Why football politics matters - even when you only came for the football
- Jun 9
- 2 min read
Another World Cup is upon us and it's timely to talk about the Reboot FIFA campaign launched last week by FairSquare, and why football politics matters.
Most fans only want to watch the football. That's entirely fair.
The game on the field is the reason any of us fell in love with it: the goal that changed everything, the player who made you believe in magic, the night your team did the impossible (16 November 2005, anyone?!)
But here's the thing I've come to believe after years of looking at how the game is run: if you really love the football, you can't only love the football. Because the game on the field doesn't exist in a vacuum. It sits inside a structure that decides who gets to play, where tournaments are held, who profits, and what a ticket costs the ordinary supporter who simply wants to be there.
And right now, that structure is failing the very people who love the game most. You can see it in this World Cup - in ticket prices that put matches out of reach for working families, in decisions made far from any fan's interest, in a governing body that too often seems to answer to everyone except supporters.
This isn't cynicism. It's the opposite. You don't spend years pushing for greater democracy, transparency, and accountability at great personal cost only to give up on something. You do it because you think the game is worth getting right.
That's one of the reasons Fair Play Publishing exists, and it's why our list runs from the joy of the game to the hard questions about how it's governed. The two belong together.
It's also why I'm proud to sit on the advisory board of Reboot. If you've ever felt that anger at a ticket price or were overcome with the cringeworthy factor of the 'Peace Prize' last December, or been aggrieved about how money meant for 'development' hardly ever turns up where it's most needed, the Reboot FIFA campaign is somewhere to show your support for change.
You can love the football. And care how it's run. They were always the same thing.
