A dark look from the bottom of Africa
By Hassen Lorgat
FIFA is in the news for all the wrong reasons. It reads like an Agatha Christie novel—filled with whodunnits and shadowy figures lurking just beyond the spotlight.
I shall pretend to be Christie’s famous Hercule Poirot, though I lack his magnificent moustache, writing from the bottom of the African continent.
This is the case of the mistaken identity, and the scene is set.
Scene 1: The Yellow Card
It was 1–all in the 67th minute when Argentina’s Leandro Paredes was shown a yellow card following a tackle on Breel Embolo. A video review revealed that the Swiss player was already falling before Paredes made contact—so Embolo was given a yellow card under the “mistaken identity” protocol being used at this World Cup.
Is this the villain of the piece? Or are some facts and mysterious figures still missing?
Scene 2: Daylight Robbery – Identity Theft
What happened next? The referee explained it by the concept: MISTAKEN IDENTITY. On this charge, Breel Embolo was sent off.
Swiss coach Murat Yakin was livid:
“We were punished because of a rule that in my opinion is completely unacceptable. It’s very painful that we were eliminated that way. I don’t think we deserve that today. In my opinion, my boys are the real heroes. They put all their heart and their passion into their performance. I am very proud. They are very proud.”
Despite fighting with 10 men, Switzerland pushed the game into extra time before a tired side fell 3–1.
Records will reveal to future generations that earlier in this World Cup, a referee mistakenly gave a yellow card to the USA’s Tim Ream, but VAR corrected it—canceling his card and giving it to Paraguay’s Miguel Almirón instead for faking a foul. But this explanation does little to soothe the anger Swiss fans and neutrals feel about the system.
Mistaken Identity Can Be Costly
This case of mistaken identity is no harmless gaffe—unlike the 2014 World Cup, when a mug was produced featuring the England squad that mistakenly used a picture of US President Barack Obama instead of defender Chris Smalling.
No, this goes to the very protocol of VAR—Video Assistant Referee (not the Video Altering Rogue, which it has become). It is a rule that allows VAR to correct “mistaken identity” by transferring a yellow or red card from the player wrongly punished to the player who actually committed the foul—or even to a player on the opposing team if they were the true offender.
The Crime Scene
If this were a crime scene—and some say it is—the key culprits would be in a line-up, just as they do before a game, with the camera panning across each suspect. The task: identify the wrongdoer. But this line-up is missing some suspects—those sitting in the VIP booths.
Talking of crime, we must be aware that misidentification is the leading cause of wrongful convictions in the United States. It is thanks to DNA that many wrongly convicted have been exonerated in recent times. (The idea of real-time FIFA courts might be preferable to VAR?)
If this were a criminal trial, the Swiss coach could use the millions of football fans as his alibi. He could argue that the second offense either never happened, didn’t really matter, or was actually a completely different mistake. But the real problem is that proving innocence means finding the actual culprit—just like in a murder case, you need the real killer to prove the wrong person was blamed.
Let Me Examine the Line-Up of Suspects
To fully understand sports we must locate it within society where the system of money dominates. Furthermore, we have stated that football as a game or sport is broken and we must go beyond the pitch.
The Football Fans – Cannot be blamed here, but they must make their voices heard more, as they are doing in some games around these hydration breaks. Many belong to strong club fan associations and have taken to social media demanding fairness and an end to influences from outside the match. But more can be done during and after the matches.
Argentinian National Team – They are enjoying the ride and may be taken for a ride. They are not the makers of this scenario.
FIFA, the Ref, and Their Business Buddies – Something is smelly here, and I return to this gang further below.
Switzerland National Team – They resisted bravely, beyond the knife and chocolates.
But to Understand Why This System Is Broken, We Must Look Beyond the Pitch
Switzerland, like many other European countries, has a checkered history—implicated in various ways in colonialism, slavery, and post-colonial unfair trade and political relations with many Global South countries, particularly Africa.
We cannot forget that Switzerland was a tax haven—safe from the watchful eyes of the world’s police and regulators. And that suited them just fine. Over 20 years ago, we campaigned against this because African leaders were hiding our stolen money in Swiss banks. Back then, European CEOs could even deduct bribes from their taxes, though that’s now illegal.
Credit goes to activists and people like the late UN expert Jean Ziegler, who helped expose Switzerland and push it toward change. As journalist Atossa Araxia Abrahamian wrote in The Guardian, much of Geneva’s wealth comes from a hidden economy protected by secrecy, neutrality, and tax breaks.
She quoted from Ziegler’s 1976 book The Awful Truth:
“In Switzerland, the handling of money has a quasi-sacramental character… Holding money, accepting it, counting it, hoarding it, speculating and receiving, are all activities which, since the first influx of Protestant refugees to Geneva in the 16th century, have been invested with an almost metaphysical majesty.”
Talking football, we must not forget that Switzerland is also the country that gave us Sepp Blatter, the former boss of FIFA, who left the organisation unceremoniously. The less said of Sepp, the better. But in this football match, they did little wrong.
Is FIFA Playing Ball?
The street knowledge is that FIFA is pulling strings for Argentina and Lionel Messi. That is true—but only part of the drama or narrative. The other story is not ever told plainly.
FIFA has been selling football not as a sport for health and recreation but as sportwashing—as the likes of fast food sponsors McDonald’s, Coca-Cola, Lay’s, and Budweiser sell us products they know are unhealthy. FIFA and these fast-food and soda giants know that by sponsoring these events, they never have to answer for their products being linked to obesity, type 2 diabetes, heart disease, and other non-communicable diseases. Someone is being paid at the expense of those who will suffer ill-health—and will have to pay in the long run.
FIFA is promoting the game as a business—as money-making entertainment with four halves where advertising can further gobble up the game. Or Americanising football into a spectacle that may be called soccer.
Critics point out that the villain-in-chief, Gianni Infantino, and his “effifa’n” board, as well as corporate sponsors, are protecting Lionel Messi’s international legacy for marketing purposes. To this I would answer: I’d say yes and no.
FIFA clearly sees the money in Messi’s fame. But if that’s the case, why didn’t they back Ronaldo and Portugal instead? This isn’t just my Messi bias talking. I think if FIFA has favored Argentina so far, the semi-final will be a whole new game. Now the pressure is on. FIFA will try to fix their image—and they’ve already begun. VAR will be fair, and the better team will go through.
Messi and his squad have won before, but honestly, I’m not sure they’ll do it again. Still, FIFA—the marketing giant—will be the real winner in the end.
The Semi Final Rescue attempt: FIFA tries to save itself?
What we have is the top four European teams—those with money which FIFA can still milk. Africans are on the rise, and football-wise the top teams can only extract their players, but as economies to buy merchandise… It is Europe.
The two fixtures—Tuesday’s Spain vs France (14 July) and Wednesday’s Argentina vs England (15 July)—promise to be two finals before the real final.
In the battles of narratives, there are stories to tell about each of these former champions, with the English—the so-called world of football—being the tastiest. The “England ’66 to ’26” has a ring about it—that FIFA will try to sell. Spain last won in South Africa in 2010, and it is 16 years to do it again. Argentina winning back-to-back World Cups sounds fanciful but it may happen. Finally, France, last year’s finalists and past winners in 2018 in Russia after defeating Croatia 4–2 in the final.
It is also a chance for FIFA to show its better face (how many lives have they got?), but as I argue further, it will only be temporary. This World Cup—spread over 3 countries—has exposed the USA and FIFA and particularly their respective leaders Trump and Infantino, who have brought sport and the values of fair play into disrepute. This duo have been praising each other and Infantino has permitted the Donald Trump administration inordinate access in these games as evidence in some matches where the US played and keeping Iran out of the country totally—forcing them to travel into the US during match days. This I have discussed in my other articles.
The Defence Speaks
Argentinian coach Scaloni was furious about being labelled as being favoured and not only as favourites. He said: “We use the criticism or the comments that are made to rebel. To stage a rebellion and make the players play even better.”
Whilst others criticised VAR and the people behind the machine that has rescued Argentina from low points in at least 2 matches, he dismissed claims of match rigging and said he trusts the process:
“I think with VAR and all these things, it’s very hard for them to help you. Very hard, very hard. There’s no double interpretation with VAR. Plus, they made it crystal clear to us in that course they give us before the World Cup starts. They showed us all the footage. This is how it’s going to be, it’s going to be like this, like that. And it’s been followed to the letter.”
In addition, FIFA’s head of referees, Pierluigi Collina, recently defended the integrity of match officials, denying that they were bowing down to external pressures and stating that the referees have the organisation’s full trust. He added that refereeing calls will always invigorate debates and discussions.
The Verdict
It was supposed to be an open-and-shut case, but rather it is steeped in controversies. So the case remains open—but as we head into the semi-finals, the evidence of a “money-first” motive is overwhelming.
The villain in the court of public opinion is the money machine that FIFA has become. This is not a case of mistaken identity—we have the alibis in the stands and those billions watching on the screens. The referee and the VAR backroom boys have taken the game away from its origins. Instead of assisting, they have become the executioners. Things have gone so out of control and it has become so normal that we could not see the crook in the house.
But let us wait for the semis, when they have to save face and let the beautiful game recover—temporarily—to their shame. Whether justice is served in the coming days or not, the dossier on FIFA is growing too thick for them to ignore for much longer.
After the Cup
The real transparency and accountability games must begin:
First, all FIFA board members must declare publicly their earnings. We, the fans, must demand it.
Second, we must demand that players and fans must have representation as a countervailing force to the power of money. Yes, it must be said that the power of money is far too powerful and must be limited if not totally taken out of sports.
Third, on the simple matter of VAR: we do not only want the verdict from the ref after he has looked at VAR, we must hear out loud the real-time audio, to keep these officials accountable.
Hassen Lorgat