If you’ve been paying even remote attention to world news lately, you’ll know that Vladimir Putin’s Russia sought to interfere with and undermine the 2016 US election, as well as the subsequent French presidential election — all while continuing to prop up a legitimately evil dictator in the Middle East, menacing former Soviet dominions and running roughshod over human rights and civil liberties within Russia’s own borders.

You’ll likely also know that Qatar is getting itself into increasingly hot water because of its friendliness with Iran and its terror sponsorship.

So why in the world, you might wonder, is a major international organization rewarding both countries by allowing them to posture as legitimate players on the world stage, and blessing them with a de facto license to print money, much of which will likely be put to nefarious use sooner rather than later?

Because, in short, the international organization in question is the Fédération Internationale de Football Association — FIFA — and it has refused to revisit its decisions to host the next two soccer World Cups in, respectively, Russia and Qatar.

FIFA says, “Football cannot solve political problems and FIFA is not in a position to interfere in sovereign issues, but it can contribute to building bridges, fostering cultural exchange and bringing people together” while also “promoting dialogue, understanding and peace among peoples.”

It’s a bit comical, given how concertedly Putin, at a minimum, has sought to use Russia’s hosting of major international sporting events, conferences and summits — most notably the Olympics, but also the G-20, WHO anti-tobacco meetings and even championships in Putin’s preferred sport, judo — as a way of legitimizing himself, creating photo ops with celebrities, democratically elected, liberal-minded pols and business leaders.

Putin uses these types of events, as well as his seeding of pro-Russian figures at think-tanks and NGOs and his takeover and global deployment of Putin-approved and Putin-obedient media worldwide, as a key “soft power” method to exert his influence abroad.

And then there’s Qatar, where the finals will take place four years later. It would be amazing — truly — if football proved capable of bringing peace to any portion of the Middle East, and that includes the messy corner Qatar occupies.

But of course, there’s likely much more afoot here; a lot of people have invested significantly to bring these competitions to each country, and plenty of money stands to be gained by proceeding as if all were normal. FIFA likes the idea of having the World Cup in new host countries, where a love of football is not as well-entrenched as in Brazil, or Italy or Germany. Obviously, Russia and Qatar pulled out a lot of stops to get the host-country slot in the first place, and in Russia’s case, it’s hard to relocate a tournament of this size with a year or less notice.

Even before the events of 2016, when there was talk of yanking the 2018 World Cup away from Russia because of its bad behavior in Ukraine and Georgia, switching locales looked tough. The United States made a strong case, but it was predicated on the viability of converting NFL stadiums for World Cup use.

That was doable, and in hindsight FIFA should’ve pulled the trigger. Meantime, Putin’s behavior grew worse. Now, time is short, so even if FIFA were willing to concede that it’s delivering a huge propaganda victory to a very high-profile tyrant and menace, Putin would probably bank a win.

But FIFA still should reconsider, especially with Qatar, where there is still time to make alternative arrangements and the practical obstacles to finding a different host are simply fewer and more manageable. Heck, FIFA might even be able to find a host country that already has immigration policies on the books allowing Israeli footballers to travel there — unlike in Qatar — if by some miracle Israel pulls it together and qualifies.

FIFA should act, and it should act now. Two World Cups in a row that involve playing nice with deeply unsavory regimes is bound to result in further bad branding for an organization already most defined by its scandals, and will only serve to strengthen those regimes’ hands from a geopolitical perspective — whether or not FIFA believes that football should be about politics or “sovereign issues.”



Liz Mair is a Republican political strategist, a Tory and the president, founder and owner of Mair Strategies LLC.