It's the Money You Moron

We had such high hopes for Gianni Infantino. When the Swiss native took over the lead role at FIFA after Sepp Blatter's reign of crass fuck-you-pay-me corruption we were taken in by his cuddly comments on his love of the game and seeming support of the women's side of the world's sport. 

We were so naive. (We, obviously, is me. I don't want to admit it, so I'll paint you into the picture with my grammatical wizardry.)

The global soccer community has watched as FIFA has played men's World Cups in Russia and Qatar (in fairness to Infantino, those rights were awarded (corruptly - so, so corruptly) before he took over), as FIFA kowtowed to the Qataris and squashed players' right to support gay rights, as Infantino offered a bizarre, rambling speech during that competition ("I feel African, I feel gay..."), as scores of migrant workers perished while building the stadia for that stained World Cup, as - in an amazing coincidence - Infantino moved to Doha, as the men's World Cup was expanded to 48 teams despite the complexity that adds to the competitive structure, as multiple federations failed to pay their 2023 Women's World Cup squads on time, and as the Spanish federation demonstrated its institutional misogny even as its team WON THE WORLD CUP.

All of that gross, nakedly corrupt institutional venality was in keeping with FIFA's legacy. And this month's news about the 2030 men's World Cup and the knock-on implications for the 2034 competition were of a slimy piece with everything that's come before, and even more so.

On October 4, FIFA announced that the 2030 World Cup will be hosted by Spain, Portugal, and Morocco. (The 2026 event will be held in the U.S., Canada, and Mexico.) And in a nod to the event being held on the 100th anniversary of the first World Cup in Montevideo, the tournament will kick off with a single game being hosted by each of Uruguay, Paraguay, and Argentina. 

Unwieldy, but interesting - that was my first thought. If the U.S., Canada, and Mexico can host, the more geographically compact trio of Spain, Portugal, and Morocco certainly can. And having another Cup on African soil is a positive...waiiiit just a goshdarn minute!

FIFA's rules stipulate that the same continent can't host consecutive World Cups, and with the 2026 event in North America, our continent is effectively sidelined for a while. And with FIFA's "celebratory" inclusion of three South American games in 2030 on top of the Moroccan addition, the field for 2034 has been reduced to Asia and Oceania. 

At the same time it announced the 2030 hosts, FIFA declared that bidding for the 2034 event would be closed next year, which is a departure from the previous plan to vote in 2027 or 2028. It also voted to reduce the number of fully-certified stadiums required of a host nation from seven to four.

In an astounding (non) coincidence, the day after the 2030 announcement, Saudi crown prince Mohammed bin Salman released a statement expressing the kingdom's keen interest in hosting the 2034 event. Saudi Arabia, as it turns out, is in Asia. Who knew? [FIFA knew, duh.] Wanna guess how many fully-certified stadiums exist in Saudi Arabia?

Australia and New Zealand have been planning a bid for the 2034 Cup, and they're both eligible and proven, having just hosted a very successful women's event. They also have as much chance as Jamal Khashoggi did in that room.

I confess, friends, that I was surprised to see FIFA's corrupt machinations laid this bare. And then I was surprised that I was surprised. This isn't new, just grosser.

The headline of this post references a quote by the late Italian (and New York Cosmos) great Giorgio Chinaglia on the early days of SiriusXMFC as he described the state of the modern game a decade or so ago. The various shows on that platform use Chinaglia's audio of that quote to this day to cut through whatever confusing decision leagues and teams and FIFA make. It has never been more true than in describing FIFA's near-certain move to award its crown jewel to a repressive regime that's embarked on a guns-blazing campaign of sportswashing, splashing its unlimited cash to curry favor and gain legitimacy on the world stage.

I get it, but god damn I can't help but continue to find it disgusting.

Prolly still watch it, though, which I suppose is what FIFA understands best of all.

Moving Forward, Staying in the Same Place

This afternoon at 2:00 ET we'll witness history that's too long in the making. All all-female officiating crew, led by Frenchwoman Stéphanie Frappart will take control of the Group E match between Germany and Costa Rica. Frappart will be joined by assistant referees Neuza Back and Karen Diaz (from Brazil and Mexico, respectively) in the match, which is a must-win for the Germans if they hope to advance.

FIFA has a history of doing fuck all for the women's game, even under pressure. The organization historically cares about money, cash, and dolla dolla bills, y'all, not so much about equality. Even as they proclaim support of LGBTQ+ causes, they gave a World Cup to Qatar (more on that in a moment). But in this area, they've been on the right side of things. FIFA started a program after the 2015 Women's World Cup in Canada to bring male and female officials together to train, review decisions, and analyze situations. Women are beginning to get opportunities to officiate high-level competitions regardless of the gender of the competitors. Frappart, Back, and Diaz are among six women working as officials in Qatar.

Lest one think this is some sort of equal opportunity selection, we should note that Frappart has serious chops and experience. She's a trailblazer, having been the first woman to referee in men’s Ligue 2, then Ligue 1, then the UEFA Super Cup and Champions League before getting the assignment tomorrow. 

Given our well-publicized (and they don't call The Teej the best PR guy in the business for nothing) disdain for FIFA's corruption as related to the decision to award the 2022 men's World Cup to Qatar (saying nothing of all the other corruption), it is ironic to note that women are blasting through this particular glass ceiling in a country where they're second-class citizens. Qatari officials have succeeded in squashing Budweiser and clamping down on pro-LGBTQ+ protests, but even they can't boss FIFA on this particular issue.

Progress, measured in baby steps.

On the other side of that ledger, however, same as it ever was here in the U.S. on at least one important front. Dogged journalists did a phenomenal job of bringing to light sexual improprieties rampant in the American women's game earlier this year. Former U.S. Attorney General Sally Yates' report on the issue noted that many issues start at youth levels, where men have historically occupied an overwhelming majority of coaching positions, especially at elite levels.

According to a WaPo story last week, not much has changed in the composition of coaching staffs and club leadership. The Post found that men represent 85% of the leadership of the clubs that comprise the Elite Club National League (ECNL), the most prominent national competition for women. Further, 90% of the top coaches for those clubs are men. 

To paraphrase Taylor Swift, I'm the problem, it's me. Or people that look a lot like me. Though I'm working on it. I'm the President of the Board of Directors of an ECNL club. (ECNL players represent a small portion of our overall player rolls, but are very visible representatives of every ECNL club.) I'm very proud of the work our Club has done to increase the diversity of our programming. We launched a Women in Coaching Leadership Series last year to give our female coaches (and those of other clubs) access to prominent voices in soccer, training, and leadership. We provide pro bono training to students at Title I schools in our community. We created a Junior Board of Directors to provide some of our kids experience in organizational leadership. We have a cadre of excellent young female referees. We're working on inclusion.

We just aren't all the way there yet. At present one of our eight Board members is a woman. And all of us are white, for what it's worth. 14 of our 48 girls travel teams are coached by women, most of those at the youngest ages. 

All of these numbers are better than they were five years ago, and none of them are good enough.

Progress, measured in baby steps, again. I'd like to get to some of those moon strides before I walk away from this role.

Meet the New Boss, Same as the Old Boss

Remember that time, so long past at this point, when we held out such high hopes for new FIFA President Gianni Infantino.

Welp.

Turns out our hero is about to get suspended for four months pending review of allegations that he attempted to erase the recordings of a FIFA Council meeting held on May 23. Just a few weeks ago, Domenico Scala, chair of FIFA's Audit and Compliance Committee resigned after a dispute with Infantino. Now it's alleged that that dispute centered on Infantino's incessant demand that his salary be raised.

"So it turns out I'm kind of a scumbag. My bad."

We were more innocent then, those six weeks ago. Now we know better. Once a filthy fucking cesspool, always a filthy fucking cesspool.

We Have to Play Football

(This is another in a seemingly endless string of mini-posts by your local mini-blogger. Working on my stamina.)

FIFA, as you may have heard, is a giant cesspool of a clusterfuck. Or was, in the hopes of soccer fans the world over after the U.S. Department of Justice catalyzed a long overdue purging of the governing body's senior leadership. U.S. Attorney General Loretta Lynch's probe into FIFA's corruption not only shook up the organization's calcified management, it ushered in a new era of governance and transparency*.

* for now

Whether or not that asterisk remains is largely dependent upon whether new FIFA boss Gianni Infantino is being honest about his intent and is capable of seeing through the significant changes he's already put into motion. In a terrific interview with Sports Illustrated's Grant Wahl this week, the Swiss native held forth on his plans.

We are playing football!

"It’s not anymore the executive committee—or the FIFA Council, as it will be called—taking the shots on the commercial contracts and on the distribution of revenues for the contracts," said Infantino, with delightful syntax. "The administration for the distribution will be a specific committee that will be independent members in the development committee, in the finance committee. These are all things which in 111 years in the history of FIFA have never happened."

In response to Wahl's question about how he would restore FIFA's image in the eyes of the growing American fan base, Infantino said:

"By showing with facts rather than with words that I am a true football fan, to start with, that I’m genuinely interested in running this organization in a transparent way, a modern way, a professional way. That I’m genuinely interested in bringing people to speak about football when they speak about FIFA. This has to go through the whole reform process that we are implementing now in terms of transparency and good governance. But these are things which go without saying. We have to show with facts that we are doing it. And once we are doing it, and we have started now, we can again focus on speaking about football. When people start again associating FIFA with football, then we’ve won the trust of the people back. I expect people to judge me and my actions with the results of what I’m doing—and not with any other happenings that other people did maybe misusing FIFA’s name in the past."

The former second chair at UEFA also held forth on the growth of the women's game, his support of more use of replay technology in soccer, and the expansion of the World Cup. But what won my support were two things more prosaic and telling about the man's priorities. Wahl's introduction to the piece found Infantino at a bar in Manhattan, where he went by himself to watch the UEFA Champions League quarterfinals. Then, in the interview, Infantino describes one of his first acts as FIFA President:

"The things I’m most happy about is I said I wanted to bring football back to FIFA and FIFA back to football. So the first thing that I organized on a Monday—and it was bloody cold!—was a football match. But it was great fun. And to have so many of these star players come, I wouldn’t have dreamed about it. I remember the Friday night after the election, I said I wanted to do this on my first day in office. So I was asking my colleagues: Bring your shoes on Monday, we have to play football. Then on Saturday I called a couple, and they called each other, and on Sunday about 20 top players, men and women, came and it was great."

Can you imagine Roger Goodell calling his colleagues and saying, "We have to play football"?

Viva Infantino.