None of this should be normalised and yet there is a sense that it has just been allowed to happen and will keep happening. Only body that has any real oversight of FIFA are the FAs, how many of them have ever spoken out? They are doing nothing for their publics to safeguard access to World Cup.

Several thousand dollars for a World Cup game from a host that made explicit promises to FIFA of the most expensive ticket being not much more than $1000, and that was at the final. None of the $20 tickets materialised. FIFA now in cahoots with profiteers. What is the point of it?

‘If you don’t count mass, preventable deaths of people in fires, you can argue there is little need to ensure people are safe from fires’

Important report from @amnesty.org "Humanity Must Win: Defending Rights, Tackling Repression at the 2026 FIFA World Cup." Follow Amnesty International's @stevecockburn.bsky.social for ongoing human-rights analysis vis-a-vis the World Cup. www.amnesty.org/en/documents...

Amnesty International say US facing a "human rights emergency" ahead of World Cup, with ICE posing "chilling threat" to fans and even players, with new report also focusing on suppression of demonstrations in Canada and Mexico www.independent.co.uk/sport/footba...

"The USA under President Trump ... is facing a human rights emergency marked by discriminatory immigration policies, mass detentions and arbitrary arrests by masked, armed agents" Somebody needs to remind @amnesty.org that Football Unites the World. www.amnesty.org/en/latest/ne...

"This World Cup is no longer the ‘medium risk’ tournament that FIFA once judged it to be… urgent action is needed to make sure the reality of this World Cup matches its original promise.” - @stevecockburn.bsky.social / @amnesty.org Read more⤵️

Over 500,000 people were deported from the USA in 2025 – six times more than will watch the World Cup final at the MetLife stadium in July. Our new report today outlines the real risks to fans and communities that FIFA and host governments must urgently address. 👇 www.amnesty.org/en/latest/ne...

🧵Toronto’s Mayor Olivia Chow put forward a motion to the City Council to block involvement from ICE during the #FIFAWorldCup www.insidethegames.biz/articles/ice...

Excellent stuff. The Huel offer always seems to be 'Take away the joy of lunch by pouring nutritious tar into your stomach, so you can get back to work quicker'. Future products may involve compressing sleep, speeding up your moments looking at nature, and automating reading on the loo.

Just been approached by Huel to see if I'll be part of their paid influencer campaign. I don't think they're quite across what I do for a living. (FWIW, and in the interests of having influence, I regard Huel as a soul destroying, miserable product and the death of all that is worth living for.)

It is a shameful day for the Olympic movement - the IOC is going to become the 'gender police' with mandatory sex testing and blanket bans on transgender and DSD athletes. Politically driven, one-size-fits-all rules that ignore rights and fuels wider social discrimination.

🧵“The Saudi Arabian government is actively seeking to have this ILO Complaint buried. However, despite some recent legal reforms, #SaudiArabia’s kafala sponsorship system has not been effectively dismantled", @stevecockburn.bsky.social Statement ILO's 356th Session www.amnesty.org/en/documents...

FIFA criticised by former ICJ judge after claiming Israel FA can’t be sanctioned due to the West Bank’s “unresolved legal status”. “FIFA have to be held accountable for deliberately contradicting an ICJ ruling on the Palestinian occupied territories.” www.nytimes.com/athletic/713...

“By refusing to take action against clubs based in Israeli settlements, FIFA has failed to enforce its own rules and is blatantly flouting international law.” @stevecockburn.bsky.social www.amnesty.org/en/latest/ne...

FIFA’s decision not to act over clubs in illegal Israeli settlements was a clear and shameful flouting of international law. The legal advice that FIFA commissioned should be published - last year we wrote to the firm providing it, but they declined to respond. www.amnesty.org/en/latest/ne...

My policies for the new normal: 1. build renewables and infrastructure as if we're in a war. 2. secure democracy with proper limits on funding. 3. regulate/tax big tech like the media companies they are. 4. invest in public health. 5. actually fight financial crime.

Some words on the AFCON debacle from a heritage perspective. My argument is simple: the more footballing outcomes are decided in boardrooms, the more the cultural power of the game is diminished. Read: open.substack.com/pub/joshblan...

Remember today, Eid al Fitr, is meant to be a day of joy and celebration to Muslims around the world. As hard as it may be, I hope everyone is able to celebrate with loved ones and enjoy the day. Eid Mubarak. 🌙

Excellent breakdown of another scandal. FIFA’s disciplinary committee judged the Israel FA’s racism to be so serious it merited “severe and exemplary sanction”. The sanctions? A paltry fine and having to show anti discrimination messages at matches.

As @ncgeehan.bsky.social demonstrates in this thread, the problem here is the discrepancy between the damning report drawn by Fifa's own Disciplinary Committee and the laughable "punishment" meted out to the Israeli FA in the end, when suspension should have been imposed.

Nine years out from the World Cup and Saudi Arabia is intimidating the unions to get a complaint at the ILO dropped. My latest for @josimarfootball.bsky.social. josimarfootball.com/2026/03/19/c...

🧵 FIFA has, again, chosen to ignore that they may be contributing to the expansion of illegal settlements in illegally occupied Palestinian territory, and therefore Israel’s human rights violations. Words of peace ring hollow if there’s no respect for human rights inside.fifa.com/organisation...

Here we are. FIFA ignores the International Court of Justice to declare settlements in the West Bank to be “unresolved and highly complex”, in order to ignore its own statutes and dismiss the complaint from the Palestinian FA.

Amidst a regional war, on the eve of Eid al Fitr, it seems FIFA will ignore international law and continue to allow clubs from illegal Israeli settlements in the West Bank to play with impunity. We await the justifications. Amnesty has called for Israel’s suspension www.amnesty.org/en/latest/ne...

📍Lebanon: Israel is deploying the same deadly playbook it used in 2024 in Lebanon to kill dozens of health workers and devastate healthcare services. Israel must halt attacks on healthcare workers, medical facilities and first responders. www.amnesty.org/en/latest/ne...

💯this

🚨 The #IOC is reportedly considering mandatory genetic sex testing and a blanket ban on trans and intersex women in sport. In response, the #SRA and over 80 organizations are calling for these plans to be immediately reversed. 🔗 Read the full statement: sportandrightsalliance.org/olympics-sex...

The government's "earned settlement" proposals "pull the rug from under those who have planned their lives and commitments and are contributing to our economy and to our society...I believe in a country where we keep our word and live up to our values” Absolutely right from Angela Rayner.

The most hollow of victories. The cup belongs in Dakar. www.cafonline.com/news/caf-app...

If this isn't enough for you, the UAE also has a ski slope in a shopping mall, and one of the highest rates of political prisoners per capita anywhere in the world.

Powerful & important in this moment of extreme Islamophobia to see NYC Mayor Zohran Mamdani sitting down for Iftar with Mohamed Diawara, the New York Knicks 20-year-old rookie. (& then sharing the joy of shooting hoops!). By @edgeofsports.bsky.social @thenation.com www.thenation.com/article/soci...

Football stopping to allow players to break their Ramadan fast is great. A simple gesture of respect and recognition. The morons - small but very audible - whistling in the crowd are a total disgrace. #CHENEW

Part II of @josimarfootball.bsky.social's deep dive into Newcastle United's new betting partner 8Xbet is now online. Another wild chapter added to the wild story of "unlicensed" operators and English football's addiction to them. josimarfootball.com/2026/03/10/c...

BREAKING: Five players defect from Iran women's football team and are being cared for in an Australian Federal Police safe house. Occurred early on Monday evening with police help. Their absence was discovered at team dinner. Players had been threatened by the regime and called "wartime traitors".

The Economist can’t quite bring itself to say ‘now’

Enough footballers were killed by the Iranian Islamist regime in the space of forty-eight hours in January to make up two full teams. Fifa’s response? Silence. By Zohreh Abdollahkhani josimarfootball.com/2026/03/05/s...

Publication day! My new book, "The Mbappé Project", is officially out today. It is not a biography, but an attempt to understand and explain how a football prodigy was built into a global star by his entourage and by himself, retaining control every step of the way. uk.bookshop.org/p/books/the-...

After OpenAI's deal with the Pentagon and massive donations to Trump's superpac, I've quit ChatGPT. You can too. See more. quitgpt.org#why @quitgpt.bsky.social

There is something very ugly about saying lower earners - for example the people who care for our families - are contributing less than high earners.

Your regular reminder than a large majority of voters - and overwhelming majority of Labour voters - favour giving settled migrants access to the welfare state after five years or less. The Home Secretary is not reforming rules in line with public opinion. She is doing the opposite.

Something extremely chilling about how Hegseth revels in the deaths of a 150+ sailors in international waters

Quite the re-definition of ‘pre-emptive strike’

Manchester United fans unveiled a pro-immigration banner during Sunday’s fixture against Crystal Palace in response to comments from minority owner Sir Jim Ratcliffe. More from @lauriewhitwell.bsky.social www.nytimes.com/athletic/707...

That part www.aljazeera.com/amp/news/liv...

What football could look like if governing bodies were democratically controlled and accountable.

Ahead of IOC decisions on the eligibility of trans and intersex athletes to compete, UN human rights experts give key statement opposing mandatory sex testing, blanket bans and closed-door decision making. 👇 www.ohchr.org/sites/defaul...

One of our volunteers in the US: "Can’t line up these CONCACAF Champions League sponsors any better/worse… Scotiabank, Saudi - Welcome to Arabia, Riyadh Air, Aramco, then PIF"

The number of children detained by ICE has increased six-fold under President Trump. On some days there have been more than 400 kids locked up. Over 1,300 have been held for over the Court-prescribed limit of 20 days. www.themarshallproject.org/2026/01/29/i...

ENDLESS SCREAM