Soccer vs. Politics: How Far Should Political Sanctions Go?
Where do we draw the line between sports and politics? Multiple events of global significance marked 2025, creating an atmosphere of tension among the world's nations. In such an environment, organizing an event that brings together millions of viewers from 48 different countries becomes an issue that goes beyond sports. The question of excluding teams that have committed widely regarded international law violations from the tournament inevitably places soccer in the same playing field as politics. It is necessary to think about the fairness, severity, and conditions of such sanctions, and their effect on the world of sport.
Concerns Revolving Around the FIFA World Cup 2026
One of the biggest concerns as of now remains the United States’ legitimacy as one of the FIFA World Cup hosts this upcoming summer. Representatives from around the world have expressed their concerns about perceived international law violations in Venezuela, as well as declarations made against the sovereignty of Greenland. Moreover, new visa regulations in the US have caused some stir because of their severity, although it must be underlined in this article that those restrictions do not include tourist visas. Currently, none of the allegations has had an impact on the organization of the World Cup or caused an official response from FIFA. It is very unlikely that a boycott will take place or that the U.S. will be stripped of hosting the event, regardless of the rising concerns.
Israel Inevitably off the Cup
Sometimes sport itself resolves potential political conflicts. That was the case for Israel, whose participation in the World Cup was questioned, but the team ended up not making it past the group stage, which ultimately solved the issue of their possible suspension from the global event. FIFA cleaned its hands regarding the Israel issue; it left the decision of the country’s participation to UEFA. Spanish politician Patxi López had called for the Spanish team to boycott the tournament if Israel qualified. Such a thing did not end up happening, but it did put into question the participation of one of the most favored teams in the cup.
Russia’s Multiple-Year Ban
In contrast to Israel, Russia’s participation in soccer events has been vetoed since the start of the war and invasion against Ukraine in 2022. Both FIFA and UEFA have banned Russia from participating in international soccer, which has prevented the national team from taking part in the 2022 World Cup and the 2026 World Cup. Since then, Russia has only played against two UEFA-affiliated teams: Serbia and Belarus, amongst other non-UEFA nations. FIFA was quick to suspend Russia, something that cannot be said of the previously mentioned Israel.
Final Thoughts
International bans in the world of soccer are not only due to political reasons, but also implemented in a political way. The interests of FIFA leak into the decision-making process that decides these suspensions. Consequently, the fairness of the coverage of these retaliations is very much questionable. Soccer means a lot to millions of fans across the world, who perceive their national teams as a banner of national pride and culture. A soccer team abroad is an ambassador of their nation, and is, although sometimes unfortunately, a political figure. The issue with suspensions is not the suspensions in themselves, but rather how they are issued. Certainly, this is something worth thinking about for all fans.
