The Champions League final on May 30 in Budapest could be a kind of last supper for some of the VIPs....

“perhaps the real legacy of this tournament – and one with implications that go well beyond football – will be to expose the contempt in which the powerful hold the powerless.”

“Fewer international visitors than promised” should always be on every World Cup bingo card.

Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orbán concedes defeat after 'painful' election result Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orbán has conceded defeat after what he called a ″painful″ election result, ending 16 years in power for a powerful figure in the far-right movement allied with U.S.

BREAKING: Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orbán concedes defeat to Peter Magyar after "painful" election result, ending 16 years in power.

On Monday, we revealed that the overseer of Fifa's newest sponsor had paid a six-figure sum to settle insider trading allegations. Today, we reveal that the company's newly appointed CEO has close ties to the MEP at the heart of the Qatargate corruption scandal...
josimarfootball.com/2026/04/09/m...

FIFA’s logical next commercial step this year would be a World Cup sponsor category for ballroom design.

In the old days it would be shocking that FIFA signed a partnership with prediction/betting crypto site that no one has heard of and has website that doesn’t open. But so much has happened… Anyway, FIFA has its first “Official Partner for the prediction market category.”

They need their own show. Make it happen before the World Cup.

FT Exclusive: A broker for the US defence secretary attempted to make a big investment in major defence companies in the weeks leading up to the US-Israeli attack on Iran, according to three people familiar with the matter. ft.trib.al/EIVizV7

‘We believe in each other’: Kosovo’s hard road from war to World Cup hope The Balkan nation only became Fifa members in 2016, but win over Turkey would secure first World Cup finals place

Nobody who saw a slung-together Kosovo team train beneath the belching Obiliq power plants in 2014, before splashing through a first official game against Haiti, would believe they are on verge of World Cup now. Piece from Pristina with two men who've seen it all: www.theguardian.com/football/202...

Recall that FIFA said in 2016 trial phase a VAR review should take six seconds and, at the World Cup, should happen once "every four or five games".

Seems to have been unfiltered Trump on truth serum at the Saudi event in Miami.

Nice for the NFL. Not for the World Cup.

The World Cup stadium near Boston, they seem to have forgotten to finish building it behind one goal. Let’s hope it’s ready in time for Scotland-Haiti.

Olympic champ boxer Lin Yu-ting cleared for return to competition after approval of sex eligibility Olympic gold medal-winning boxer Lin Yu-ting of Taiwan has been cleared to return to competition at the Asian Boxing Championships following a review of her sex eligibility.

Ah, this is going to surprise and disappoint a lot of people. apnews.com/article/boxi...

The widespread perception that CAF and African football is a wholly owned subsidiary of Morocco is having a strong month.

Serbia and Albania are hosting men’s Under-21 Euros together next year. Tournament co-hosts at actual war with each other would be new.

Each modern World Cup got fewer international visitors than promised or predicted.

This is a very good read.

In a dire week for English clubs in the Champions League, look how the next generation is doing in the UEFA Youth League quarterfinals...

In the season the Super League officially died and Bodø/Glimt express values-based joy, exactly this....

Noem’s Colleagues Celebrate Her Firing | ICE Whistleblower Testifies | RFK Jr. Attacks New England YouTube video by The Late Show with Stephen Colbert

Includes the punchline “sounds like someone’s about to become the FIFA Secretary of Homeland Security”. That peace prize has turned "FIFA" into an adjective meaning silly and of no value.
www.youtube.com/watch?v=-A2x...

"HERE WE GO!": the lowdown on "football journalist" Fabrizio Romano The Italian "influencer" who has never worked as a real journalist, has 100m+ followers on social media and leverages them for cash. This is a tale about modern sports media

"HERE WE GO!": the lowdown on "football journalist" Fabrizio Romano

sportingintelligence832.substack.com/p/here-we-go...

Silent slaughter - josimarfootball.com Enough footballers were killed by the Iranian Islamist regime in the space of forty-eight hours in January to make up two full teams. Fifa’s response? Silence.

New for @josimarfootball.bsky.social. I wish to express thanks and my admiration to Zohreh Abdollahkhani, who found the courage and the strength to write this heart-rending piece, commissioned before Iran was attacked by the US and Israel.

josimarfootball.com/2026/03/05/s...

A decade-long zone so flooded that some of the highlights had been forgotten.

Olympic Truce breached by the next Olympics host nation and holder of the FIFA peace prize.

Crans-Montana hosts World Cup skiers for subdued pre-Olympic races weeks after fatal fire tragedy The Swiss ski resort Crans-Montana is back in the spotlight this week — for international sports. Four weeks ago the devastating fatal fire in a bar at a New Year’s Eve party killed 40 people, most of...

At Crans-Montana, in World Cup ski race week that is why the Swiss resort should be famous. The mood is subdued and respectful of the community's trauma since the New Year's Day fire tragedy. The time for celebration should be the world championships next year. apnews.com/article/skii...

Maybe Britain is totally broken after all.

FIFA boss Infantino criticizes “unacceptable” Senegal conduct at chaotic Africa Cup final FIFA president Gianni Infantino says Senegal leaving the field to protest referee decisions before winning the Africa Cup of Nations title amid shocking chaos was “unacceptable.”

Separate from Senegal, some of Morocco’s conduct around a home Afcon final – from ball kids to asking CAF, FIFA to re-litigate a ref’s field of play decisions – isn't really worthy of a future World Cup co-host.
apnews.com/article/afco...

A family member reacts after a federal immigration officer used a battering ram to break down a door before making an arrest on January 11, 2026, in Minneapolis.

Stunning photos from Minneapolis, including this one by John Locher for the Associated Press. www.theatlantic.com/photography/...