this post was submitted on 06 Jul 2026
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Did Team USA ask Trump for this? Or did he just do it? It was a horrible look. I wanted so bad to support our team, but Trump ruined it, like he's ruined everything else
it does not matter, he did it and tarnished the USA team… if the team did not play the carded player they could have saved face but they chose to play him fully
Agreed… I was cheering for them for being the host and underdogs, but tonight I was happy to see them defeated with ease
From what I have found Trump seems to have done it on his own. Balogun had accepted his red card about as gracefully as anyone, even shaking hands with the ref after the match. And the US team had said they would not challenge the call. It looks like everyone was going to just get on with life and move forward.
Yeah, I actually went to the red card match, bought a USA soccer shirt, was super into the world cup. When Trump pulled his bullshit, I actually bet and rooted against the US. Man is the antimidas. Everything he touches turns to shit.
So FIFA supporting literal slavery and it's decades of overt corruption was fine for you to go spend a much of money on tickets and merchandise, enabling and supporting said slavery and corruption...
But trump is a whiny little bitch (when isn't he?) and now things have gone too far for you.
Nobody likes FIFA, everyone likes the world cup. I don't make the rules.
As long as the rich get richer who cares right? Watch men chase the ball, its a good circus.
Please let people scrape some enjoyment out of the constant barrage of awful things happening.
So contributing to the problem is ok as long as its fun. Got it.
Nope, but direct moralizing and public shaming doesn’t work well to change behavior when you’re doing it to an anonymous person (it’s still not great irl, but at least there’s accountability involved).
How many vegans do you know who went vegan after someone online said “so rape’s okay when the victim’s a cow?” (I just used that as a comparison because it’s a philosophy predicated upon changing personal consumption to fit morals, to be clear. Also, I looked, but there’s not yet a great comprehensive study on what exactly made people go vegan yet, but they’re collecting data now, if anyone wants to participate.)
Its more like an exasperation. It doesn't matter what I say here really. But I have to acknowledge it.
It's just a sign of the times. Here you have a sport that nearly anyone can play. For a lot of people locally it can bring community together, gives people something to do and rally behind.
But the "circus" part of my statement is so on the nose: A non profit "charity" leveraging pay to play tactics to funnel money and power around an elite group of billionaires and corporations. Corruption, bribery, and even racism all are part of the politics of this sport. The whole reason why it is mentioned here. A way for Trump to call out to his maga base by showing them who is in charge, he can even reign in Fifa. Of course we get the obligatory statement from FIFA: "Football must never become a playground for political power.", which is just more nonsense, because that is all it is.
Anyways, I am sure everyone knows that, but why support it? Cheering on the games, watching them, going to them, only continues to enrich the commercial interests who then use that money to leverage political gain and more power.
I just don't get it: people are willing to make their lives worse and literally pay for that privilege, what else can I say?
People are generally willing to make their lives a little worse for entertainment, it’s a quirk of the species. Yes, it’s a distraction, but people need distractions.
If people stay laser focused on the awful things going on, they won’t be more empathetic and able to help, they’ll feel more helpless. It’s a good thing to be informed, but only to a point.
Its not a little worse. It is a LOT worse. Its not a distraction, its a freaking denial. Its like a late stage alcoholic that figures drinking is fine because it makes them feel a little better.
There are a million things to do that are distractions, this is no excuse. This is like watching your house on fire and helping pour on the petrol, because for a while, that is fun.
People do that, all the time. At least there’s a significant effect from alcohol, but go to any cancer treatment center and see if the ashtray outside is empty. It’s not.
But no, I don’t really see how an American who can afford tickets is blowing up their life by doing so. Someone’s life, sure. And that matters a lot, but they probably also buy clothing and shoes, so they’re most likely already benefiting from slavery. There’s no ethical consumption under capitalism.
That’s not a reason that people should use to just do what they want, but people also don’t deserve abuse for not boycotting the things you boycott (nor will it help convert them)
Abuse? Lol abuse?
Really?
I made my case, I stand by it. All the grift and power gained by these events is just another one on the pile, and if only hurt the individual I wouldn't care.
No, they do not get a pass for contributing to making everything worse, in a huge way, when they could simply not.
Do you buy clothes from stores? Should I go around commenting under all of your posts that you’re a slaver? That would rightfully be considered abuse.
Getting frustrations out by complaining that others don’t follow the same boycotts you do doesn’t make you wrong, just ineffective and unpleasant. But why do that? If you don’t start off so angry, you can often talk people around.
There are thousands of important things for people to pay attention to, not everyone gets every bit of news. First explaining the issue calmly and getting them to talk about it with you will be a much better strategy across the board than just going “so you like slaves, eh?”
What’s the huge way that $5-10k in FIFA’s pocket makes everything worse? It contributes a very small amount to their bottom line, which is obviously not good, but how efficient does an organization have to be for so little money to go far enough to affect everything? That’s impressive.
I already stated that it’s not a pass, should we just keep affirming it to each other?
Given that fifa is a non profit, its not the money going to them. It's the contracts, backroom deals, corporate favors, government favors, etc. Look into the whole scheme and its bonkers how far a reach a non profit has, how many billionaires are involved in various ways, governments as well. Its a front to a huge exchange of weath and influence disguised as a charity.
If you want to complain and call me a slaver because I buy clothes feel free, I don't care. If me and a thousand friends got together to funnel money into a business that did that "for fun" yeah maybe I would deserve it.
So the guy who bought a ticket to one game, then didn’t enjoy it isn’t the primary villain here?
Wild, I had no idea you agreed.
No, the people aren't the villians. The fans aren't the villains, they just support it. If anything they too are the victims.
It sucks.
It does suck, that’s why I think we should first reach out with reason instead of accusations. People don’t respond well to accusations and guilt makes people make worse decisions.
Yeah, it's true. I wouldn't join a football discussion and just start swaggering around with accusation. It's a comment I made here, because it was a bit more appropriate.
Since we are talking about it:
In the US, the world cup was used to get 365 million dollars spent on permanent surveillance and facial recognition devices installed. The four main vendors planned on this all along, using AI and leaving it up. Nobody has disclosed what they are going to do with the data, the fans willingly gave up facial recognition for ID which will continue at major arenas because now it is in place.
Mexico and Canada are also doing this. The list of upcoming hosts are planning on doing this. They are using the World Cup as a "global showcase" to normalize battlefield-tested surveillance in civilian spaces.
FIFA is the platform to get global AI surveillance into place, to get contracts to large corporations, and to monitor and build databaes of citizens. The best part? It's almost always the same corporations, how easy it is to go global!
The amount of waved reviews is staggering. Just roll it out now worry about consequences later.
The World Cup does not create the surveillance state — but it has become one of the most efficient mechanisms for funding, deploying, legitimizing, and permanently embedding it across the globe, one tournament at a time.
Does that help explain why I am a little bit irritated about this subject?
That’s great information to have, thank you. I was actually already boycotting fifa, but didn’t realize that’s where the money was going.
I know it’s exhausting, but leading with something like that instead of an accusation would be way more effective. If you can copy/paste it, or make a post about it somewhere so others can share it as well, it might be easier.
I’m not trying to put more emotional labor on people who are already drained by the subject, but it’s just the reality of what’s effective for actually changing people’s minds.
If I want to actually make someone think about changing their eating habits, I can’t just say it’s fucked up to enslave animals, I have to pull up research about, for example, what happens to make chicks at egg laying facilities and read through it to make sure it’s valid, before posting information the other person likely didn’t know that might plant a seed for later. It sucks, I’ve gotten more sensitized to animal cruelty since I went vegan (I know, I know, “they’ll tell you,” but I don’t know what better angle to approach this from), but the other way just alienates people.
Yes, I agree.
The word Vegan has connotations apparently for people, but hopefully respect for animal life is a good talking point to open the dialog about what you believe in.
There is a whole lot of benefits for the world if you can get people to even move the needle to a more plant based diet.
Merdeas touch.