FIFA criticized after dropping anti-racism messages at Club World Cup
FIFA has been criticised by anti-discrimination campaigners after football's world governing body decided against displaying messages challenging racism or discrimination at the Club World Cup in the U.S..
No videos, signage or marketing assets will be shown in venues hosting the tournament, despite promotional materials being developed in the build-up to the tournament to promote FIFA's 'no racism' and 'no discrimination' campaign. They are instead using the slogan from their less specific 'Football Unites the World' campaign.
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The Athletic has been told by sources familiar with the discussions that the European Clubs Association, who represent the interests of clubs who compete in UEFA competitions and who have played a part in commercializing the Club World Cup with FIFA, were not consulted about any activations or campaigns that FIFA would or would not do during the tournament.
Sources also said that FIFPro, the global body that represents professional football players, also had not received any information from FIFA on any type of overall anti-discrimination policy changes.
FIFA did not respond when asked if the political climate in the U.S. — where President Trump has sought to cut government 'DEI programs' — has played any part in their decision but pointed to FIFA's statues, which say the organisation is neutral on matters of politics.
Evan Whitfield, the chair of the Human Rights Soccer Alliance (HRSA), a US grouping of former players, NGOs, lawyers and grassroots soccer organisations established this year, spoke of his 'disappointment' at the lack of FIFA messaging.
'Soccer exists in a space where the values of non-discrimination and inclusion are clear, but they need to be consistently underlined to the world,' Whitfield said.
'A basic message of football unites the world doesn't achieve this clearly enough. And it certainly doesn't reflect the need for messaging amongst those who are coming new to soccer as a sport, or seeing a global soccer tournament for the first time.
'We hope this absence of messaging is not a precursor to the same at the World Cup next year. FIFA is a global organisation that should have consistent values regardless of the country in which it organises competitions. If FIFA can have strong messaging in Russia, Qatar, New Zealand, and Australia, then the same should apply in the United States. This is a soccer issue, regardless of the administration in power in the host country.'
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Piara Powar of Fare added that the messages not being used was 'more than a shame' and added that his network had not been informed of the decision.
'It is disappointing that it appears there will be no anti-discrimination messaging throughout the Club World Cup,' Powar told The Athletic.
'In the past such messaging has been well received by supporters, players and civil society. It has allowed for an alignment of values from football to society.
'We know the work that has gone on behind the scenes with training of security, referees and players, and there is a system in place to be implemented in the event of issues of discrimination inside stadiums.'
Powar added: 'We know that the US government is volatile and the need for pragmatism is a factor, but the iteration of consistent and progressive values by FIFA is so important.'
Nick McGeehan of FairSquare, an advocacy group focused on human rights, points out that FIFA 'has set up a Social Responsibility and Education division within the organisation to address the issue' and therefore should be committed to its campaigns.
'This looks like FIFA again throwing its weight behind the MAGA (Make America Great Again, the political slogan most recently popularised by Donald Trump) project and ditching its principles in an effort to keep President Trump onside,' McGeehan said.
At recent FIFA-run tournaments, such as the Women's World Cup in 2023 in Australia and New Zealand and the men's World Cup in 2022 in Qatar, messages promoting anti-racism and anti-discrimination were regularly displayed.
There have been no announcements within Club World Cup stadiums explaining the anti-racism protocols or the organisation's 'universal anti-racism gesture' which was rolled out in September last year and was supposed to be applied to all competitions.
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A FIFA spokesperson said: 'FIFA has a firm, zero-tolerance stance against all forms of discrimination and racism. This commitment was recently reinforced through the unanimous approval by the FIFA Council of the revised FIFA Disciplinary Code, which introduces new measures to fight racist abuse — including increased minimum bans for racist incidents and enhanced financial penalties as duly informed to the 75th FIFA Congress in Asuncion in May 2025.'
(Top Image: Rich von Biberstein/Icon Sportswire via Getty Images)
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