Category: Uncategorized
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FIFA and the Politicization of Football
On July 1, 2026, American forward Folarin Balogun challenged Bosnian centre-back Tarik Muharemović with a studs-up tackle to the ankle. Because there was little…
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DeFIFA: Sports, Policing, and Incarceration at the Men’s World Cup in Seattle (Part 2)
-by Cameron Michels, Deepa Sivarajan, and Leslie McCallum *This is an excerpt from writing originally posted here – in this version we offer a more historical perspective, emphasizing FIFA as a mechanism for surveillance capitalism, within and beyond Seattle. [“Fight the Impacts” art created by Protect Our Pitch 206] The Stadium-to-Prison Pipeline The modern specter of stadiums becoming prisons…
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DeFIFA: Sports, Policing, and Incarceration at the Men’s World Cup in Seattle (Part 1)
-by Cameron Michels, Deepa Sivarajan, and Leslie McCallum *This is an excerpt from writing originally posted here – in this version we offer a slightly more focused account of FWC26 Seattle, emphasizing the colonial-carceral logics underpinning its infrastructure and staging. [“Defend the CID” art created by Protect Our Pitch 206 ] Introduction We are three friends and sports fans living in known-to-settlers-as Seattle,…
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A Technofascist World Cup? Part III: Policing the Perimeter
-by Carolyn Prouse Algorithmic Policing Beyond the Stadium For the World Cup it is not just data but surveillance technology itself that seeps out of the sports stadium into its surrounds. In the first post for this series I discussed how digital technologies are mediating (and even harming) the game we love and, for the…
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A Technofascist World Cup? Part II: Smart Stadium Surveillance
-by Carolyn Prouse Croatia was a hair away from potentially sending Portugal packing in the round of 32 when a VAR-decision called the goal back: apparently the sensor in the Trionda had picked up a slight signal of a hair brushing the ball, rendering the play offside. There has been a lot of controversy, and…
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Music vs. the Commodified City
By: Jair Coronado Rosales Mexico City continues to grow, continues to transform itself, to modernize itself. It hosts mega-events such as the 2026 FIFA World Cup, and in the midst of this process, it is displacing people and selecting new inhabitants; it forgets its traditions and popular practices; it steadily and violently makes way for…
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A Technofascist World Cup? Part I: Militarized Sport
-by Carolyn Prouse FIFA President Gianni Infantino waved to the crowd as Lenovo’s CEO, Yuanqing Yang, stood next to him on a Las Vegas stage, holding up a special edition FIFA 2026 Razr phone to enormous cheers. The ceremony was somewhat of a salve in comparison to the more fascist displays of authoritarian power increasingly…
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Beyond The Click Bait: 13 Arrested During Human Trafficking Sting During World Cup.
By COYOTE RI This investigative synthesis draws on 15 years of research by COYOTE RI (Call Off Your Old Tired Ethics Rhode Island), arguing that the modern anti-trafficking industry has become a profit-driven enterprise that diverts public attention from the structural conditions that create vulnerability: poverty, housing instability, inadequate healthcare, and failing social institutions. Rather…
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Trump and the Carbon Cost of FWC26
By: Tim Walters While the world’s most popular sporting event has always been entangled with business interests, its recent subordination to sites of fossil fuel wealth as hosts, owners, and sponsors of the beautiful game is unprecedented, and alarming amidst the backdrop of a spiraling climate emergency. In his “Play the Game” article, “Trump, FIFA, and the World Cup 2026: A match made in climate hell,” Tim Walters explores the incompatibility of US President…
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Black Alliance for Peace Calls On International Community to Boycott the 2026 World Cup Games Scheduled for the United States
by: Black Alliance for Peace The Black Alliance for Peace published the following press release on May 29, 2026. Learn more about the group on their website or Instagram. For Immediate Release Contact: communications@blackallianceforpeace.com (201) 292-4591 May 28, 2026 — The Black Alliance for Peace’s North-South Project for People(s)-Centered Human Rights (the Project) raised the…