FIFA must demonstrate with tangible evidence that the greatest strength of football lies in its ability to positively influence the world, not in yielding to political pressure. I have never been a footballer, but for nearly twenty years I coordinated initiatives at the United Nations that taught me just how far football can reach beyond the playing field.
For example, in Bangui, during a tournament organized by the United Nations peacekeeping mission, I watched Gloire à Dieu pass the ball to Moussa. The aim of the small tournament was to bring together young people from communities that had recently been enemies; only a few years earlier, their families had faced each other. The training, the matches, and daily interactions gradually narrowed distances that once seemed insurmountable. As in many other instances, football, without erasing the past, helped rebuild trust and the ties between people.
“Football, without erasing the past, helped rebuild trust and the bonds between people”
I confirmed this again in Rwanda, where football was used as an incentive for young people to attend school and access World Food Programme feeding programs, and in other African countries, where some of the best football players lent their prestige to the Roll Back Malaria global alliance to persuade families to safeguard their children from malaria. Sometimes football also helps save lives.
That experience explains my concern over the recent controversies surrounding FIFA and the impression that politics has penetrated this World Cup. The institution must respond with absolute transparency: if its rules have been applied correctly, it should explain it clearly; if mistakes were made, acknowledge them and bear the consequences. Much of its credibility depends on that response.
FIFA is an organization that works daily with governments, companies, and partners around the world. That proximity, though inevitable, should not compromise its independence nor derail it from its mission. Its main asset is not the World Cup, revenue, or commercial influence, but the ability of football to change attitudes and behavior.
“The institution must respond with absolute transparency: if there were mistakes, acknowledge them and bear the consequences”
The organization can use that influence, as it has done on other occasions, to encourage governments to invest more in health, education, child protection, gender equality, respect for LGBT people, peace, and development. That does not require meddling in partisan politics, but to put its global reach at the service of universal values.
To this end, it has a highly usable instrument: the FIFA Foundation. With a mandate and sufficient resources, the foundation could become one of the planet’s major philanthropic actors: few organizations can mobilize hundreds of federations, millions of players, international sponsors, and billions of fans around a single objective.
The foundation should occupy a central place in FIFA’s mission. For this, it needs resources commensurate with the scale of world football and governance even more open to independent personalities, recognized for their integrity and independence of judgment, capable of questioning the institution’s decisions when necessary and of contributing to a long-term strategy.
Communication campaigns and statements of intent are no longer enough. Not with this crisis. No other sport has a comparable mobilization capacity. Instead of allowing that force to be associated with political power, it is time to use it for the common good.
I have seen football bring together divided communities, take boys and girls to school, and contribute to saving lives. That is why I remain convinced that its most important victory is not decided solely on the pitch, but also in what it achieves off the field.
The team that takes this World Cup will bear a special responsibility. Its talent and results will inspire millions of fans, but the reach of its example does not have to end with the tournament. It could represent for an entire generation respect, solidarity, inclusion, and hope. Titles secure a place in the history of sport, but what a team does off the field can give that victory an impact far greater.
