FIFA's Theatre of Unity
Despite FIFA President Gianni Infantino's insistence that "football unites the world," the reality behind the theatre of unity was hard to ignore, writes Sharon Nadeem.
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FIFA President Gianni Infantino opened his speech at the 76th FIFA Congress in Vancouver on Thursday by announcing that Iran would play in the 2026 Men’s World Cup in the United States of America as planned, ignoring Iran’s request to move its matches to Mexico.
He explained why with a phrase he has used often since ascending to the presidency in 2016: “Football unites the world, FIFA unites the world. We unite the world.” More than 1,500 football officials sat under banners reading “Fair Play” and “Unite,” while the message echoed throughout the three-hour meeting.
“Welcome to a place where the world is not divided by borders, but united by purpose,” said Peter Augruso, president of Canada Soccer. Yet, the reality behind the theatre of unity was hard to ignore.
During the roll call confirming attendance of the 211 member associations, the announcer’s prompt, “Islamic Republic of Iran,” was met with silence. The only football association not present at the meeting after its federation president, Mehdi Taj — a former member of Iran’s Revolutionary Guard, which Canada views as a terrorist entity — was detained and questioned in Toronto after arriving with an approved visa. The delegation chose to return to Iran, citing “unacceptable behaviour” and “political maneuvering” by immigration officials. The FIFA Secretary General sent an official letter to Taj, apologizing for Canada’s behaviour towards the Iranian delegation and inviting him to a meeting in Zurich this month.
The diplomatic row unfolded against the backdrop of an unresolved war. Talks between the US and Iran, mediated by Pakistan, have largely stalled with both sides unable to reach a resolution on key issues like Iran’s nuclear enrichment or US sanctions relief. This week, Iran submitted a 14-point response to a U.S. proposal, demanding that the war be ended in 30 days, sanctions lifted, and U.S. forces withdrawn from the region. Trump said he would review but “can’t imagine that it would be acceptable.”
Trump’s ire has extended to football, with a veiled threat posted back in March. “The Iran national soccer team is welcome to the World Cup, but I really don’t believe it is appropriate that they be there, for their own life and safety.” Infantino’s announcement did not include how FIFA plans to address possible safety issues for Iran’s players, coaches and officials.
Concerns around human rights violations and discrimination surrounding the FIFA World Cup to be played in the US, Canada and Mexico are not limited to Iran. In the weeks leading up to Congress, a coalition of ten major human rights organizations, including Amnesty International, Human Rights Watch, the ACLU, and Reporters Without Borders, issued a cascade of reports documenting what they called a “human rights emergency” unfolding across host cities. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) arrested at least 167,000 people in and around the 11 US host cities in the first 50 days of the Trump administration.
Fans from four qualified nations, Haiti, Senegal, Côte d’Ivoire, and Iran, are banned from entering the US to watch their own countries play. LGBTQI+ supporters are saying it isn’t safe to be visibly present. And in Los Angeles, stadium workers are threatening to strike over federal agents being allowed inside venues.
“Despite the astounding numbers of arrests and deportations, neither FIFA nor the US authorities have provided any guarantees that fans and local communities will be safe from ethnic and racial profiling, indiscriminate raids, or unlawful detention and deportation,” said Steve Cockburn, head of economic and social justice at Amnesty International.
Infantino’s speech, like those of other FIFA officials, did not address the concerns or provide insight into how they will ensure the safety and protection of participants and attendees at the games. Instead, Infantino called for optimism and a focus on the positive.
“We have to be smiling, we have to be happy. There are enough problems around the world. There are enough people who try to divide all over the world. If nobody tries to unite, what will happen to our world?” said Infantino.
He made his own attempt at peacemaking by trying to stage a handshake between the delegates of the Palestine and Israel football associations after the representatives gave separate speeches addressing FIFA’s decision to take no action against Israeli settlement clubs.
Jibril Rajoub, the 72-year-old president of the Palestine Football Association (PFA), wearing a suit and a keffiyeh draped over his shoulders, called on FIFA to follow its own statutes.
“We do not ask FIFA to solve a political conflict. We ask FIFA to govern football,” said Rajoub.
The PFA’s 13-year battle to suspend Israel began in 2015, when it filed a motion citing FIFA’s statute prohibiting a member association from organizing football on the territory of another member association without permission. But at least six Israeli clubs based in illegal settlements in the West Bank have been competing in leagues organized by the Israel Football Association (IFA) without permission.
In 2017, FIFA’s own Monitoring Committee recommended that the IFA stop settlement clubs from operating within six months or face sanctions. But the FIFA Council, now under the newly elected Infantino, declined to implement the recommendations, stating FIFA “must remain neutral about political matters.”
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After a second formal complaint by the PFA, which included a claim of discrimination, FIFA sanctioned IFA for “offensive behaviour, violations of fair play, discrimination and racist abuse”. It fined the association around $190,000 and required it to display a banner reading “Football Unites the World – No to Discrimination” for three home matches.
But FIFA declined to rule on settlement clubs, stating that the “question of the West Bank is unresolved and remains contested under international law,” despite the International Court of Justice ruling Israel’s presence in the occupied territories as illegal in 2024. Rajoub addressed this directly at the Congress. “Football’s unity cannot be built on selective enforcement,” he said.
The IFA, represented by Vice President Basim Sheikh Suliman, an Arab-Israeli, defended itself at the Congress. “The Israel FA has supported the existence of the Palestinian FA since day one, and we still have the same position; we are proud of our squads and their squads,” said Suliman. This was the first time an IFA official has been given a formal speaking slot at a congress to address this case.
Speaking in Arabic, he emphasized that Arabs were playing in mixed Israeli football clubs and urged members to contribute to projects and initiatives that would further this unity.
“In football, there is no politics. Everyone has a right to play and compete,” he said.
Soon after, Infantino invited both representatives to shake hands, but Rajoub refused. The awkward two-minute exchange in which Infantino attempted to convince Rajoub went viral, the opposite of the photo op Infantino intended. PFA had previously informed FIFA that Rajoub would not agree to a staged handshake before he was even invited on stage.
Rajoub, who spent 17 years in Israeli prisons, explained his decision, pointing out that the IFA representative was defending and “whitewashing” the Netanyahu government. “Why would I shake hands with a man who is representing a racist and fascist government? He is not an acceptable partner to me,” he said.
Despite FIFA’s insistence on staying out of politics, the contradictory actions of its president often complicate the objective. In December 2025, at the World Cup draw, Infantino gave FIFA’s inaugural peace prize to Trump, presenting him with a gold trophy, medal and a certificate reading, “This is your prize; this is your peace prize.”
At the time of the award, Trump had overseen the deportation of over 500,000 people, threatened to annex Greenland and Canada, and was actively backing Israel’s military campaign in Gaza that killed more than 72,000 Palestinians, including 724 athletes.
FairSquare, a UK-based NGO, called it “an egregious abuse of power” and filed an ethics complaint, saying that awarding a prize “to a sitting political leader is in and of itself a clear breach of FIFA’s duty of neutrality.” The Norwegian Football Association recently backed the claim, calling for the FIFA Peace Prize to be abolished.
“We don’t think it’s part of FIFA’s mandate to give such a prize,” said Lisa Klaveness, president of the NFA. “We think we have a Nobel institute that does that job independently already,” she added.
But what the episode really revealed was how Infantino sees himself: not as the administrator of a sporting body, but as a statesman operating at the same level as the men he courts. He was “personally invited by Trump” to the Gaza peace summit in Egypt. And attended the inaugural Board of Peace meeting wearing a red hat with “USA” and the numbers 45-47, symbolizing the two non-consecutive Trump presidencies. At the meeting, he signed a formal partnership committing USD $75 million in FIFA funds to develop a “complete football ecosystem” in the Gaza Strip.
“Today, FIFA has definitely become a respected, a trusted, a truly global organization, sitting at the top tables in every aspect, from United Nations agencies to G20 to the World Economic Forum to governments to the private sector,” said Infantino.
FIFA requested a motorcade for Infantino for the congress on par with the security provided to the US president or the Pope. Vancouver’s police said no.
While Vancouver’s police department might not view Infantino as head of state, his reign is seemingly set to continue, with his re-election bid next year announced at the end of the Congress – a process that, in itself, has drawn criticism from sports governance groups like Play The Game and Fair Square. FIFA controls billions in development funds distributed directly to all 211 member associations, which each get one vote in the presidential election. With Infantino effectively controlling the purse strings, critics have questioned FIFA’s ability to conduct fair elections. Over the last 10 years, FIFA budgets have ballooned, about 8 times more than in 2016 when Infantino first took over. The budget for FIFA’s current cycle is now projected to generate $14 billion in actual revenues, with the 2026 World Cup alone projected to generate $8.9 billion – the highest ever from a single tournament.
“All the revenues that we generate from the World Cup go back to you, go back to the entire world and finance football in all of your countries,” said Infantino towards the end of the address.
What he did not mention was that the tournament generating this revenue offers the most expensive tickets in World Cup history – starting from $60 to nearly $11,000 per match – with FIFA collecting a 30% commission on every resale. The last four tickets to the final game sold for $2.3 million each.
How this World Cup will go and what we can expect to see is best summed up by Infantino’s closing remarks.
“In conclusion, let me just say that more, actually, much, much more will come,” he said. Get ready,”
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