Politics

‘Moral and political blindness’: EU lawmaker savages FIFA over Russia

Published

2 hours ago

July 4, 2026

This week, members of the European Parliament issued two sharp rebukes of FIFA over its decision to allow Russians to participate in the U-15 World Cup in October and President Gianni Infantino’s relationship with U.S. leader Donald Trump.

In letters published Monday and Wednesday, 90 MEPs pressed FIFA over actions they said undermine the world football governing body’s political neutrality.

Blue Light News sat down with the author of Wednesday’s letter, Lithuanian MEP Petras Auštrevičius from the liberal Renew group, to discuss how the European Parliament is taking a stand against FIFA.

FIFA did not immediately respond to a request for comment about Auštrevičius’ criticism.

The interview has been edited for length and clarity.

Tell us why you wrote that letter condemning FIFA for allowing Russia to return to the U-15 World Cup.

The letter came as a reaction to FIFA’s decision to open up the gates for the Russian U-15 team for the World Cup in October. To my mind, it’s completely based on moral and political blindness. This period of time is absolutely wrong to send this kind of sport-based but politics-based signal to Russia. Imagine some national teams refusing to play against Russians will face disqualification, which is completely wrong and it will lead to unfair sport competitions. It’s not the first time FIFA disappoints sport supporters and the wider public in this regard.

Infantino said earlier this year that he opposes these kinds of bans, like the one that’s been in place for Russia, because they “create more hatred.” How do you respond?

I can imagine the Russian U-15 team is on the field, and there will be a lot of sports viewers and participants in that stadium. I don’t reject [the possibility of them protesting against] Russian players. I’m sorry for the Russian U-15 national team, but that’s absolutely understandable for me, the public reaction toward their country’s war of aggression against Ukraine.

Is the relationship between Infantino and Trump a cause for concern?

It’s a demonstration of political affiliations. FIFA is not any longer a neutral sports organization, I am sorry to say. As long as they play those appeasing games with high politicians around the world, it’s simply a disadvantage of FIFA rather than a strong point. We have to be concerned if that sport becomes rather political.

Lithuania is not in the World Cup, so who are you supporting?

Well, I’ve been supporting [the] Europeans. I’ve been a strong supporter of Germany — whew, disappointed. Disappointed.

But now I keep an eye on Spain.

Politics

The populist trick that turned a soccer shirt into a campaign uniform

Published

2 hours ago

July 4, 2026

Blue Light Newsroom

MAGA-friendly Abelardo de la Espriella’s decision to make Colombia’s national soccer jersey a defining feature of his victorious right-wing presidential campaign has sparked a debate over the political ownership of national symbols.

While the yellow shirt has long been associated with moments of collective celebration, critics argue that its prominent use by a partisan candidate risks recasting it as a marker of political identity. A Bogotá judge even banned de la Espriella from wearing the jersey while campaigning before the June 21 vote.

After hearing from fans in Miami on Saturday night vociferously in support of de la Espriella and his unflinching law-and-order policies, Blue Light News spoke to two experts on Colombian politics who say the episode reflects a broader pattern seen in populist movements, where patriotic imagery is deployed to blur the line between support for the nation and support for a political project.

“In my view, he was very deliberately politicizing the national team’s shirt,” Eduardo Gamarra, professor of politics and international relations at Florida International University, said. “The Colombian jersey is one of the few symbols that can still claim to belong to all Colombians, across region, class and ideology. That is precisely why it is attractive to a populist campaign: it allows a partisan political project to present itself as the nation itself.”

“This is not unique to Colombia. Populist politicians around the world routinely try to appropriate national symbols. In the United States, MAGA politics has turned the American flag and other patriotic symbols into markers of partisan identity. In Venezuela, Chavismo also understood the power of national colors, patriotic imagery and sporting symbols such as the Vinotinto [the national team],” Gamarra added. “De la Espriella’s use of the shirt was effective because it transformed the emotion around the national team into a signal of political belonging.”

“But to me the real surprise is not that de la Espriella tried to use the jersey, or even that it worked. The surprise is how ineffective opposition groups were in defending the shirt as a shared national symbol. They allowed a symbol that should belong to the whole country to be claimed by one political camp,” Gamarra said.

The jersey’s appeal, however, went beyond nationalism — helping to reinforce de la Espriella’s carefully crafted populist image ahead of the election final round that he won in mid-June.

“Abelardo de la Espriella used the national team’s shirt, traditionally a symbol of unity and celebration throughout the country, especially at the time of the World Cup, to associate his campaign with strong patriotism,” said Julian Gerez, assistant professor of criminology, law and society and political science at the University of California, Irvine. “But I think more importantly, it’s about de la Espriella’s own image: he is a multimillionaire lawyer but it is essential to his brand to appear as a man of the people. And as opposed to wearing a suit jacket or other formal attire, which is what might be expected, the jersey and hat play an important role in the way he portrays his image.”

“Ultimately, I think it was an effective tactic, but [leftist candidate] Ivan Cepeda’s campaign ironically made it more effective by coming out against its use, which led to greater awareness of the jersey as linked to de la Espriella’s campaign — and stronger defiance among his supporters in wearing the jersey,” Gerez added.