With six weeks to go before the Fifa World Cup kicks off in the US, Mexico and Canada on 11 June, it is already embroiled in world politics like never before.
The ticketing arrangements, pricing and allegations of Fifa profiteering have all come under scrutiny over the past few months. But with the current conflict in the Middle East, the tournament is rapidly becoming even more political, and controversial.
With the Iranian team already qualified for the tournament, the US President appears to be using the world’s biggest sporting event as a political pawn. A Trump envoy has reportedly asked FIFA to replace the Iranian team with Italy. This comes following a fall out between the two countries’ leaders over Trump’s criticism of the Pope, and Prime Minister Meloni’s refusal to support the US action against Iran.
Commentators see the effort to replace Iran with Italy as Trump trying to hold an olive branch out to Meloni – fortunately common sense has prevailed at FIFA, which has rejected the suggestion outright. Even football obsessed Italy took umbrage at the suggestion, with Italy’s economy minister Giancarlo Giorgetti calling it “shameful”. Iran’s ambassador stated, “Italy has earned its greatness in football on the pitch, not thanks to political privileges.”
While the US initiative was rejected outright, the very fact that the question was asked should be concerning for all fans as it demonstrates how intrinsically linked sports and politics has become. For a start, even to suggest it shows the perceived power that a host nation believes it holds. It is also surprising to learn that, under Fifa rules, the world governing body has “sole discretion” on what happens if a team withdraws or is excluded from the competition. This makes the US suggestion less outlandish than originally thought, as were Iran to take the decision to withdraw then Fifa can choose whoever they like to replace them.
Iran’s participation at the tournament has also been in the news, after the Iranian football federation confirmed it has been negotiating with Fifa to relocate its matches to Mexico rather than playing them in the US. This is after saying in March that Iran would not participate at all, citing safety concerns, but subsequently backtracking on this decision, and now stating that they will fully participate in the event.
It is quite extraordinary for a football tournament to be played in a country which is effectively at war with one of the participants, but that is the reality for this year. Will it demonstrate the power of football to act as a healing agent? Will Iranian success on the pitch be used as a propaganda tool in the country to shore up the regime? With matches scheduled against New Zealand, Belgium and Egypt it is not out of the question that Iran could have some success and progress to the knockout rounds. Were both Iran and the USA to finish second in their groups, the two sides would play each other in Texas on 3 July – which could be an interesting spectacle.
As ever, sport, politics and finance are intrinsically linked. With World Cup 2026 forecast to generate total revenues of $10.9 billion (a 56% increase compared to the 2022 tournament in Qatar), it has become a global financial sensation, and with big money comes vested interests and the inevitable politics accompanied by it. The decision by Fifa to select the US as host nation was undoubtedly driven by commercial considerations, but the political implications are significant.
For example, following Trump’s proclamations last year restricting or limiting the entry of nationals from 39 countries, fans from fans from Côte d’Ivoire, Haiti, Iran, and Senegal are all subject to the ban, and therefore unable to travel to support their team.
Fifa has also raised concern over the US administration’s immigration policies, with Fifa President Gianni Infantino reportedly considering asking President Trump for a moratorium on ICE raids across the country during the month-long tournament. Allegedly Fifa and the White House made a deal that ICE would not conduct enforcement during the Fifa Club World Cup last summer, which was considered to be a dress rehearsal for this summer’s tournament.
For most fans, many of these issues will dissipate when the action starts. For fans of those teams who have failed to qualify (like Wales), learning that Fifa has sole discretion over replacements we will be hoping that the Welsh FA is ready to pull out all the stops to lobby Fifa on the merits of Wales being included should any team need to withdraw!
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David Little is a Partner at Bishop & Sewell in our expert Sports Law and Corporate & Commercial
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The above is accurate as at 29 April 2026.
The information above may be subject to change. The content of this note should not be considered legal advice, and each matter should be considered on a case-by-case basis.
