A new world order is taking shape in global football

The geopolitical shifts in football towards a new world order were detailed in a packed Play the Game session on Tuesday.

The game is moving away from the global north as part of a restructuring that is turning how the game is run upside down.

“It’s no longer possible to think about football as a game dominated by Europe and Latin America; it’s now a global phenomenon,” said author David Goldblatt.

“Qatar was the World Cup of the global south. If you look at the crowd, it was the most diverse I’ve ever seen.”

These geopolitical shifts bring challenges to how the game is run. Goldblatt highlighted Qatar’s decision to arbitrarily ban alcohol at venues on the eve of the World Cup regardless of what organisers FIFA wanted. 

“It’s the same with women’s rights,” added Goldblatt, who said that the Qataris simply do not recognise existing Western-based interpretations.

These interpretations of how the game should be run has also opened up the game to financial speculators said Goldblatt, who added: 

“Football clubs have become speculative financial assets in the hope they can be sold on to the next fool.”

Rwanda and the UAE use football to whitewash their reputations

The increased commercialisation of the game has enabled repressive regimes to use the game to whitewash their reputations, with examples given in Rwanda and the United Arab Emirates (UAE).

Carine Kanimba, member of the executive council at the World Liberty Congress, questioned the use of football to whitewash the country’s authoritarian regime.

Kanimba’s father, Rwanda opposition figure Paul Rusesabagina, sheltered over a thousand people from the Interahamwe militia during the Rwandan genocide – a story made into a major film, Hotel Rwanda – but was later jailed for three years for opposing the country’s authoritarian leader, Paul Kagame.

“My father’s case is not unique,” said Kanimba. 

“Rwanda uses football as a political tool. This isn’t about tourism and the Visit Rwanda logo; it’s about political branding. Millions are spent on the Visit Rwanda logo, while Rwandans live under repression. It goes way beyond our country. Football should not be used to whitewash dictatorships. If governance in football is to mean anything, it must protect the dignity of people.”

Football clubs including Arsenal, Paris Saint Germain, and Real Madrid take sponsorship from Rwanda, while Sheikh Mansour bin Zayed Al Nahyan, a member of the Abu Dhabi royal family and a prominent figure in the UAE government, ultimately controls English club Manchester City.

Joey Shea, a researcher on Saudi Arabia and the UAE at Human Rights Watch, questioned the UAE’s use of sport while acting as a ‘police state’ and getting involved in external conflicts in Libya, Yemen and Sudan.

“The UAE receives far less criticism than it deserves for its human rights record. They commit grave violations of human rights and are linked with some of the most grievous conflicts in the region,” said Shea.

“I have met with hostility and blank stares when we discuss what is going on in the UAE with other governments.

“Sport is a core but only one pillar of their soft power strategy. The football club is inextricably linked with the reputation that the UAE has built in the last few years.”

Can global football graduate from dazzle to a tool of illumination?

A response to the challenge of this new world order was needed.

“How do we take the public spectacle of global football so that it does not dazzle but is an instrument of illumination?” asked David Goldblatt, who also questioned how the game ignored the problems posed by climate change.

Abdullah Ibhais, a former media manager for Qatar's Supreme Committee for Delivery and Legacy who became a whistleblower after raising concerns about the mistreatment of World Cup migrant workers, illustrated this perfectly.

Responding to a question from the audience about how Qatar resolved issues of sustainability, Ibhais said: “They just bought credits; that’s how they got away with it. Other hosts will do the same because there is no scrutiny.”

A solution to the problems posed by this new world order lies in greater accountability suggested Lise Klaveness, president at the Norwegian Football Association and a member of UEFA’s executive committee, who spoke to the room remotely.

“We are in a time of disruption. Things are changing and not just in football, but in society. We are heading towards a new world order in football,” said Klaveness.

“More and more federations are closely connected to the state. The European sports model is under pressure. The big question is what to do. There are fundamental questions about who will be included in the World Cup.

“In Qatar, it was really the first time that we saw the workers that made the World Cup possible. It was clear to everyone that this has to be regulated in some way to protect the people that make World Cups possible,” she said.

Greater accountability extended to Israel’s involvement in international football with Goldblatt and Ibhais adding to a recent call from the United Nations to ban the country over the unfolding genocide in Palestine.

“Are the lives of the Palestinians worth less than those of the Ukrainians?” questioned Ibhais over the contradiction of FIFA banning Russia after their invasion of Ukraine in 2022, but continuing to allow Israel to compete.