--- title: "The Beautiful Game" description: "A ball and two goal markers. That is all you need to play. In a world where everything, including sports, can be expensive and exclusionary, soccer is not.…" url: https://www.independentpress.com/article/the-beautiful-game date: 2026-08-30 categories: ["Sports","Social"] author: "Matthew Leonard" --- # The Beautiful Game ![photo-1561580726-1bd7aed04eb0](https://images.ctfassets.net/ewtdlsoyixc1/H13XIw3253EO0UwlG6aTV/19e5f90c5dd93f6595510447e971de74/photo-1561580726-1bd7aed04eb0.avif) A ball and two goal markers. That is all you need to play. In a world where everything, including sports, can be expensive and exclusionary, soccer is not. This is precisely why soccer is known as the world’s game or the beautiful game. Soccer’s rise as one of the world’s most unifying entities begins with the [FIFA World ](https://www.owayo.com/magazine/soccer-history-us.htm?srsltid=AfmBOopUqdo9DxEhG2OXP53M1O2sj2M-FG88AnLDUdAjHRFD-LOmG3v3)[Cup](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/FIFA_World_Cup). While the [sport’s roots](https://www.owayo.com/magazine/soccer-history-us.htm?srsltid=AfmBOopUqdo9DxEhG2OXP53M1O2sj2M-FG88AnLDUdAjHRFD-LOmG3v3) can be traced back thousands of years, the formation of the World Cup in 1930 united countries all around the world in a single soccer competition. Since its inception, the World Cup has proven it is more than a sports tournament. West Germany’s 3-2 victory in the 1954 FIFA World Cup final over Hungary, known as the “Miracle of Bern,” gave Germans something to unite around in a time when the country was still recovering from World War II. In 2005, Côte d'Ivoire (Ivory Coast) was in the middle of a civil war. After qualifying for the 2006 World Cup by beating Sudan 3-1 in October 2005, Ivorian soccer legend Didier Drogba delivered a [speech](https://www.bbc.com/sport/football/52072592) urging his nation to lay down its weapons, a moment viewed as a core reason for bringing a temporary halt to major fighting and helping to lead to an informal truce that would culminate in a comprehensive peace accord between warring factions in 2007. Most recently, during the 2026 World Cup, the world united around the small island nation of Cape Verde. When the nation played Spain, a tournament favorite and the eventual World Cup champion, Cape Verde managed to stun the world by drawing a scoreless tie. Josimar José Évora Dias, Cape Verde's 40-year-old goalkeeper, known affectionately as Vozinha, meaning “little grandmother” in Portuguese, etched his name in the history books by outplaying some of the best goalkeepers in the world, leading him to gain nearly 30 million Instagram [followers](https://www.instagram.com/Vozinha1/?hl=en) in just weeks. While there are many more examples of how the World Cup has served as a global force for unification over the last 90-plus years, a recent plan by FIFA’s president, Gianni Infantino, sparked widespread criticism by threatening to do the opposite. In late July 2026, Infantino unveiled a plan to create a subsidiary called FIFA Forward Enterprises, with an estimated value of $20 billion. The most controversial part of the plan was Infantino’s proposal to sell a stake in the FIFA subsidiary to a group of private investors for approximately $4.2 billion. Infantino [framed](https://sports.yahoo.com/articles/fifa-u-turn-infantino-drops-081000231.html) the potential sale as a means to provide further support for FIFA's member associations with smaller populations and less overall funding. The group of prospective investors was fronted by Joshua Kushner, brother of Jared Kushner, the son-in-law of United States President Donald Trump. During the 2026 World Cup, Trump received significant press with the United States serving as one of three host nations for the tournament and MetLife Stadium in East Rutherford, New Jersey, hosting the championship match. Trump received worldwide attention for [sitting](https://www.facebook.com/ESPNFC/posts/president-donald-trump-is-at-the-world-cup-final-and-seated-next-to-fifa-preside/2176338907190207/) next to Gianni Infantino at the World Cup final between Spain and Argentina. From an American perspective, Infantino’s plan is not all that radical or even out of the ordinary. Sports in the United States are their own form of business, viewed as money-making machines with very high barriers to entry. There is not a single American sports organization, outside of the Green Bay Packers, that is a full public entity. Within every major professional sports league, investment groups, generational heirs, billionaires, and even some celebrities own teams. While the concept of privately owned sports organizations is not inherently bad, it is not the proper route for the World Cup. Infantino’s critical mistake was forgetting that soccer will always be the beautiful game owned by the world and all the fans, players, and countries who take part in the competition. Having been at the helm of FIFA for the past decade, Infantino is no stranger to controversy. In January 2017, under Infantino’s leadership, FIFA decided to expand the 2026 World Cup from 32 to 48 teams, increasing the number of teams in the tournament and the number of games played in the knockout rounds. While the decision was highly debated and fiercely criticized, it was ultimately seen as an overwhelming success as Infantino worked through resistance and saw his plan come to fruition. When it came to Infantino’s plan to sell a stake in FIFA Forward Enterprises, the backlash was severe and immediate. The minute that media sources leaked Infantino’s plan to privatize part of the World Cup, the internet exploded. How could FIFA attempt to sell the world’s game to a group of private investors? The public's answer was simple: The World Cup belongs to the people. While Infantino quickly confirmed his plan the same day it was leaked and reiterated its benefits, the floodgates were already open. The response was about as bad as it could have been. According to a [study](https://sports.yahoo.com/articles/infantino-exit-odds-surge-still-141851626.html) reporting online fan responses, 85.22% of online “non-neutral” reactions were negative. In the "classified emotional response” category, 60.54% of people reacted with disgust and anger towards the proposal. This unprecedented backlash was impossible to ignore. On July 29, Infantino released a video defending his plan, referring to it as “an opportunity, not an obligation,” further claiming it would unlock "previously uncaptured commercial value.”[_](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kVVqy_kyY_s) It quickly became clear Infantino’s video did not eliminate the widespread negativity towards the proposal. Only a day after the video was released, the governing body of football in Europe, the Union of European Football Associations (UEFA), announced that its 55 member nations were boycotting all FIFA competitions. The Confederation of North, Central America, and Caribbean Association Football (CONCACAF) and the Asian Football Confederation (AFC) soon followed, officially rejecting Infantino’s controversial proposal. On July 31, just three days after Infantino’s plan was announced, Infantino officially withdrew it from consideration. Infantino’s proposal may be no more, but those who opposed it have set their sights on a new target: Infantino himself. UEFA, CONCACAF, and AFC, the same three confederations that rejected Infantino’s proposal, released a joint letter [stating](https://x.com/RobHarris/status/2086726809589027015?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw%7Ctwcamp%5Etweetembed%7Ctwterm%5E2086726809589027015%7Ctwgr%5Ebb1a138254968b57e4adfe8e4809f332b9e89886%7Ctwcon%5Es1_&ref_url=https%3A%2F%2Fonefootball.com%2Fen%2Fnews%2Ftotal-split-uefa-afc-and-concacaf-issue-stern-message-to-infantino-43254231) that Infantino’s proposal was “not just a procedural misstep, but a fundamental breach of trust.” Norwegian Football Association President [Lise Klaveness](https://www.theguardian.com/football/2026/aug/07/lise-klaveness-norwegian-fa-fifa-president-gianni-infantino-resign) and Spanish LaLiga President [Javier Tebas](https://www.theguardian.com/football/2026/aug/09/la-liga-president-javier-tebas-gianni-infantino-fifa-uefa) have explicitly called for Infantino to resign from the FIFA presidency. On August 27, 2026, media sources reported that UEFA is preparing possible criminal action against Infantino in Switzerland for financial fraud and criminal mismanagement. UEFA officials are also seeking to have a [subpoena approved](https://www.wsj.com/sports/soccer/fifa-infantino-uefa-kushner-thrive-capital-b612b1b0) for Joshua Kushner and his private equity fund Thrive Capital for information regarding Infantino’s FIFA Forward Enterprises plan. For now, despite the intense backlash, Infantino has made no indication that he plans to resign, instead seemingly preparing for a potential fourth term as FIFA president in 2027 at the 77th FIFA Congress. Infantino is not entirely without support, as President Trump has reaffirmed his confidence in the FIFA president, [stating](https://www.the-independent.com/sport/football/gianni-infantino-donald-trump-fifa-latest-uefa-world-cup-b3030802.html) that it would be a “terrible mistake” to remove Infantino from his position. The conversation surrounding Infantino’s plan has largely transitioned from sports to politics and criminal action. Some soccer federation presidents may view Infantino’s controversial plan as an opportunity to build a stronger résumé for their own potential presidential run. For example, CONCACAF President Victor Montagliani, one of three confederation leaders to release the breach of trust letter against Infantino, is [viewed](https://www.espn.com/soccer/story/_/id/49536495/fifa-president-gianni-infantino-challengers-montagliani-al-khalifa-al-khelaifi-world-cup-elections) as a potential frontrunner to succeed Infantino as FIFA president. Montagliani represents just one of many confederation leaders who will likely challenge Infantino for the presidency. Confederation leaders could cite their opposition to Infantino’s proposal and UEFA's subsequent criminal actions as reasons they are the best candidates to succeed him. It is not hard to understand Infantino’s thought process behind his plan. In the world we live in, money is intoxicating. It is hard to forego economic opportunities that could enrich you or the organization that you work for. However, there are many pathways to economic success. Privatization is not always the answer for public goods like the World Cup, or even the scarce environmental resources that make up our planet. Many professional sports, particularly those in America, are limited to the audiences within their home country because they are too commercialized and closed off from ordinary people. Professional sports have essentially become privatized businesses. When money becomes a priority for any organization, that organization’s goals and agendas must necessarily change. The world’s message to Infantino and the private investors backing his plan was clear—keep your hands off. FIFA Forward Enterprises was decisively and immediately rejected because it jeopardized soccer’s standing as the world’s game and implicitly threatened that which makes soccer so beautiful—that it can bring together people from all nationalities, ethnicities, and religions from all over the world with a ball and two goal markers. As the last major sporting competition not controlled by outside economic interests, the World Cup is meant for the entire world to revere and revel in, not for a small group of wealthy investors to privatize and own. At its core, the World Cup’s purpose has never been to make profits, but rather to bring people together and give the entire world something to unite around. It is owned by all the teams who compete for national pride, all the fans who watch the games and root for their home country, and all the children who go out onto the pitch with a ball and two goal markers dreaming about being the next Pelé or Lionel Messi. Whether you call it Copa del Mundo, Coupe du Monde, Fußballweltmeisterschaft, Wereldkampioenschap Voetbal, Wārudo Kappu, Wol-deu-keop, or the World Cup, it is the only true sporting competition owned by the world. And that is precisely what makes soccer the world’s beautiful game.