medallists, coaches and other international athletes, including the former captain of the Australian football team Craig Foster and Bahram Mavaddat, a footballer who was in the Iranian squad for the 1978 World Cup, also signed a letter calling for a halt his execution.

“The world must not stand by while Iran silences its champions.”

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While much of the football world’s attention is fixed on the 2026 FIFA World Cup—replete with awkward draw ceremonies and a peace prize handed to U.S. President Donald Trump like a gilded pacifier—few outside the Middle East have noticed that the Arab Cup is unfolding concurrently, with Morocco and Jordan set to contest Thursday’s final.

The quadrennial invitational tournament is taking place in Qatar, marking the third time the Gulf state hosts the competition following the 1998 and 2021 editions. It will also host the 2029 and 2033 editions of the event, emphasizing Qatar’s continued presence in the global football scene.

Sheikh Hamad bin Khalifa bin Ahmed Al Thani, Minister of Sports and Youth told Qatari state media that the Arab Cup carries a message calling for “Arab unity and represents a window for introducing our authentic culture and ancient heritage.” And yet, as I watched the tournament unfold, I couldn’t help but think of Abdullah Ibhais, the Jordanian whistleblower jailed for refusing to spin migrant abuses ahead of FIFA’s 2022 World Cup, and his recent revelations about state surveillance of journalists ahead of the 2022 World Cup.

During the Play the Game 2025 conference in Tampere, Finland last October, Ibhais took the stage and exposed Qatar’s strategy of media manipulation and surveillance of journalists ahead of the quadrennial tournament. “For them, the World Cup - before anything else - was a reputational campaign that they spent more than 300 billion dollars to achieve,” Ibhais said.

Ibhais is a former media manager for the Qatar’s Supreme Committee for Delivery and Legacy (the body responsible for organising the 2022 FIFA World Cup), and he was arrested in November 2019 shortly after he criticised the Qatari authorities’ handling of a workers’ protest, highlighting mistreatment of migrant labourers.

He was accused of bribery, misuse of state funds, and leaking confidential information related to a tender process. Ibhais denied all charges, but nevertheless, he was found guilty of them in April 2021 at a Doha criminal court, including a charge of causing harm to the Supreme Committee. He was initially sentenced to five years in prison, which was later reduced to three years, and he was released in March 2025.

And yet, he insists he is not a hero, noting that he, too, believed in the mission to deliver the Arab world’s first World Cup.

In his role as the committee’s media manager, Ibhais was responsible for implementing Qatar’s media strategy for the World Cup, which he laid out with exceptional clarity to the riveted audience.

“The way they dealt with criticism from day one was through these three main streams: deflect, discredit, and deny,” he said.

Ibhais described how the organization employed manipulative tactics to manage sports journalists, granting select reporters privileged access to uncontroversial materials, press releases, and exclusive content.

This not only made their work easier but also fostered a sense of dependence on that access, effectively discouraging those journalists from publishing critical coverage.

At this moment, Ibhais delivered a stunning revelation: Qatar was also surveilling media organizations and journalists.

“So, we had a media profiling,” he explained.

“We had profiles for journalists: who was friendly, who was supportive, who was easygoing, who was critical and who was problematic. And we had a way to handle each and every one of them.”

“We would go and do research on their social media, on the platform, on their visits, on their views on Qatar and the Arab world, and we would have a plan to deal with each and every one accordingly. And whatever results we had, we would share with all government agencies and Qatari interests in Qatar and around the world to ensure that we have unified messaging.”

“Journalists who were friendly were always invited and included and given exclusives. Journalists who were problematic were always left in the dark and rarely given access to Qatar.”

“And finally, if all of that didn’t work, we used to bypass the media. So we would go and give briefings in the parliaments, in the congress, for football federations, for diplomats, for ambassadors. And this we would do directly, so they would not pick up any negative messaging around the World Cup,” Ibhais explained.

Ibhais, who has since been reunited with his family in Jordan, ended his talk by explaining that these strategies will likely continue to be weaponised in the tournaments to come.

“We need to promote media literacy and fact-checking among sports journalists themselves, support independent investigation and diverse reporting, and build resilient networks that can withstand narrative flooding,” he said.

He encouraged journalists to continue critical coverage of football tournaments as that had actually been effective in Qatar.

“Do not despair and do not stop because this is the only thing that kept them on their toes. They were always really worried about the next negative piece that would come, even though all these efforts were taking place at the same time,” Ibhais said.

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On his first day back in office on January 20, 2025, Donald Trump signed a series of executive orders at a makeshift desk set up in the middle of the Capital One Arena, home to the Washington Wizards NBA team and the Washington Capitals hockey team.

With each executive action signed, Trump would pause for dramatic effect before holding up the signature before the estimated 20,000 supporters, who roared and cheered in approval. He then tossed his signing pens to the supporters, promising to sign plenty more at the White House.

The spectacle foreshadowed the central role that sports would play in Trump’s second term.

In the first few months back to the White House, he has attended multiple marquee sporting events – including the Super Bowl, Daytona 500, NCAA Wrestling Championships, UFC fights, and international football finals – while simultaneously issuing executive orders that directly reshape the sporting landscape.

Trump has treated sports not as a sideline diversion but as a central stage for his political theatre.

He has prohibited transgender girls and women from competing in female categories and tied compliance to federal funding. He has reasserted federal control over college athletics and revived the Cold War-era Presidential Fitness Test. And he has launched a White House task force on the 2026 FIFA World Cup and another task force for the 2028 Olympic Summer Games in Los Angeles.

This level of presidential engagement matters because it fuses Trump’s cultural instincts with his MAGA agenda to make America great again. Where past presidents used sports for ceremonial appearances or soft diplomacy, Trump turns them into battlegrounds in the culture wars.

By tying federal education funding to sex-at-birth athletic rules, appointing professional wrestling executives to national fitness councils, or showcasing World Cup trophies in the Oval Office, he transforms sports policy into a vessel for his political messaging.

The spectacle of sports – already deeply woven into American identity – becomes another channel through which Trump reasserts authority and nostalgia by redefining concepts of fairness and strength to exclude some groups from taking part.

For Trump, then, sports are not just entertainment or policy – they are political infrastructure. They allow him to amplify grievances, mobilise identity, and project a vision of America rooted in toughness, discipline, and global visibility on his terms.

This is why his unprecedented entanglement with sports cannot be dismissed as mere publicity. It is a deliberate extension of the MAGA project, which harnesses stadiums, athletes, and executive orders to reinforce the cultural foundations of his power.

No previous U.S. president has embedded himself so deeply in the nation’s sporting life, especially to consolidate power, amplify culture-war narratives, and erode democratic norms.

By transforming sports into a platform for his authoritarian-leaning MAGA agenda, Trump risks reshaping not only the role of athletics in American life but also the broader fabric of U.S. society and politics.

While Donald Trump has long used sports as a stage to launder his reputation, promote his brand, and propagate his political ideology, his efforts have never been a solo act. He has consistently relied on a sprawling cast of athletes, sports executives, media influencers, and politicians to bring his sports spectacles to life and to legitimise his place in the cultural mainstream.

This list highlights the most prominent sports figures in Trump’s orbit, detailing their ties to him, the roles they have played in advancing his agenda, and the personal or political gains they have sought in return.

By mapping out these relationships, the article lifts the veil on the inner workings of Trump’s sports circle and reveals how this select network of influential figures helped reshape the intertwined worlds of American politics, culture, and sport.

Sports executives

Ari Emanuel (MMA/WWE)

Role: CEO of Endeavor (formerly WME-IMG), one of Hollywood’s most powerful talent and media agencies; owner of the Ultimate Fighting Championship (UFC) and World Wrestling Entertainment (WWE); architect of their 2023 merger into the publicly traded company TKO.

Relationship to Trump: Served as Trump’s agent during his The Apprentice reality television era, maintaining a friendly relationship ever since. Was among the first to visit Trump after his 2017 inauguration. Plays a behind-the-scenes role in aligning UFC’s public image more closely with MAGA politics.

How does he benefit Trump’s politics? Controls two major sports-entertainment platforms – UFC and WWE – that can amplify pro-Trump messaging and cultural narratives to large, engaged audiences. Facilitates events and personalities that reinforce Trump’s political brand.

What does he stand to gain? Maintains strong political ties across the spectrum, leveraging his Trump connection for access and deal-making. His collaboration with Saudi interests in sports positions him for potentially lucrative sales, including a possible future sale of TKO to Saudi Arabia’s Public Investment Fund. This also expands his influence in global sports diplomacy.

Dana White (MMA)

Role: CEO of the Ultimate Fighting Championship (UFC), a global mixed martial arts promotion that has existed since 1993.

Relationship to Trump: White and Trump first met in 2001, when Trump hosted two UFC events at his Trump Taj Mahal casino during a period when the UFC was banned in most of the United States. White has publicly credited Trump with giving the UFC its ‘first shot’ and has maintained a long-term friendship with him. Over time, this relationship has deepened to the point where White is now considered one of Trump’s informal advisors.

How does he benefit Trump’s politics? White’s support lends Trump credibility and visibility with UFC’s broad and loyal fan base, many of whom align with Trump’s populist and anti-establishment messaging. His endorsement, public appearances (including speaking at the 2016 Republican National Convention), and campaign donations help energise a demographic that is often politically engaged and responsive to Trump’s image as a fighter against the political mainstream.

What does he stand to gain? White benefits from the association by maintaining close ties to a powerful political figure, which could offer networking advantages, regulatory goodwill, and access to influential circles. Aligning with Trump also reinforces the UFC’s brand identity as rebellious, anti-establishment, and unafraid of controversy – traits that resonate with its core audience.

Gianni Infantino (Football)

Role: President of FIFA, world football’s governing body, first elected in 2016.

Relationship to Trump: Elected shortly before Trump took office, he quickly developed a friendship with Trump as the latter sought to secure hosting rights for the 2026 World Cup. The relationship deepened during Trump’s second term, with Infantino attending Trump’s inauguration and meeting him in the Oval Office.

How does he benefit Trump’s politics? By publicly affirmed the U.S.’s capability to host the 2026 World Cup, Infantino lends Trump international legitimacy and a positive global spotlight during a period marked by trade disputes and controversial immigration policies. His presence and endorsement reinforced Trump’s image as a leader able to win prestigious international events for the country.

What does he stand to gain? Strengthens ties with a major host nation for FIFA’s flagship tournament, ensuring strong political and logistical backing for the 2026 World Cup. By aligning with the U.S. administration, Infantino can secure commitments on infrastructure, security, and promotional support for FIFA’s interests.

Casey Wasserman

Role: President of the organising committee for the 2028 Los Angeles Olympics; CEO of Wasserman, a major sports marketing and talent management agency

Relationship to Trump: While traditionally aligned with Democratic politics, Wasserman has maintained pragmatic ties with Trump’s circle to protect and advance major sports initiatives, including securing political and logistical support for the LA Olympics. He defended Trump’s decision to name himself as the head of a White House task force for the 2028 Los Angeles Olympics, saying it reflected the federal government’s commitment to the Games.

How does he benefit Trump’s politics? Brings credibility and influence from the global sports community, reinforcing Trump’s image as a figure connected to major international events. Facilitates opportunities for Trump to tie himself to the prestige of the Olympics and the broader sports economy.

What does he stand to gain? Gains political goodwill and potential federal support for the LA 2028 Games.

Yasir Al-Rumayyan

Role: Governor of Saudi Arabia’s Public Investment Fund (PIF), one of the largest sovereign wealth funds globally; Chairman of Saudi Aramco; Chairman of LIV Golf, the Saudi-backed golf league that sought a merger with the PGA Tour.

Relationship to Trump: Close personal and professional ties, including playing golf together and attending UFC events. Seen as one of the figures best positioned to use sports as a diplomatic bridge with Trump.

How does he benefit Trump’s politics? Through joint appearances and shared sports interests, Al-Rumayyan bolsters Trump’s image as an international dealmaker and sports influencer. His lobbying on the LIV Golf-PGA merger and potential UFC acquisition aligns with Trump’s affinity for high-profile sports ventures and deep-pocketed foreign partnerships.

What does he stand to gain? Gains a powerful ally in the U.S. who can help navigate political and regulatory hurdles for Saudi investments in American sports. Strengthens Saudi soft power through Trump’s networks and influence, potentially smoothing the path for controversial deals like the LIV-PGA merger or a future UFC acquisition.

Miriam Adelson (Basketball)

Role: Owner of the Dallas Mavericks, an American professional basketball team that competes in the National Basketball Association

Relationship to Trump: Since the 2010s, the Israeli philanthropist, and wife of the late casino magnate Sheldon Adelson has been one of the Republican Party’s largest individual donors, and since 2016 she has been one of the most prominent financial supporters of Donald Trump. She was the largest donor to his 2016 and 2020 campaigns, and the third largest in 2024. Trump awarded her the Presidential Medal of Freedom in 2018.

How does she benefit Trump’s politics? Adelson is also reportedly behind the crackdown on criticism of Israel in the US. She founded the Maccabee Task Force (MTF) to “combat the disturbing spread of antisemitism on college campuses” and is behind the social media campaign targeting Columbia University and Mahmoud Khalil, the Palestinian green card holder that the US is attempting to deport.

What does she stand to gain? Adelson has consistently advocated for the US government to adopt pro-Israel policies, including supporting Israel’s annexation of the West Bank.

Paul Levesque

Role: Chief Content Officer of World Wrestling Entertainment; former professional wrestler (Triple H)

Relationship to Trump: Levesque is the son-in-law of Trump’s secretary of education Linda McMahon.

How does he benefit Trump’s politics? He attended the recent signing of an executive order reviving the Presidential Fitness Test and the President’s Council on Sports, Fitness & Nutrition. His presence – alongside other notable athletes – served to associate the initiative with credibility and high status in the public eye.

Ali Abdelaziz (MMA)

Role: High-profile MMA manager representing some of the UFC’s biggest stars; former undercover informant for the NYPD in 2002 targeting an extremist Islamist group, later dismissed by both the NYPD and FBI for being deceitful.

Relationship to Trump: Embedded in Trump’s MMA network through personal ties to Trump allies such as UFC President Dana White, political operator Richard Grenell and FBI Director Kash Patel. Has cultivated influence within Trump’s sports-political sphere by leveraging his position in MMA.

How does he benefit Trump’s politics? Acts as a bridge between the UFC’s influential figures and Trump’s political apparatus. For example, he uses his roster of fighters to publicly support Trump and align with his policies. HIs fighters have even held campaign events to convert Arab American anger over Gaza into election support.

Political figures

Linda McMahon (WWE)

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Role: Secretary of Education; former administrator of the U.S. Small Business Administration (2017-2019) under Trump; later chair of the America First Policy Institute, a think tank closely aligned with Trump’s political agenda; former CEO of World Wrestling Entertainment

Relationship to Trump: Longtime personal and political ally alongside her husband Vince McMahon. Served in Trump’s cabinet during his first term and remained active in his political orbit through leadership of a pro-Trump policy group. Now serves as his secretary of education.

McMahon’s appointment to Trump’s administration occurred despite being embroiled in a scandal in which WWE employees were recruiting teenage boys for the purpose of sexual exploitation in the 1980s and 90s. As CEO of WWE at the time, McMahon was involved in damage control and corporate communications when the allegations went public, insisting the company acted appropriately once complaints came to their attention.

The full lawsuit can be read here

How does she benefit Trump’s politics? Supports and promotes key priorities such as dismantling the Department of Education, reinforcing Trump’s messaging on returning power to states and local communities. McMahon has since continued to do Trump’s bidding, threatening universities with legal action for refusing to ban transgender girls from women’s sports or complying with the Trump administration’s other measures, including abolishing Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion policies designed to ensure that individuals from historically underrepresented groups have equal opportunities to succeed as their more privileged counterparts.

What does she stand to gain? Maintains close access to Trump’s political network and influence over conservative policymaking. Strengthens her public profile and policy legacy by championing initiatives aligned with her own ideological views, particularly in business regulation and education reform.

Richard Grenell

Role: Special Presidential Envoy for Special Missions of United States

Relationship to Trump: Known as Trump’s ‘fixer,’ Grenell served as acting director of national intelligence under Trump in 2020. He is the first openly gay man to hold a cabinet level position in US history.

How does he benefit Trump’s politics? Grenell has built networks with UFC fighters and executives who could later be useful to Trump. For example, he hosted a series of events with UFC fighters in Dearborn, Michigan, that aimed to harness Arab anger at Biden’s handling of the Gaza war to vote for Trump.

Kash Patel

Role: FBI Director, appointed by Trump in his second term

Relationship to Trump: Patel caught Trump’s attention after becoming a senior counsel to the House of Representatives intelligence committee in 2017. He quickly rose within Trump’s circle after he was hired as a national security aide in 2019, and in 2020 was appointed chief of staff to the head of the Pentagon. He is on the board of Trump Media and Technology Group, which owns Trump’s social media platform, Truth Social.

How does he benefit Trump’s politics? Uses his position to potentially direct federal law enforcement resources toward Trump’s priorities. This includes plans to establish a formal partnership with the UFC, whereby the UFC would develop training programs for federal agents.

What does he stand to gain? Gains significant political capital and visibility as one of Trump’s most loyal and high-profile appointees. Strengthens his network by connecting with influential Trump allies in sports and politics, positioning himself as a central figure in Trump’s broader power structure

Steven Cheung

Role: Former communications director for the UFC; currently serves as White House communications director under Trump.

Relationship to Trump: Transitioned from the sports world into politics by joining Trump’s orbit, bringing media and audience engagement expertise from the UFC to the political arena.

How does he benefit Trump’s politics? Helps shape communication strategies that target young, apolitical men – a demographic Trump has sought to mobilise – using sports culture and podcast platforms as key engagement channels. Leverages sports media tactics to frame Trump’s messaging in ways that resonate outside traditional political audiences.

Athletes

Riley Gaines

Role: Former NCAA swimmer who gained national attention for her outspoken advocacy on issues surrounding women’s sports, particularly focusing on the inclusion of transgender women in women’s athletic competitions.

Relationship to Trump: Strongly aligned with Trump’s MAGA movement. She has become one of the leading voices in the campaign to restrict transgender women from participating in women’s sports.

How does she benefit Trump’s politics? Viewed as a symbolic figure in the intersection of athletics and conservative politics, helping to mobilise support among younger athletes and women’s sports advocates. She is also among the most prominent advocates for Trump’s ‘Keeping Men Out of Women’s Sports’ executive order, which rescinded federal funding for educational programs which permit transgender women to compete in women’s athletics.

Conor McGregor

Role: Mixed martial arts star and former UFC champion.

Relationship to Trump: Recently cultivated ties with Trump, highlighted by his St. Patrick’s Day visit to the White House where he was invited instead of the Irish Prime Minister. Spoke in the White House press briefing room and met with Trump in the Oval Office.

How does he benefit Trump’s politics? Brings celebrity appeal and connection to far-right audiences in Ireland and internationally. His notoriety and outspoken style appeal to Trump’s base, reinforcing anti-establishment and nationalist themes. His involvement signals Trump’s willingness to engage controversial figures who resonate with certain voter segments.

What does he stand to gain? Gains political credibility within conservative circles in the U.S. and abroad, bolstering his potential bid for the Irish presidency. Aligning with Trump amplifies his profile among right-wing audiences and provides a platform to extend his influence beyond sports into politics.

Bryson DeChambeau

Professional golfer Bryson DeChambeau featured Trump on his YouTube series Break 50, where they practiced golf together on camera. Photo:

Role: Professional golfer and two-time major champion

Relationship to Trump: Has known Trump since 2016 and maintains a friendly rapport. Recently featured Trump on his YouTube series Break 50, where they practiced golf together on camera.

How does he benefit Trump’s politics? Provides Trump with access to younger, sports-oriented audiences through his YouTube and social media platforms. The casual, lighthearted golf content humaniszes Trump and extends his reach into a demographic that may not follow traditional political channels.

What does he stand to gain? Strengthens his relationship with Trump, which could open doors for business opportunities, sponsorships, and high-profile appearances.

Logan and Jake Paul

Celebrity boxer and social media influencer Jake Paul (left) and his brother WWE star Logan Paul (right) publicly endorsed Trump, attended his inauguration, and featured him in their media platforms. Photo: Al Bello/Getty Images

Role: Logan Paul is a WWE star and media personality; Jake Paul is a celebrity boxer and social media influencer. Both began as YouTube content creators before expanding into mainstream sports and entertainment.

Relationship to Trump: Publicly endorsed Trump, attended his inauguration, and featured him in their media platforms. Jake released a 19-minute video urging his fans to vote for Trump, while Logan hosted Trump on his podcast, providing a high-profile platform within the manosphere, which promotes masculinity, misogyny, and opposition to feminism.

How do they benefit Trump? Give Trump direct access to millions of young, predominantly male followers who are often disengaged from traditional politics. Their endorsements and appearances help frame Trump as culturally relevant and in tune with internet-native audiences.

What do they stand to gain? Strengthen their personal brands as bold, anti-establishment figures. Association with Trump fuels media attention, drives engagement from politically active segments of their audience, and positions them as influencers who can cross over into political discourse.

Family members

Eric Trump

Eric Trump (center) is a trustee and executive vice president of the Trump Organisation. Photo: Spencer Platt/Getty Images

Role: Trustee and executive vice president of the Trump Organization, overseeing a portfolio that includes the family’s golf properties and luxury real estate holdings.

Relationship to Trump: Beyond being his son, Eric plays a key operational role in managing the Trump brand, especially its golf resorts. These venues often double as political backdrops and networking hubs for Trump’s allies.

How does he benefit Trump’s politics? Uses the Trump Organization’s golf properties as spaces for fundraising, political events, and cultivating relationships with influential figures in sports and business. Helps maintain the public image of Trump’s lifestyle brand, reinforcing the aspirational and elite imagery that appeals to parts of his base.

Donald Trump Jr.

Donald Trump Jr. is a businessman, political influencer, and major figure in his father’s political movement. Photo: Andrew Harnik/Getty Images

Role: Eldest son of Donald Trump; businessman, political influencer, and major figure in his father’s political movement.

Relationship to Trump: Acts as a high-profile surrogate and campaign figure, mobilising specific voter blocs through targeted events and messaging. Shares his father’s affinity for blending sports, celebrity, and politics to engage audiences.

How does he benefit Trump’s politics? Invests in the Enhanced Games through the 1789 Capital fund, aligning with a controversial, attention-grabbing sports concept that appeals to anti-regulation and libertarian-minded segments of Trump’s base. During the 2020 campaign, he co-hosted the “Fighters Against Socialism” bus tour with UFC star Jorge Masvidal, using sports personalities to rally Hispanic and sports-oriented voters.

Others

Joe Rogan

Role: Longtime UFC commentator and host of one of the most popular podcasts in the world, ‘The Joe Rogan Experience’, a major cultural influencer with a large, predominantly male audience.

Relationship to Trump: Hosted Trump on his podcast in October 2024, later endorsed him during an episode with Elon Musk. Attended Trump’s inauguration and has since been embraced as a prominent figure within the MAGA community.

How does he benefit Trump’s politics? Gives Trump access to millions of listeners, particularly young and middle-aged men who may be politically disengaged but receptive to Rogan’s mix of countercultural and anti-establishment messaging. His endorsement and platforming of Trump in the run-up to the election provided credibility within certain online and cultural communities, amplifying Trump’s reach beyond traditional political media.

This article was first published in October 2025 as part of a research project for Play the Game.

Welcome to Sports Politika, a media venture founded by investigative journalist and researcher Karim Zidan that strives to help you understand how sports and politics shape the world around us. Our mission is to offer an independent platform for accessible journalism that raises awareness and empowers understanding.

This latest post is written by Chris Dalby, the publisher of the Sport & Crime Briefing and World of Crime newsletters. If you enjoyed this in-depth investigation, please consider subscribing to read more of his work.

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It took barely a day for an NFT drop, using the image of UFC legend Khabib Nurmagomedov, to make roughly $4.35 million in revenue.

Over about 24 hours, messaging platform Telegram auctioned off 29,000 digital papakhas, the distinctive sheepskin hat that Khabib wore throughout his career. Controversy grew as the sale also involved Khabib saying it was in honour of his deceased father and coach, Abdulmanap, a devout Muslim who taught his son discipline and principles alongside martial arts.

Now, Abdulmanap’s legacy was being repackaged as a “digital gift” on Telegram, purchasable with Stars, a gamified in‑app currency.

Once the 29,000 hats were gone and the funds secured, Khabib’s announcement posts and promotional videos quietly vanished from Instagram and X, triggering accusations of a “sell‑and‑scrub” maneuver. Conor McGregor, the Irish fighter who is no stranger to crypto-controversies, lambasted Khabib for “robbing fans,” while Khabib defended the papakhas as “exclusive digital gifts with real‑time value” that honored Dagestani tradition.

The papakha drop was not a one‑off misjudgment. It was the latest example of a pattern that has been building since 2021. In the four years leading up to this sale, Khabib has repeatedly put his name behind a string of speculative crypto, NFT, and “halal” investment ventures that fall short of criminal fraud but seem suspiciously like calculated grifts.

Scheme 1: April 2021 - The Legacy Cards

1. How It Worked

Six months after retiring undefeated, Khabib launched his debut into the crypto-sphere. The pitch was elementary: artificially scarce goods based on his 29-0 fighting record. He released a tiered set of digital trading cards (NFTs) featuring 3D renderings of himself.

The structure was a pyramid of exclusivity:

• Gold Cards: 290 units available.

• Platinum Cards: 29 units available.

• Diamond Card: Only 1 unit minted. Holders were promised vague “unlockable content” and the chance to win physical memorabilia, but the primary selling point was simply owning a piece of the “Eagle” on the blockchain before the market exploded.

2. The Profit

The pricing strategy was aggressive, targeting high-net-worth “whales” rather than the average fan.

Gold cards started at $2,900. Platinum cards were priced at $29,000. The single Diamond card was listed for $290,000.

The total haul is opaque. While reports at the time listed the Platinum cards as some of the “most expensive sports NFTs” on the market, the total quantity of sales remains unverified. The “burn” clause (destroying unsold cards to artificially boost value) was the failsafe; if they didn’t sell, they would be deleted to pretend demand was higher than it was.

3. The Backers

This was a maneuver by Dominance MMA, Khabib’s management firm led by Ali Abdelaziz. This launch served as a proof-of-concept: was Khabib’s fame and reputation enough to get fans to pay five or six figures for a digital file?

4. Why It Raised Concerns

This was the classic NFT trap. In 2021, fans could pay the price of a new car for a Platinum card. Today, that asset has virtually zero value. There is no secondary market for these cards; you cannot sell them because no one wants them. The “utility” (access, prizes) evaporated once the initial hype cycle died. The investors are left holding a “dead link” in their digital wallet, while the issuers collected the Ethereum upfront. It was a pure wealth transfer from the believer to the icon, with no residual value left behind.

Scheme 2: September 2021 – Wahed “Halal Investing” Partnership

1. How It Worked

Khabib’s longest‑running financial partnership is with Wahed Invest, an Islamic robo‑advisor he first signed on with in September 2021 as a global brand ambassador. Wahed’s core pitch is simple but powerful in Muslim‑majority markets: it offers Sharia‑screened portfolios in stocks, sukuk, gold and other assets, promising “halal, riba‑free (interest-free) investing” for people who want to grow their savings without touching interest, gambling, alcohol or other prohibited sectors. From the outset, Khabib wasn’t just another face on a banner. He fronted Wahed’s “Fighting Riba” content, sat for videos and podcasts about money and faith, and framed the platform as the answer to a problem he said he cared deeply about: how Muslims can invest without compromising their beliefs.

This deal is in a different category from his other ventures. Wahed is regulated, multi‑jurisdictional, and pitches itself as the ethical antidote to both conventional banking and casino‑style crypto. Over time, the campaign broadened beyond generic “invest halal” messaging. Khabib appeared in UAE launch materials, London‑branch pushes, and more recent “Everyday Shariah Account” spots, turning him into the primary human advertiser for a relatively new fintech brand that leans into “halal digital assets.”

2. The Profit

For Wahed, the partnership delivered exactly what it was designed to: trust and scale. The company grew into the hundreds of thousands of users across more than a dozen countries, with Khabib‑fronted ads and social content doing much of the work in markets where his word carries more weight than any regulator’s seal. Each new account, even if modest in size, feeds a fee‑based model where the platform earns a percentage of assets under management, and the halo of “Sharia‑compliant” plus “Khabib‑approved” lowers the psychological barrier for first‑time investors.

For users, the picture has been more mixed. Traditional equity and sukuk portfolios have behaved like any other conservative basket—up in good years, down in bad ones, with fees clipping performance at the margins. Where the controversy creeps in is at the edges: higher‑risk products, marketing that sometimes blurs the line between “safer because halal” and “safe in absolute terms,” and the implicit promise that, because Khabib and Sharia scholars are vouching for it, this is a morally superior and therefore less dangerous way to put money to work. When markets snap the other way, those assumptions meet the same reality as any other investment: balances can and do fall, and “halal” does not mean loss‑proof.

3. The Backers

Wahed is not an anonymous Telegram account; it is a U.S.-registered investment adviser with backing from institutional names and a physical footprint that now includes a flagship branch in London. That makes this scheme structurally different from CONVICT or a pump‑and‑dump: there are regulated entities, filings, Sharia boards, customer service desks, and an identifiable CEO who answers press questions. The firm has also been willing to push the boundaries of marketing to stand out in a crowded ethical‑finance field.

That pushiness has brought formal blowback. In 2022, Wahed agreed to a six‑figure SEC penalty over deficiencies in how it presented performance and client disclosures in the U.S. In early 2025, the UK’s Advertising Standards Authority banned one of its most high‑profile campaigns, posters on London’s transport network, featuring burning U.S. dollar notes and Khabib himself, to “provoke” viewers into thinking conventional money was literally being torched. Regulators deemed the ads misleading and socially irresponsible; Wahed publicly defended the campaign as necessary provocation but ultimately had to pull it.

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4. Why It Raised Concerns

On paper, the Wahed partnership aligns with the values Khabib articulated during his career: no gambling, no usury, no alcohol money. In practice, the combination of religious branding and formal rebukes makes it seem like “halal” has become another marketing hook.

Online Islamic‑finance communities have flagged red flags: aggressive advertising, operational glitches, and a sense that some customers did not fully grasp the risks they were taking on precisely because they trusted the Sharia label and Khabib’s involvement.

There is no evidence that Wahed is a rug pull or that Khabib is secretly siphoning money from his followers through it. The platform exists, the portfolios are real, and many users are satisfied. The controversy lies elsewhere: in the way his moral authority is repeatedly mobilised to sell complex, sometimes volatile financial products to people who may conflate “permissible under Islamic law” with “prudent for my savings.”

In that sense, the Wahed deal is the most uncomfortable of all.

Scheme 3: October 2021 – GoMining Ambassador

1. How It Worked

In late 2021, Khabib signed on as a global ambassador for GoMining, a remote Bitcoin‑mining platform that promised small investors a share of industrial‑scale mining profits without buying hardware or paying electricity bills. The sales pitch was that GoMining would handle all the messy, technical parts of running mining farms; fans just had to buy into the tokenized system and watch their balance go up.

Khabib’s role was to stand between a technically difficult product and a non‑technical audience, reassuring them that this complex mining scheme was safe and legitimate because he was “part of the team.”

Then, in 2023, the partnership evolved into a direct product offering: the “Khabib NFT Collection.”

• The Pitch: These digital collectibles were allegedly backed by actual computing power.

• The Claim: Users were told that holding this NFT was equivalent to owning a digital slice of a Bitcoin data center. This ownership would supposedly entitle them to daily Bitcoin rewards and entry into an exclusive club of holders.

• The Method: This approach turned the complex process of running mining farms into a simple “clicker game” or a collectible item for fans.

2. The Profit

The financial mechanics of the partnership were designed to generate immediate, upfront profit for the backers and the ambassador, while placing the long-term risk entirely on the fans. GoMining banked on gaining an instant credibility upgrade in MMA‑obsessed markets. They earned upfront revenue by selling the NFTs during a difficult market.

Then, in early 2023, Khabib launched a branded GoMining NFT collection, each token supposedly “backed” by a fixed slice of Bitcoin mining power. The hook this time was more explicit: don’t just own a picture of Khabib—own an NFT that mines bitcoin for you. Buyers were told that holding one of these cards would entitle them to a daily payout of BTC, turning Khabib’s image into a synthetic mining rig on the blockchain. Exclusive “club” rhetoric and access perks were layered in, but the core promise was passive income anchored to his name.

3. The Backers

GoMining maintains limited transparency about its operations, with offices in Cyprus and the British Virgin Islands. For them, Khabib was the ideal on‑ramp: a devout, “no‑nonsense” champion whose brand screamed reliability in regions where regulators and consumer watchdogs are weak. The partnership slotted neatly into a pattern that others would later later repeat with the former UFC champion.

4. Why It Raised Concerns

Mining bitcoin and selling NFTs is not illegal. The trick is in how risk and reality are framed.

Retail buyers were sold exposure to “Khabib-backed” mining without any meaningful visibility. They could not audit where the physical machines were, what the true energy costs were, or how their share of profits was calculated.

By selling “mining power” as an NFT, the company decoupled the asset from the actual hardware. The user bought a digital receipt for a machine they will never see, controlled by a company they cannot audit.

The controversy lies in the fact that Khabib never had to explain the realities of Bitcoin mining, such as why most retail mining schemes underperform simply buying and holding Bitcoin. If the token value collapsed or the mining yield stagnated, the economic pain remained with the fans who had trusted his face.

If GoMining ckloses or changes the terms of service, the NFT instantly becomes a a worthess digital receipt for a service that no longer exists.

But despite these risks, GoMining is still active. It reports having sold hundreds of thousands of digital miners and millions of dollars’ worth of Bitcoin earned by holders.

Scheme 4: October 2024 - Ice Open Network (ION) Global Ambassador

1. The Scheme

In October 2024, Khabib joined Ice Open Network (ION) as Global Ambassador. ION is a blockchain startup that runs a mobile app where users can earn cryptocurrency by tapping their phone daily.

The pitch was simple: Users could “mine” ICE tokens by simply logging in daily, tapping a button, and inviting friends. Again, there was no expensive hardware, no technical knowledge required. Positioned as a gateway to crypto for the masses, the app claimed to have onboarded 20 million users by the time Khabib signed on.

The announcement was managed through official ION channels, featuring promo reels and Khabib’s statement about believing in the technology’s mission of user empowerment and data ownership.

The tap‑to‑mine model, however, raised real questions. Users weren’t solving cryptographic puzzles like Bitcoin miners. They were pressing a button daily, watching ads, and building referral networks. The core mechanic was engagement‑driven: rewards increased through social recruiting and consistent app usage.

2. The Profit

Controversy surrounding ICE’s scheme started months before Khabib joined as ambassador. In January and February 2024, ION introduced mandatory quizzes and identity verification requirements. Users had to pass a 21-question test about the project and submit government ID to prove they weren’t bots.

While these steps are standard, reviews on Trustpilot from the time see users claim that failing the quiz or not uploading the ID allegedly saw accounts locked and mined coins automatically deducted.

Eight months after this crisis, Khabib joined as Global Ambassador during Binance Blockchain Week in Dubai. Since then, he has continued to appear at ION events and to promote their new products.

So did users stand to make money? Yes, and reviews from TrustPilot became a lot more positive around the time Khabib joined. But ION only allowed a minority of tokens to be mined in this way. 28% of tokens were reserved for user “mining”, 25% went to the founding team, and 15% went to governance, according to their own documentation.

But even so, the model appeared cost‑free on the surface. The “cost” was time, attention, and data as users consented to data collection and ad viewing as part of the experience. Whether this represented a fair exchange or a structural disadvantage depends on the eventual utility of ICE tokens and the project’s long‑term viability.

3. The Backers

ION was founded by Alex Iulian and a Dubai‑based team. The project positioned itself as an emergent chain competing for attention in a brutal Layer‑1 market. The team has not attracted any major controversy to date, beyond the ones laid out above.

In January 2025, ION stopped the tap-to-mine mobile app and shifted all focus to building their “mainnet”, a full blockchain network. Since then, the token price has cratered, lowering the value of said tokens.

4. Why It Raised Concerns

Of all the crypto-endorsements on this list, Khabib’s endorsement of ION seems the most legitimate. There’s no proof ION’s founders planned to defraud users from the start. The verification system, while harsh, had a legitimate purpose, and the cratering of the tokens was due to the vulnerability of any coin.

Still, seeing Khabib endorse ION after famously refusing to take gambling sponsors during his fighting career was odd.

Scheme 5: November 2024 – A Jab at Conor McGregor

1. How It Worked

This may be the most bizarre attempt on this list. In late 2024, Khabib stepped into full meme‑coin territory by publicly backing CONVICT, a token riffing on Conor McGregor being found liable for sexual assault at a Dublin civil court.

The pitch was pure internet theatre: a satirical coin claiming to be raising money for McGregor’s victims. There was obviously neither a white paper nor a business model. There was just a ticker symbol, a jokey narrative, and Khabib’s post declaring his “support”, which just really looked like another jab at his hated rival.

Khabib wasn’t even connected officially with CONVICT, as far as we know. His manager, Ali Abdelaziz, frequently posts from Nurmagomedov’s account, raising questions about whether Khabib himself made the decision or whether his camp orchestrated it.

2. The Profit

For low-liquidity coins like this, a single celebrity tweet can cause an exponential price spike. For whoever deployed CONVICT, Khabib’s nod was a jackpot. That flow alone was enough to send the price vertical, providing perfect exit liquidity for insiders who had quietly accumulated large allocations at near‑zero cost.
But for the buyers, the endorsement was the “Pump” and the inevitable reality was the “Dump.” When the momentum stalled, the price crashed, leaving retail fans holding bags of effectively worthless tokens while the deployers had already cashed out.

3. The Backers

CONVICT was not fronted by a recognizable company. This anonymity is crucial to the scheme: there was no entity to hold accountable, only Khabib’s face to point to when things went wrong.

The true financial beneficiaries remain unknowable. All transactions trace back to anonymous Solana wallets. It followed the standard anonymous‑dev meme‑coin blueprint: cheap deployment, thin liquidity, and social‑media‑driven discovery. This was a “wildcat” strike, with online chatter speculating it could have been arranged, with Khabib’s knowledge, a quick payout given in exchange for a well-timed tweet.

4. Why It Raises Concerns

Launching a meme coin is not inherently illegal. The concern is in how risk and reality are framed.

Retail buyers were sold a narrative of “justice” wrapped in Khabib’s endorsement without being told they were stepping into a thinly traded pool where a handful of wallets could nuke the price in a single transaction. By promoting such a volatile asset to a mainstream audience, Khabib was not taking any risk himself and was not explaining the risk to his fans.

There is no public evidence that Khabib was paid for his endorsement. But the tweet got over 12,000 likes. And when the token’s value collapsed, the economic pain remained entirely with those who trusted the endorsement.

Scheme 6: October 2025 – MultiBank Group Partnership

1. The Scheme

In late October 2025, Khabib unveiled a sweeping partnership with MultiBank Group, a Dubai-based financial conglomerate, built around a new joint venture called MultiBank Khabib LLC and a token called $MBG.

The promise was grand: a “regulated” tokenized sports ecosystem where $MBG would power a network of Khabib-branded ventures. The most visible plan was to build 30 high-end gyms carrying his name.

This branding was clear to fans and retail buyers. This wasn’t a meme coin; it was a regulated bridge between real-world assets and crypto, with an undefeated champion standing alongside a global broker.

This time, Khabib was not just a spokesman but a named partner through MultiBank Khabib LLC, implying equity, revenue‑sharing, and insider token allocations ahead of most retail buyers.

2. The Profit

The $MBG token went on sale months earlier. It began with a pre‑sale in mid‑July 2025 at $0.35, and then ran up to a reported all‑time high near $2.45 in August, before sliding hard by October.

Khabib entered the picture in late October after the peak and while the token was already unwinding. It means he didn’t cause the initial run-up, nor could he be credited for the early windfalls. Instead, his presence gave the project institutional sheen just as the price waned.

This means that MultiBank still benefited from his reach, their token had a flagship star, and the venture could selling a specific vision. But over a month after the announcement, the $MBG token price hasn’t climbed at all.

3. The Backers

The backer here is a well-known entity, MultiBank Group, founded by Naser Taher and operating out of Dubai with a long list of licenses and regulatory claims. Its branding is all about differentiating itself from the junkyard of meme coins and failed efforts. However, a lot of questions remain about how this sports empire, backed by MultiBank Group, will actually work.

The deal structure granted MultiBank exclusive rights to develop and promote projects under Khabib’s brands and put $MBG at the center as the supposed “backbone” that would someday run access, rewards, and participation across these assets. It reads a bit like a sports‑meets‑finance moonshot.

4. Why It Raised Concerns

MultiBank Group is a real broker, the token is real, and the joint venture was announced in the open. But that initial transparency means the risk was easy to miss.

The $MBG model sells tomorrow’s assets using today’s token. The gym sare projected, the revival of Khabib’s Eagle FC MMA promotion is projected, the value for token holders is projected.

A lot remains to be answered. What gyms are being funded? Are they under construction? What revenue streams will exist? How will these revenue steams flow to $MBG token holders? Because the buyers are not purchasing shares or stakes in real buildings.

The timeline of $MBG’s performance adds to the concern. Its value ran up before Khabib arrived, cratered, and has remained flat since he joined up.

Scheme 7: November 2025 – The Papakha NFT Auction

1. The Scheme

On November 22, 2025, Khabib launched a 24‑hour auction of 29,000 digital papakhas, cartoonish representations of the traditional Avar sheepskin hat he wore throughout his career, through Telegram’s in‑app marketplace.​

The emotional hook was clear: this was presented not as another NFT but as a way to hold a piece of Khabib’s and his late father Abdulmanap’s legacy. The marketing explicitly leaned on family and faith. In promotional materials, Khabib stated: “My father passed this down to me. Now, I want to pass this down to you.”

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The sale structure saw 290 bidding rounds, each lasting five minutes, with 100 items allocated per round to the highest 100 bids​. The bids were made in Telegram Stars, an in‑app currency convertible to Toncoin or real-world currency. The scheme brought in around $4.35 million in just under 25 hours.

Telegram took a platform fee, its in-app currency gained in visibility, as did the associated TON coin, and Khabib pocketed a major payday for lending his image and his father’s story to the campaign​.

Unlike earlier schemes, there was no yield promise or roadmap. Once the sale was finished, the job was done.

3. The Backers

This operation leveraged the infrastructure of Telegram and Pavel Durov’s TON Network, two Russian‑origin tech platforms operating from Dubai-based account, in alignment with a Dagestani celebrity.​

This is not the first such scheme on Telegram. Limited Telegram gift collections (like Durov’s Caps and Plush Pepes) have seen floor prices in the tens of thousands of TON, with individual Pepes selling for $150,000 equivalent​.

But this was the most visible example fo this scheme, tapping into Khabib’s global fandom and his unique cultural heritage.

4. Why It Raised Concerns

Technically, buyers got what they paid for: a tokenized collectible of a hat in their Telegram account, tradable as as an NFT.​

The grift lies in how the product was framed and then scrubbed. Once the sale concluded and criticism mounted, Khabib’s promotional posts and videos quietly disappeared from Instagram and X. This “sell‑and‑scrub” pattern triggered accusations from McGregor, who accused Khabib of scamming fans and exploiting his late father’s memory for profit.​

Khabib responded by dismissing McGregor as an “absolute liar” and emphasizing the project’s genuine intent as a cultural keepsake rather than a profit‑driven scheme.​

But Khabib and his partners did not emphasize that these items had no guaranteed resale value, no protection from price collapse, no utility beyond status display. Instead, they framed it as being about family, faith, and culture.

So where’s the crime?

Khabib is not the first retired star to drift into crypto, but the volume and character of these deals make his case unusually contentious. Across four years, the pattern repeats: his name and moral authority are attached to high‑risk, thinly regulated products that promise access, yield, or cultural closeness, while the economic risk sits almost entirely with fans and small investors.

There doesn’t appear to be much of a selection process. Khabib’s photo and name have been plastered onto NFTs, tap‑to‑earn apps, meme coins, and tokenised empires.

None of this, on its face, amounts to criminal fraud. The companies exist, the tokens function, the NFTs are delivered, and in several cases the underlying projects are still operating.

And, true, these exact criticisms have been levied at NFTs since their inception and those gullible enough to buy the digital papashkas only have themselves to blame.

But Khabib has become very good at convincing his fans to part with their cash.

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After Chelsea delivered a masterful performance against Paris Saint-Germain at the 2025 FIFA Club World Cup final in July, the trophy ceremony should have been a straightforward affair.

Standing on a raised dais on the pitch, Chelsea captain Reece James received the winner’s trophy, as his teammates gathered around him for the climactic lift. But after presenting the championship trophy alongside FIFA president Gianni Infantino, Donald Trump continued to linger on stage, even as Infantino quietly departed.

The pause that followed was awkward enough to be visible on television, with Chelsea players glancing at one another as if unsure whether to wait for the American president to make his exit. Finally, goalkeeper Robert Sánchez, standing opposite Trump, gave James a signal to proceed.

What followed was a tableau both celebratory and oddly incongruous: Chelsea’s jubilant squad clustered around their captain, the president of the United States standing directly at the center of the shot, as though he too were part of the team’s triumph.

Chelsea may have stolen the show on the pitch, but Trump had found a way to remain the centre of attention.

The incident baffled several of the players, who couldn’t make sense of the president’s prolonged presence.

“I knew he was going to be here, but I didn’t know he was going to be on the stand when we lifted the trophy, so I was a bit confused,” said Cole Palmer, who was named the player of the tournament.

The absurdity did not end there. Footage from the celebration appeared to show Infantino giving Trump a winner’s medal to look at, which he promptly pocketed in his suit blazer. Even the championship trophy was a replica of the original trophy that Trump insisted on keeping in the Oval Office.

Meanwhile, the event had all the makings of a Trump spectacle. Attorney General Pam Bondi and Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem – the woman responsible for the government’s crackdown on immigration – were also in attendance alongside the president.

While the Club World Cup was billed as both the debut of FIFA’s revamped tournament and a trial run for America’s ability to host the 2026 World Cup, the event quickly revealed itself as something else entirely: a MAGA-tinged spectacle, blending politics, entertainment, and cultural symbolism in a way that feels more like an unabashed display of American exceptionalism than a sporting event..

Far from a neutral showcase of sporting infrastructure, it highlighted the unusually close ties between the U.S. government and FIFA’s leadership and offered an unmistakable preview of how Trump and his administration are likely to leverage the World Cup for their “America First” ambitions.

The rise of Trump and Infantino after FIFA’s corruption scandals

To understand how this dynamic took shape, we need to look at the parallel rise of Trump and FIFA president Gianni Infantino – two figures who built their power on controversy and populist appeal – and how their paths converged for the 2026 World Cup.

In May 2015, the U.S. Department of Justice unveiled a sweeping corruption case in world football. At its request, Swiss police raided the Baur au Lac hotel in Zurich during the FIFA Congress and arrested seven senior football officials. The same day, the FBI and IRS-CID searched CONCACAF’s headquarters in Miami.

In total, 14 individuals – including FIFA officials and sports marketing executives – were charged with racketeering conspiracy, wire fraud, and money laundering involving more than USD 200 million in bribes and kickbacks.

In 2015, the American FBI stepped up to police the scandals in FIFA and the regional American football federation, Concacaf. Ten years later, the relationship between the U.S. and FIFA is entirely different. Photo: Joe Skipper / Getty Images

The probe centred on claims that FIFA executives accepted millions of dollars in kickbacks in exchange for awarding lucrative media rights as well as the hosting rights for the World Cup. The U.S. Department of Justice unsealed indictments against more than a dozen officials, describing FIFA as operating like a criminal enterprise.

Among the most scrutinized deals were the bids that awarded the 2018 World Cup to Russia and the 2022 tournament to Qatar, which investigators alleged were marred by vote-buying schemes and financial inducements.

The scandal shook world football, leading to a wave of arrests in Zurich and the resignation of long-time FIFA president Sepp Blatter.

The following year marked a dramatic shift. In February 2016, Gianni Infantino was elected FIFA president, triumphing over the Asian Football Confederation President Sheikh Salman bin Ebrahim al-Khalifa by campaigning on a platform of reform and transparency. He promised to clean up the organisation’s reputation and steer it away from the corruption scandals of the Blatter era.

“I want to be the president of all of you. I travelled through the globe and I will continue to do this. I want to work with all of you to restore and rebuild a new era where we can put football in the centre of the stage,” Infantino told the delegates following his victory. “Fifa has gone through sad times, moments of crisis. But those times are over.”

Nine months later, in November 2016, Trump was elected president of the United States of America, ushering in an administration with a very different approach to global engagement. Where the FBI investigation had framed FIFA as a case study in transnational crime and an example of U.S. willingness to police global institutions, Trump’s administration had other plans. Instead of isolating FIFA, his administration would soon seek to work with its leadership.

Almost as soon as he arrived in the White House in early 2017, Trump and his administration began championing a goal far removed from policy briefings or legislative battles – winning the right to host the 2026 FIFA World Cup.

“They were calling me constantly to try to get me to come onboard, but it only took one call because when I heard “World Cup,” I wanted to do it,” Trump said during a August 2018 press conference with Infantino.

However, their ambition faced a major obstacle in the form of the infamous “Muslim ban”– Executive Order 13769 and its successors – that Trump signed in January 2017, effectively banning foreign nationals from seven predominantly Muslim countries from visiting the U.S.

The executive order was widely condemned as discriminatory and raised international doubts about the United States’ suitability as a host nation. Aleksander Čeferin, then newly elected head of UEFA, European football’s governing body, suggested that Trump’s order could damage any US bid.

“If players cannot come because of political decisions, or populist decisions, then the World Cup cannot be played there,” he told the New York Times.

At the time, Infantino shared a similar opinion, arguing that the president’s policy was incompatible with FIFA’s regulations.

“Teams who qualify for a World Cup need to have access to the country, otherwise there is no World Cup. That is obvious,” Infantino said.

In an attempt at damage control, the Trump administration dispatched letters to FIFA affirming that “all eligible athletes, officials, and fans from all countries around the world would be able to enter the United States without discrimination”.

The administration also revoked and replaced the Muslim ban policy with another executive order that Trump labeled the “watered down, politically correct version” of the initial ban. It would remain in effect until President Joe Biden revoked it in 2021.

In the end, a joint bid between the United States, Canada and Mexico was unveiled on April 10, 2017.

Jared Kushner, Trump’s son-in-law and senior adviser, was pivotal in obtaining support from Saudi Arabia for the U.S.-Canada-Mexico bid to host the 2026 FIFA World Cup. Photo: Pool / Getty Images

Key to securing this contentious win was Jared Kushner, Trump’s son-in-law and senior adviser. Kushner’s behind-the-scenes diplomacy included personal lobbying of Saudi and Bahraini leaders.

In a discreet 2017 visit to Saudi Arabia, Kushner reportedly stayed up until 4 a.m. negotiating with Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman to secure Saudi support - and influence other Gulf nations to back the U.S.-Canada-Mexico bid over favoured challenger Morocco.

His efforts were described as pivotal, even if publicly downplayed, with reports noting that Kushner repeatedly hosted the U.S. Soccer Federation at the White House to coordinate bid strategy.

Beyond the bid itself, Kushner remained instrumental in shaping the tournament’s final logistics. According to The Athletic, he arranged a strategic lunch bringing together FIFA President Infantino, regional politicians, and major New York business leaders to anchor the MetLife Stadium in New Jersey – home of the 2026 final – as the centerpiece venue.

This kind of elite networking further cemented the infrastructure and political groundwork necessary for Trump’s vision of the World Cup as a successful, high-profile national project.

“We’re going to have to extend my second term because 2026 – I’m going to have to extend it for a couple of years,” Trump told the media before boarding the Marine One helicopter with Infantino in September 2019.

“I don’t think any of you would have a problem with that. But I hope you’re going to remember me in 2026.”

Trump puts his presidency at the centre of World Cup preparations

In May 2025 – four months into Trump’s second term in office – the president hosted the first meeting of the newly minted 2026 World Cup task force.

Established to oversee preparations for the 2026 World Cup, the task force is chaired by Trump and includes most of his cabinet, including Vice President J.D. Vance and Secretary of Homeland Security Kristi Noem.

During the meeting, Trump boasted that the 2026 World Cup will be the “biggest, safest and most extraordinary soccer tournament in history.” During the same meeting, the vice president made clear the limits of hospitality for tourists who visit the US for the tournament.

“We want them to come. We want them to celebrate. We want them to watch the game. But, when the time is up, they have to go home. Otherwise, they’ll have to talk to [DHS] Secretary Noem,” Vance said.

At the first meeting of the 2026 World Cup task force, the American president and vice president extended a warm welcome to football tourists – provided they go home, when the tournament is over.

Vance’s comments are in reference to one of the Trump administration’s core policies: a mass deportation campaign targeting hundreds of thousands of immigrants and, in some cases, U.S. citizens. Under Noem’s DHS leadership, U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) has been carrying out raids on cities across the country, targeting everything from places of worship to Home Depot parking lots.

In some cases, the administration has used obscure laws such as the 1798 Alien Enemies Act to quickly deport suspected illegal immigrants with limited or no due process. Several hundred were sent to a high-security prison in El Salvador reserved for gang members.

As of April 2025, the Trump administration has claimed to have deported 140,000 people, though data suggests it is roughly half that amount. Nevertheless, the DHS claimed in August that 1.6 million “illegal aliens have left the U.S.”

The Trump administration’s anti-immigrant crackdown even extended to football, as ICE agents attended matches during the Club World Cup.

“As is customary for an event of this magnitude with national security implications, ICE will be working alongside our Department of Homeland Security and Department of Justice partners to help ensure the safety and security of the event,” an ICE spokesperson told The Miami Herald.

Beyond immigration, the Trump administration’s gutting of federal institutions as part of its policy to reduce government spending will likely have a serious impact on the country’s ability to successfully host the 2026 tournament.

According to the U.S. Travel Association, the country’s air travel system is not built to handle the incoming surge of travellers expected ahead of the World Cup and the 2028 Olympic Games in Los Angeles. The association released a report in February 2025, which calls for security reforms, the modernisation of air traffic control technology, and improvements to visa processing.

And then there is the trade war that Trump launched against Canada, its closest ally, and Mexico – both of whom are co-hosts of the 2026 World Cup.

Beyond the economic concerns, Trump’s trade war with the World Cup co-hosts goes against the spirit of an event that has long been propagated as a unifying force. It could also raise security concerns, as the breakdown in diplomatic relations could lead to obstacles in security coordination.

Nevertheless, both FIFA and Trump have continued to present the event as the greatest spectacle in sporting enterprise.

“America will welcome the world. There will be millions of people coming, Mr. President – millions of people,” Infantino said in March 2025.

“And, more than that, we will give joy and happiness to the entire world. And this is priceless, definitely. So, thank you, Mr. President for setting up this task force because it is important that everyone that comes to America feels safe, feels welcome, and that’s why it’s important that the government puts together this White House task force, chaired by the President (of the United States) himself.”

Infantino and Trump forge a political alliance through football

“Football needs responsible leadership, not emperors.”

So declared FIFPro, the global football players’ union, after the 2025 Club World Cup. The statement came in response to FIFA president Gianni Infantino’s decision to exclude the union from FIFA’s discussions about player welfare during the Club World Cup final – another example of the autocratic tendencies that have defined his reign.

But Infantino’s ambitions now extend far beyond football’s internal politics. His most audacious gamble, the 2026 World Cup, has bound him to Donald Trump, for whom football is not just sport but a political instrument.

Trump has always understood sport as a battlefield in the American culture wars. He attacked kneeling NFL players as “unpatriotic,” cast the NBA as “disrespectful,” and presented himself as the lone defender of a traditional, flag-waving vision of American sport. Football, the world’s game, offers him something different: not just a domestic wedge issue but a global spectacle that can be reframed to serve his nationalist narrative.

For Trump, the 2026 World Cup is the perfect stage. It allows him to claim credit for bringing the world to America, to present the U.S. as the indispensable host nation, and to contrast “American greatness” with what he depicts as weak, declining Europe or unstable Latin America.

He can drape the event in patriotic symbols, insist that it proves his “America First” agenda works, and use the tournament’s massive audiences to dominate the domestic political conversation in an election cycle.

Infantino quickly realised Trump’s utility. He cultivated a political bromance with the U.S. president – attending his inauguration, visiting him in the Oval Office, joining him on a Middle East jaunt, and offering gifts tailored to flatter the president’s ego. He even won over the Democratic-led cities that will host the majority of the matches without upsetting his White House allies.

Infantino is a consummate political operator, untroubled by the company he keeps so long as it serves his ambitions. He partnered with the Kremlin to stage the 2018 World Cup, leaned on Qatar’s monarchy to deliver the 2022 edition, and has since aligned himself with Saudi Arabia and its de facto ruler, Mohammed bin Salman – whose backing has underwritten Infantino’s grand projects, including the expanded Club World Cup.

Infantino’s relationship with Trump is similarly transactional but essential: Infantino needs Trump’s blessing to secure FIFA’s place in America, and Trump needs Infantino to deliver the kind of global spectacle he can rebrand as an American triumph.

The mutual dependence is stark. Infantino sees the U.S. as the crown jewel of his “new era of football,” the market that can deliver both revenues and legitimacy. Trump sees FIFA as a propaganda machine – an organisation willing to let him bask in stadium ceremonies, claim symbolic victories, and turn football into another front in the culture wars.

If NFL players’ protests made them villains in Trump’s narrative, the World Cup offers him an opposite symbol: foreign athletes and fans flocking to America, paying tribute – whether willingly or not – to its greatness.

Nevertheless, Infantino’s bet on Trump and the 2026 World Cup isn’t a guaranteed win.

Trump’s crackdown on immigration could chill international attendance figures and weaken the football czar’s claims that the tournament will be biggest spectacle the sport has ever seen. The ongoing trade war between the U.S. and its neighbours and fellow co-hosts Canada and Mexico, could also have a serious impact on the event, dispelling the notion of “unity” that FIFA preaches.

Still, Infantino has defended his closeness with Trump, insisting that maintaining the relationship is essential to the World Cup’s success. In doing so, he has tethered FIFA’s future to the whims of a president who has weaponized sport as a pillar of his MAGA ideology. For Trump, football is not merely a game but a stage – an opportunity to reinforce his political narrative, to claim credit for the tournament’s scale and spectacle.

The World Cup will be marketed as a celebration of football. But at its core, it is a political pact: Infantino’s empire depends on Trump’s blessing, and Trump’s nationalist project finds the perfect megaphone in Infantino’s FIFA.

This article was first published in October 2025 as part of a research project for Play the Game.

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Last week, Adam Kadyrov—the 18-year-old son of Chechen strongman Ramzan Kadyrov—came of age under Russian law. To mark the milestone, Kadyrov hosted a lavish party attended by Chechnya’s elite, including the teenager’s glorified babysitter, UFC middleweight champion Khamzat Chimaev.

Also present as a guest of honour was Jon Jones, former two-division UFC champion and widely regarded as one of the organization’s greatest fighters.

In a video shared on Kadyrov’s social media channels, Jones can be seen partying alongside his Chechen hosts. He danced the traditional Lezginka folk dance and posed for photo-ops that make up part of the ritual that fighters undergo when they visit Chechnya at Kadyrov’s behest. Footage also showed Jones playfully grappling with Kadyrov during their first encounter and testing out rocket launchers and machine guns with the warlord’s heirs.

Adam, who heads his father’s security department and oversees the Chechen Interior Ministry, has a history of inviting his favourite fighters to attend his birthday. In 2022, a trio of former UFC champions—Henry Cejudo, Justin Gaethje and Kamaru Usman—attended Adam’s birthday, where they were pictured testing out grenade launchers and assault rifles at the Russian Special Forces University in Chechnya. The facility is used to train Russia’s special forces units, including those participating in the war, and is currently supervised by Adam himself.

While it was the first time that Cejudo or Gaethje had accepted such an invitation from Kadyrov, it was the third time that Usman had visited Chechnya since 2020. In previous trips, the former UFC middleweight champion also took part in sparring sessions with Kadyrov’s teenage sons, including Adam.

Beyond his association with world class MMA fighters, Adam has courted controversy by getting married before reaching legal age and for assaulting Nikita Zhuravel, a Russian prisoner accused of burning the Holy Qur’an. Graphic footage showed pummelling his defenceless victim with a series of knees and punches reminiscent of techniques used in MMA (Adam was trained by former UFC fighter Abdul-Kerim Edilov, who was later exterminated by Kadyrov’s henchmen once he fell out of favour). Zhuravel, who was in Chechen custody at the time, cowered in the fetal position with little choice but to endure the attack. The Kremlin, meanwhile, refused to condemn Adam’s actions.

Zhuravel’s beating underscored the nepotistic power structures in Chechnya, a semi-autonomous republic in the North Caucasus region which Kadyrov has ruled with an iron grip for 18 years. Kadyrov has been accused of assassinations, abductions, torture, extrajudicial killings, and brutal crackdowns that specifically targeted the local LGBTQ+ community. He is also a staunch ally of Russian President Vladimir Putin and has deployed thousands of his troops to fight on the front lines of Moscow’s invasion of Ukraine, including fighters affiliated with his Akhmat MMA fight club.

Sports in the North Caucasus region are not just used for entertainment purposes, but for political gain and the strategic realization of particular ambitions. For Kadyrov, athletes are versatile tools used to whitewash crimes and human rights abuses, exercise control over a population and even as a sports socialization tactic to impose a fabricated model of Chechen machismo. By exposing his sons to elite fighters like Chimaev and Jones, Kadyrov was grooming them as suitable heirs to his regime—a vital step given the persistent rumours of Kadyrov’s ill health.

During the few seconds that Kadyrov and Jones grappled on video, Kadyrov looked visibly fatigued and out of breath, marking a significant deterioration from the Instagram-ready workout videos he was once famous for. Prior to that, Kadyrov also appeared weak and frail and he greeted Chimaev at the airport after winning the UFC middleweight title. Independent Russian media have reported in recent months that Kadyrov is grooming Adam as his successor and exploring legal or political avenues to transfer power. However, Russian law does not allow government positions to be passed directly to family members.

As for Jones, he eagerly embraced his role as propagandist for Kadyrov’s regime. He tested rocket launchers at the Russian Special Forces University, which prepares soldiers for the frontlines in Ukraine. He praised Chechnya and Kadyrov’s rule in interviews with local media, prompting the warlord to post on social media that he was “sincerely grateful to him for visiting the Chechen Republic!” He even posed as a prospective buyer of Chechen real estate, posing for photos and videos inside a brand new apartment and looking over brochures. According to NIYSO, a Chechen opposition movement, Jones was used to fool Chechens into investing in the new developments.

“Apparently, the sale of apartments in the new district is not going as successfully as the occupying authorities would like,” read NIYSO’s statement on Telegram. “The completion of construction largely depends on sales figures. Therefore, all methods are being used. Instagram is already flooded with dozens of realtors trying to sell apartments in Grozny to any buyers. And the news about Jones, by design, is supposed to motivate others to take this (extremely foolish) step.”

Despite his status as arguably the greatest fighter to compete in the UFC, Jones’ legacy is marred with arrests and legal incidents. The former UFC champion was charged with a DWI in 2012 after smashing his Bentley into a utility pole in New York. Then, in April 2015, Jones was involved in a felony hit-and-run where he fled the scene after hitting a pregnant woman’s car. The woman had sustained injuries from the accident, but, according to witnesses, Jones fled the scene after shoving cash in his pockets. Despite facing 18 months in jail for the felony, Jones avoided jail time and instead received 18 months of supervised probation.

Unfortunately for Jones, his problems did not end there. While on probation for his felony charge in 2016, Jones was stopped in Albuquerque and given five tickets, including one for drag racing. The well-documented incident was captured on body cam footage.

Then, in October 2019, Jones took a plea deal after pleading no contest to disorderly conduct in an incident with a cocktail waitress at a strip club. He had originally pleaded not guilty to a charge of battery after being accused of kissing and choking the waitress before slapping her in the genital region.

Hours after the Hall of Fame induction in 2021, Jones is arrested in Las Vegas and charged with misdemeanor battery domestic violence and injuring or tampering with a vehicle, a felony. The charges were dropped after Jones agrees go to plead nolo contendere to a misdemeanor charge of destroying the property of another.

Beyond his string of arrests and concerning legal incidents, Jones has also failed two separate drug tests administered by the United States Anti-Doping Agency (USADA), which facilitates testing for the UFC. He was suspended on both occasions.

While Jones is technically retired, the former champ has been angling for a spot on the UFC White House event next year. In the meantime, he decided to pass the time in Chechnya, where he was likely paid handsomely for his services.

“Who foots the bill for all this?” asked NIYSO in one of their posts on Jones’ visit. “Of course, it’s paid from the budget and the pockets of ordinary Chechens. Jones, like those before him, would never have come to Grozny if he hadn’t been offered a huge sum of money.”

Jones made sure Kadyrov got his money’s worth. During his meeting with the warlord in his Grozny palace, he leaned toward the translator between them and said: “Anything [Kadyrov] needs from me while I’m here, I’m all yours.”

Sports Politika is a media platform focusing on intersection of sports, power and politics. Support independent journalism by upgrading to a paid subscription ( or gift a subscription if you already have your own). We would appreciate if you could also like the post and let us know what you think in the comment section below.