Europe’s top human rights body questioned the integrity of the World Cup and urged FIFA on Sunday to help build a stronger framework for the 2030 edition being played mostly in Spain and Portugal.
“The next crisis has already begun. It has two names: money and power,” the head of the 46-nation Council of Europe wrote Sunday in an open letter to its formal working partner FIFA hours before the final between Spain and Argentina in East Rutherford, New Jersey.
Swiss politician Alain Berset cited FIFA suspending a ban for United States forward Folarin Balugun while under pressure from U.S. President Donald Trump and the risk of fraud in the soccer body signing a prediction market as a World Cup sponsor.
“When the rules bend under pressure, every result is open to doubt,” Berset wrote about Balogun being freed from a mandatory one-game ban to face Belgium with a quarter-finals place at stake. Belgium won 4-1.
“Political influence has also moved onto the field,” said Berset, who was twice a president of FIFA’s home country Switzerland. “The sanction suspended mid-tournament came after a head of state called the president of FIFA.”