European Rights Group Challenges FIFA Over World Cup Integrity
Europe’s leading human rights organisation has questioned the integrity of the World Cup, urging FIFA to establish a more robust framework for the 2030 edition which will be played mostly in Spain and Portugal.
In a scathing open letter to FIFA published hours before the final between Spain and Argentina in East Rutherford, New Jersey, Alain Berset, the head of the 46-nation Council of Europe, warned: “The next crisis has already begun. It has two names: money and power.”
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Mr Berset, a Swiss politician who has twice served as president of FIFA’s home country, highlighted FIFA’s controversial decision to suspend a ban for United States forward Folarin Balogun.
This suspension, which allowed Balogun to play against Belgium in a quarter-final match that Belgium won 4-1, followed pressure from US President Donald Trump.
“When the rules bend under pressure, every result is open to doubt,” Mr Berset wrote. “Political influence has also moved onto the field. The sanction suspended mid-tournament came after a head of state called the president of FIFA.”
In his letter, Alain Berset pointed to FIFA suspending a ban for United States forward Folarin Balugun while under pressure from U.S. President Donald Trump (AP Photo/Jacquelyn Martin)
European football body UEFA also fiercely criticised the ruling, stating it “crossed a red line” in the sport’s rule of law, with FIFA yet to publish its reasoning.
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Further concerns were raised regarding FIFA’s $150 million sponsorship deal with ADI Predictstreet, a prediction market company formed just one week before the agreement was signed in April. FIFA also holds other commercial deals with the gambling industry for this World Cup.
Mr Berset criticised prediction betting as rewarding insider trading, noting it allows wagers on “moments a single player can produce without changing the score.”
He concluded: “It is an open door to fraud. And this World Cup has opened the door wider.”
FIFA’s disciplinary ruling on Balogun was also fiercely criticized by European soccer body UEFA, which said the decision ‘crossed a red line’ in soccer’s rule of law and transparency (AP Photo/Manu Fernández)
Despite a formal working agreement signed in 2018 by FIFA President Gianni Infantino, who then spoke of shared values like “transparency, accountability, integrity, safety in sport and respect for human rights,” the Council of Europe aired its concerns publicly. The inter-governmental body, which created the European Convention on Human Rights, aims “to promote democracy, human rights and the rule of law across Europe and beyond.”
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Mr Berset also pointed to other issues, including the authority of referees being questioned, racist abuse of players – some from elected officials – and the proliferation of betting on “every pass, every card, every corner” in the first 48-team, 104-game World Cup.
The 2030 men’s World Cup will be largely staged in Europe, with Morocco co-hosting, and one match each in Argentina, Paraguay, and Uruguay to mark the centenary of the original 1930 tournament.
Concluding his letter, Mr Berset proposed: “A working dialogue that starts tonight, to build the integrity framework of the 2030 World Cup before it is played.”