FIFA wanted football, not politics — but the 2026 World Cup is both

FIFA President Gianni Infantino frequently touts keeping politics out of sports. But is that even possible? The reality is that football and politics have always been deeply connected.

 

FIFA goes MAGA? The World Cup, Trump and the future of football

What happened to the Iranian soccer players when they went back?

 Many will remember those images of Iran refusing to sing their country's national anthem ahead of their opener against England. It was as an act of solidarity with protests back home in Iran over the death of Mahsa Amini, who died in police custody.

Impunity and indifference: Attacks on Palestinians increase

The killings of Palestinians are being documented as they happen – and yet the violence isn’t easing. Plus, reporting on the Middle East’s first World Cup.

Israel’s incoming government, elected six weeks ago, is shaping up as the most extreme in the country’s history – waging war on media workers, then trying to cover up its crimes.

Iranians raise their voice at World Cup

 Confrontations between pro-Iran government fans and protesters broke out at the country's second World Cup match in Qatar on Friday.

Iran football manager Queiroz confronts BBC's Shaimaa Khalil

 

The BBC's Shaimaa Khalil was confronted by Carlos Queiroz, the manager of Iran's national football team, after a World Cup press conference in Qatar.

The correspondent had asked footballer Mehdi Taremi for his views on the protests in Iran.

Afterwards, Mr Queiroz asked if it was fair for the player to have been asked a political question.

What’s behind attacks on Qatar as it hosts FIFA World Cup 2022?

Tracing the political, economic and cultural factors at the heart of misinformation campaigns against Qatar.

As Qatar hosts the 2022 FIFA World Cup, the Middle Eastern country has been the target of misinformation campaigns in several European countries.

In this episode of Story to Follow, we trace the roots of the political, economic and cultural factors inciting these campaigns against Qatar, especially in the United Kingdom, Denmark and France.

Al Jazeera is owned by the government of Qatar.  This programme  is nothing more than an attempt to white wash all of the wrong doing and abuse in the run up to the World Cup

German football federation to take legal action over Fifa’s OneLove armband ban

Move comes after supermarket chain cuts commercial ties with DFB in protest over row at World Cup

Germany’s football federation has said it plans legal steps against Fifa over its banning of OneLove rainbow armbands at the World Cup as it faced the humiliating decision by one of the country’s largest supermarket chains to cut its commercial ties over the row.

World Cup 2022: American journalist 'detained' over rainbow shirt ahead of U.S.-Wales match

Two American journalists have been told to remove rainbow-patterned articles of clothing by authorities at World Cup venues in Qatar in recent days.

On Saturday, Los Angeles Times reporter Kevin Baxter was told by a police officer at the U.S. men’s national team’s Qatari training site that a rainbow-colored mask was not allowed.

Two days later, at the Ahmad bin Ali Stadium, where the USMNT plays Wales on Monday night, longtime soccer journalist Grant Wahl said that he was told by security to change out of a shirt with a rainbow pattern around a soccer ball. FIFA told Yahoo Sports that the incident was a "mistake," and said it has been "sorted."

Migrants hired to work at the opening match waited all day without food and water.

Instead of a day of work, the workers endured no water, no food and no toilets under the hot desert sun.

A group of more than 200 migrant laborers hired to work concession stalls at the Qatar World Cup’s opening game said they had been left without food, water and toilet facilities for seven hours while they waited for their assignments.

Standing in front of the Bedouin-tent-shaped Al Bayt stadium in Al Khor, the group were desperately trying to contact their employer without success. Several said they had been asked to report to a facility close to the arena before 10 a.m., nine hours before the game was scheduled to start.

 

Why Nepalese migrant workers continue to flock to the Gulf

 

As the 2022 World Cup kicks off in Qatar, we take a look at the fate of thousands of migrant workers, mostly from South Asia, who helped build infrastructure but went home in coffins.

Colombian singer Maluma walks out of Qatar human rights interview

Colombian singer Maluma has left a live TV interview after the reporter suggested he could be accused of whitewashing Qatari human rights abuses.

During a broadcast on Israeli public television, Maluma was asked: "Don't you have a problem with human rights violations in this country?"

He responded that was something he couldn't resolve, adding he had come to "enjoy life, enjoy soccer".

The star features alongside Nicki Minaj and Myriam Fares on Tukoh Taka, the official Fifa Qatar World Cup anthem.

The World Cup in Qatar sees a whirlwind of controversy

 

World Cup 2022, which kicks-off in Qatar on Nov. 20, has been surrounded by controversy since it was announced the tiny desert nation would host the tournament.

How Qatar Bought the World Cup

 How Qatar won the bid to host the World Cup. What we found was a deep web of corruption and influence peddling. This video is our clearest explanation of how it all went down.

Qatar World Cup: TV 2 Denmark reporter forced off air

 

This is the moment security staff in Qatar were seen trying to stop a Danish TV reporter during a live broadcast.

TV 2 Denmark's Rasmus Tantholdt was reporting on the World Cup when he was approached. The journalist said security threatened to break his camera.

TV 2 Denmark said it had acquired the correct accreditations to film and was reporting from a public place.

Qatar's Supreme Committee later said it had apologised following the incident.

Qatar's Supreme Committee: Talk about channeling the Soviet Union.  

Ros Atkins on… How Qatar got to host the World Cup

 

BBC Analysis Editor Ros Atkins looks at the years of corruption allegations around Fifa awarding the 2022 World Cup to Qatar.

Soccer World Cup: Migrant laborers in Qatar

 

Trade unions have described the working conditions as modern slavery: Migrant workers from across the world built the football stadiums in Qatar - in dubious conditions. This is their story. Sujan Begun came to Qatar from Bangladesh hoping to enable a bette rlife for his family. He returned in a coffin, with the circumstances of his death unclear to this day.

World Cup hosts Qatar accused of under-reporting deaths in Gulf's killer heat

Allegations that Qatar is underreporting the number of migrant workers who have died of heat stroke have been revealed. Across the Gulf, extreme heat is affecting more-and-more people, especially millions of migrant workers who go there to support their families back home. Temperatures that go above 50C, thanks to climate change, can leave workers with life-altering illnesses including heart failure.

The plight of migrant workers in Qatar

Qatar's hosting of the upcoming 2022 World Cup has attracted thousands of migrant workers to build stadiums and other infrastructure. These foreigners left everything behind in search of a better life.

Fans threaten boycott of Qatar World Cup over corruption, human rights

 It's just a year until the football World Cup kicks off in Qatar. Allegations of vote buying and human rights abuses have marred the run-up to the competition. Some fans are threatening a boycott. But Qatar says it deserves to host the cup.

Migrant worker deaths: Is Qatar making good on its promise to change?

An army of migrant workers has been helping Qatar to prepare to host the 2022 World Cup. However, headlines about excessive deaths, unsanitary living conditions and unpaid wages have led to criticism of their treatment.

 

An oral history of the U.S. women’s national team’s march to the 2019 World Cup title

Mesut Ozil racism row: Germany's minorities speak out with #MeTwo (video)

A new debate on racism has started in Germany since footballer Mesut Ozil quit his national team because of "racism and disrespect" over his Turkish roots.

Germans with immigrant backgrounds are speaking out with their discrimination stories using the hashtag #MeTwo.