…the recent controversies surrounding FIFA, and the perception that politics has found its way onto the pitch during this World Cup, concern me deeply. FIFA owes supporters, players and national associations complete transparency. If its rules have been applied correctly, it should explain its decisions clearly. If mistakes have been made, it should acknowledge them and take responsibility. That is how trust in major international institutions is built.
In Bangui, the capital of the Central African Republic, I attended a tournament organised by the United Nations peacekeeping mission. Young people from communities that had recently been on opposite sides of a violent conflict were playing together on the same team. I still remember the moment when Gloire à Dieu passed the ball to Moussa. It was an ordinary pass, yet it carried extraordinary meaning. Only a few years earlier, their families had been enemies.
The tournament was never just about football. Through training sessions, matches and informal encounters, young people gradually learnt to trust one another again. They discovered respect, cooperation and, above all, the possibility of a shared future. Football did not erase the past, but it helped rebuild confidence where it had once disappeared.
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I have seen that same power elsewhere. In Rwanda, football encouraged children to attend school, where they also received meals through the World Food Programme. Across Africa, some of the continent’s best-known players used their public profiles to support the Roll Back Malaria partnership, helping persuade families to protect their children against one of the world’s deadliest diseases. Football was not simply about scoring goals. It was helping to save lives.
That is why the recent controversies surrounding FIFA, and the perception that politics has found its way onto the pitch during this World Cup, concern me deeply. FIFA owes supporters, players and national associations complete transparency. If its rules have been applied correctly, it should explain its decisions clearly. If mistakes have been made, it should acknowledge them and take responsibility. That is how trust in major international institutions is built.
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But, in my view, the fundamental issue lies elsewhere. FIFA does not operate in isolation. It works every day with governments, businesses and partners around the world. That is both inevitable and necessary. What must never become acceptable, however, is allowing political or commercial pressure to undermine its independence or distract it from its mission.
I have seen football bring together communities that once saw each other as enemies. I have seen it encourage children to attend school. I have seen it contribute to saving lives. Those experiences leave little doubt in my mind that football’s greatest victories will never be measured only by what happens on the pitch. They will also be measured by its ability to bring people together and to make our world a little fairer, healthier and more peaceful.
FIFA’s greatest asset is not the World Cup itself. Nor is it its commercial success or global influence. Its real strength lies in football’s unparalleled ability to bring people together across borders, cultures, religions and political differences. Few institutions in the world can unite so many people around a common passion. With that privilege comes responsibility.
FIFA has an opportunity to use that influence to encourage governments to invest more in health, education, child protection, gender equality, respect for LGBT people, peace and sustainable development. Not by engaging in partisan politics, but by putting the global reach of football at the service of universal values.
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This is where the FIFA Foundation could make a real difference. The response to the current crisis should not be limited to legal arguments or institutional reforms. It should also be an opportunity to redefine FIFA’s broader purpose.
The organisation already has the right instrument. With greater ambition, the FIFA Foundation could become one of the world’s leading philanthropic organisations. Very few institutions have the capacity to bring together more than 200 national football associations, millions of players, global sponsors and billions of supporters behind common humanitarian goals.
The Foundation should no longer be seen as a peripheral activity. It should become one of FIFA’s central missions. That requires resources that match the scale of world football, but also governance that is open to independent voices with recognised integrity, credibility and the courage to challenge conventional thinking. Strong institutions benefit from people who are prepared to ask difficult questions and help shape a long-term vision.
The team that lifts this World Cup will inherit something far greater than a trophy. It will inherit the attention of millions of people across the globe. World champions have a unique opportunity to inspire beyond sport and to remind us that excellence is not measured only by titles, but also by the values that are defended and the example that is set.
Communication campaigns and carefully worded statements are no longer enough. Football possesses a unique power to inspire and mobilise people across every continent. It would be a missed opportunity if that influence came to be associated primarily with power struggles, commercial interests or political disputes, when it could become one of the world’s greatest forces for the common good.
I have seen football bring together communities that once saw each other as enemies. I have seen it encourage children to attend school. I have seen it contribute to saving lives. Those experiences leave little doubt in my mind that football’s greatest victories will never be measured only by what happens on the pitch. They will also be measured by its ability to bring people together and to make our world a little fairer, healthier and more peaceful.
The team that lifts this World Cup will inherit something far greater than a trophy. It will inherit the attention of millions of people across the globe. World champions have a unique opportunity to inspire beyond sport and to remind us that excellence is not measured only by titles, but also by the values that are defended and the example that is set.
That, perhaps, would be football’s greatest victory of all. Because football has always been, and will always be, far more than a game.
Hervé Verhoosel is an international affairs and strategic communications adviser. He spent more than 20 years in senior communications roles at the United Nations, including with the World Food Programme, WHO, UNITAID and the UN peacekeeping mission in the Central African Republic.
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