The Beautiful Game Is More Unaffordable Than Ever

A Black soccer player stares defiantly at the crowd as a teammate hops onto his back with a celebratory raised fist. The US teammates are dressed in red-and-white striped shirts with white shorts. Behind them on the field, several team members rush to greet them in front of a stadium filled with fans.

The World Cup is here. 

For the first time, the tournament is happening in three countries at once: the United States, Mexico, and Canada. It’s bigger than ever, with more teams, more games, more viewers, and more money on the line.

Read more Grok Is More Important Than Clean Air, DOJ Says

This special World Cup episode of Reveal looks beyond the spectacle of the beautiful game to the organization behind it: FIFA. The global soccer body stands to take in billions from the tournament, while fans face soaring ticket prices and host cities pay massive sums for transportation, security, and infrastructure.  

Read more Report: ICE Caused Humanitarian Crisis in Minnesota

“Sport is this incredible glue that brings people together,” human rights advocate Mustafa Qadri tells Reveal. But he says that also makes it “highly vulnerable to cynical people coming in and exploiting it for their own gain.”  

This week, reporters Alex Shephard, Tim Murphy of Mother Jones, and Reveal producer Artis Curiskis follow the money, power, and politics behind the World Cup—and ask who gets to be part of the world’s biggest game.

Read more HHS Pushes Fetal Personhood in New Grant Guidelines

By admin

Leave a Reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *