Mehdi Hasan
Mehdi Hasan
@zeteo·1.6M subscribers·1.7K videos

FIFA Has Been Covering for Dictators for 90 Years

Posted

July 17, 2026

Views

53,619

Likes

2,693

Comments

224

Engagement

5.44%

Search the Record

Indexed

Every word spoken in this episode is indexed. Type any phrase to jump straight to the moment it was said.

Type any word or phrase that may have been spoken. Click a result to seek the player to that exact moment.

Try a name, a topic, or a quoted line

YouTube Description

as posted by the channel

FIFA and fascism go hand-in-hand.

Yes, you read that right. The organizer of the World Cup has historically been complicit in legitimizing authoritarian regimes and helping distract from their crimes – a phenomenon commonly known as “sportswashing.”

Just take a look at the 1934 World Cup. And the 1978 World Cup… Oh, and the 2026 World Cup.

In the second episode of Zeteo’s three-part video series, “The Dark Side of the World Cup,” Mehdi walks through these three World Cups – which respectively take place under Italy’s Benito Mussolini, Argentina’s junta leader Jorge Videla, and the U.S.’s Donald Trump – to connect the dots and highlight how FIFA helped these authoritarians cover up their crimes.

Plus, Mehdi breaks down the controversies around the Russia- and Qatar-hosted World Cups and digs into the double standards when it comes to the lack of media coverage on the U.S.’s own controversies.

This video was first published June 16 on zeteo.com. If you want earlier access to more coverage like this, subscribe at zeteo.com/subscribe.

Find Zeteo:

Find Mehdi:

To advertise on the show, contact sales@advertisecast.com or visit

Guests & Subjects Covered

World CupWorld Cup AndWorld Cup OhWorld Cup InThe Dark SideWorld Cup MehdiWorld CupsItalys Benito Mussolini Argentinas

Sentinel Indexing in Progress

Metadata and chapters are available. Claim extraction for this episode is pending.

All video content is delivered via YouTube embedded players in accordance with the YouTube Terms of Service. Sentinel provides research tools that promote discovery and accountability across political media.