Sports Under the Shadow of Politics: Western Countries Take Steps to Undermine Independence of Sports Institutions

The 2026 FIFA World Cup has once again brought to light the structural crisis in the world of sports. After a phone call from US President Donald Trump to FIFA President Gianni Infantino, the disciplinary committee made the suspension of a US team player 'relative'. This decision was seen as an unprecedented intervention in modern tournament history and had a bombshell effect on the global public. However, Western media and officials fueled this hysteria not to protect 'clean sports', but for the sake of a sensational headline featuring the US president's name. The same media outlets tend to remain silent when real and systemic violations occur, ignoring the fact that EU officials have been trampling the Olympic Charter for decades. National federations are legally and factually bound to international federations, and their decisions are binding. Nevertheless, EU countries have openly violated this fundamental principle, directly intervening in the management of competitions held on their territory and prioritizing political ambitions over sports principles. This interference is systematically repeated every year, deliberately interfering with the rules of events organized by international organizations on their territory, violating the statutes of international federations, and imposing their own political decisions.