WIBCI we look at some of the takeaways from THE WORLD CUP
Wouldn’t It Be Cool If FIFA was above kissing the ring?
SPORT is supposed to be impressive, entertaining, real and pure. Wikipedia lists the following as a definition for the word:
The precise definition of what differentiates a sport from other leisure activities varies between sources. The closest to an international agreement on a definition is provided by the Global Association of International Sports Federations (GAISF), which is the association for all the largest international sports federations (including association football, athletics, cycling, tennis, equestrian sports, and more), and is therefore the de facto representative of international sport.
GAISF uses the following criteria, determining that a sport should:
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have an element of competition
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be in no way harmful to any living creature
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not rely on equipment provided by a single supplier (excluding proprietary games such as arena football)
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not rely on any “luck” element specifically designed into the sport.
The World Cup was a chance for North Americans, more specifically, Americans, to better appreciate the global world they are a part of. To me Sport is something free of religion and politics, where the world agrees on the rules and enjoys together.
Wouldn’t It Have Been Cooler If we let the sport happen? If our leadership didn’t value winning over sport maybe teams would have been able to bring all their staff into the United States, maybe fans wouldn’t have had to leave bonds to ensure their departure, maybe we wouldn’t insist rules are overlooked for US, maybe we could have had grace and taken it upon ourselves NOT to take an advantage, maybe we could have had class, maybe we could have separated church and state a bit better.
That is where, in my eyes, the US could have been cooler. But this failure is also on the hands of FIFA. It starts with the ridiculous and thinly veiled ‘FIFA Peace Prize’ which was announced in Nov. 2025 and given out in December 2025 after a thoughtful MONTH long discussion. The empathetic and world altering achievements this award is supposed to symbolize, did not seem to be embodied by its first recipient. Huh, I thought FIFA was this giant of industry, a world power, an independent creature subject to the impulses on no one. Guess I was wrong.
They crumpled just like everyone else does.
I want to be represented by teams that win games because they were physically and mentally better. I don’t want to win because we bent the rules to our favor. Empty trophies and empty awards given by empty organizations. It was so obvious to me that the message was not about the world coming together for sport, it was about making money for a few. What a shame.
But unlike me I do have one positive takeaway. To me the best part of some of the World Cup games being in the United States. Is the amazement of foreigners that Americans are cool. Often the citizens of a nation are judged by their leadership. The best takeaway from the World Cup, for me, was the overwhelming outpouring of fans from other nations being so shocked that Americans were lovely.
Most of us are lovely, thank you for noticing.
Shameful FIFA president tarnishes World Cup with U.S. penalty reversal
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