As with the

2014 Winter Olympics , ''Zharkie. Zimnie. Tvoi'') , nations = 88 , events = 98 in 7 sports (15 disciplines) , athletes = 2,873 , opening = 7 February 2014 , closing = 23 February 2014 , opened_by = President Vladimir Putin , cauldron = , stadium = Fisht Olympic ...

, the choice of Russia as host of the

2018 FIFA World Cup The 2018 FIFA World Cup was the 21st FIFA World Cup, the quadrennial world championship for men's national Association football, football teams organized by FIFA. It took place in Russia from 14 June to 15 July 2018, after the country was awa ...

had been challenged. Controversial issues have included the level of racism in Russian football and the discrimination against

LGBT ' is an initialism that stands for lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender. In use since the 1990s, the initialism, as well as some of its common variants, functions as an umbrella term for sexuality and gender identity. The LGBT term is a ...

people in wider Russian society. Russia's involvement in the ongoing conflict in Ukraine also caused calls for the tournament to be moved, particularly following the annexation of Crimea and support of separatists in

War in Donbas War is an intense armed conflict between states, governments, societies, or paramilitary groups such as mercenaries, insurgents, and militias. It is generally characterized by extreme violence, destruction, and mortality, using regular o ...

. The then

FIFA FIFA (; stands for ''Fédération Internationale de Football Association'' ( French), meaning International Association Football Federation ) is the international governing body of association football, beach football and futsal. It was found ...

President

Sepp Blatter Joseph "Sepp" Blatter (born Josef Blatter; 10 March 1936) is a Swiss former football administrator who served as the eighth President of FIFA from 1998 to 2015. He has been banned from participating in FIFA activities since 2015 as a result of ...

declined requests for the tournament to be moved. The 2015 allegations and criminal investigations of corruption, including a Swiss inquiry into the bidding process for the 2018 World Cup, intensified the public discussion of the appropriateness of Russia as the World Cup venue. In late May 2015, Russia's president

Vladimir Putin Vladimir Vladimirovich Putin; (born 7 October 1952) is a Russian politician and former intelligence officer who holds the office of president of Russia. Putin has served continuously as president or prime minister since 1999: as prime min ...

said that he viewed the corruption investigations as an attempt by the U.S. to oust Sepp Blatter from his post as punishment for his support of Russia as host for the 2018 World Cup.

Allegations of corruption

The English FA, which competed against Russia to host the tournament, was not satisfied by the 42 page summary released by FIFA, in November 2014, of the 350 page

Garcia Report The Garcia Report was an investigation produced by Michael J. Garcia into allegations of corruption in world football. Garcia was appointed in July 2012 to investigate ethical breaches at the FIFA, football's world governing body. A month lat ...

, which cleared both Russia and Qatar of corruption in the bidding processes for the 2018 and 2022 World Cups. FA Chairman

Greg Dyke Gregory Dyke (born 20 May 1947) is a British media executive, football administrator, journalist, and broadcaster. Since the 1960s, Dyke has had a long career in the UK in print and then broadcast journalism. He is credited with introducing ' ...

called for a re-investigation of the claims, while his predecessor David Bernstein called on all

UEFA Union of European Football Associations (UEFA ; french: Union des associations européennes de football; german: Union der europäischen Fußballverbände) is one of six continental bodies of governance in association football. It governs f ...

nations to boycott the two tournaments.

Reinhard Rauball Reinhard Rauball (born 25 December 1946) is a German politician, member of the SPD, a trained lawyer, and football official. He is known for having served as president of football team Borussia Dortmund several times and also served very briefly ...

, President of the

Deutsche Fußball Liga The DFL Deutsche Fußball Liga GmbH, or simply Deutsche Fußball Liga ("German Football League"), and often shortened to DFL, is a wholly owned subsidiary of ''Die Liga – Fußballverband''. The DFL is responsible for entire operating business o ...

(DFL), called on UEFA to secede from FIFA unless the corruption investigation was released in full. Anatoly Vorobyov said "We have enough disciplinary measures which are laid out in our regulations. On the other hand, perhaps they need to be used more strictly". In an interview published on 7 June 2015, Domenico Scala, the head of FIFA's Audit And Compliance Committee, stated that "should there be evidence that the awards to Qatar and Russia came only because of bought votes, then the awards could be cancelled".

Military conflict in Ukraine

Crimea

Dan Coats, official portrait, 112th Congress

The

annexation of Crimea by the Russian Federation In February and March 2014, Russia invaded and subsequently annexed the Crimean Peninsula from Ukraine. This event took place in the aftermath of the Revolution of Dignity and is part of the wider Russo-Ukrainian War. The events in Kyiv th ...

in 2014 led to several British and American politicians calling on FIFA to overturn its decision of hosting the 2018 World Cup in Russia — British

Shadow Secretary of State for Health The Shadow Secretary of State for Health and Social Care is an office within British politics held by a member of His Majesty's Loyal Opposition. The duty of the office holder is to scrutinise the actions of the government's Secretary of State f ...

Andy Burnham Andrew Murray Burnham (born 7 January 1970) is a British politician who has served as Mayor of Greater Manchester since 2017. He served in Gordon Brown's Cabinet as Chief Secretary to the Treasury from 2007 to 2008, Culture Secretary from 2008 ...

said that football's governing body should reconsider, while two American

Republican Republican can refer to: Political ideology * An advocate of a republic, a type of government that is not a monarchy or dictatorship, and is usually associated with the rule of law. ** Republicanism, the ideology in support of republics or agains ...

senators,

Dan Coats Daniel Ray Coats (born May 16, 1943) is an American politician, attorney, and former diplomat. From 2017 to 2019, he served as the Director of National Intelligence in the Trump administration. A member of the Republican Party, he served as a ...

and

Mark Kirk Mark Steven Kirk (born September 15, 1959) is a retired American politician and attorney who served as a United States senator from Illinois from 2010 to 2017, and as the United States representative for Illinois's 10th congressional district fr ...

, wrote a joint letter to FIFA president

saying Russia should not only be prevented from hosting a World Cup but also be banned from participating in it, bringing up the precedent of

Yugoslavia Yugoslavia (; sh-Latn-Cyrl, separator=" / ", Jugoslavija, Југославија ; sl, Jugoslavija ; mk, Југославија ;; rup, Iugoslavia; hu, Jugoszlávia; rue, label=Pannonian Rusyn, Югославия, translit=Juhoslavija ...

being banned from Euro '92 and the

1994 World Cup The 1994 FIFA World Cup was the 15th FIFA World Cup, the world championship for men's national association football, soccer teams. It was hosted by the United States and took place from June 17 to July 17, 1994, at nine venues across the countr ...

as course of action to be followed in this case and proclaiming equivalence between Russia hosting the Cup with the

appeasement Appeasement in an international context is a diplomatic policy of making political, material, or territorial concessions to an aggressive power in order to avoid conflict. The term is most often applied to the foreign policy of the UK governm ...

of the Nazis and

Adolf Hitler Adolf Hitler (; 20 April 188930 April 1945) was an Austrian-born German politician who was dictator of Nazi Germany, Germany from 1933 until Death of Adolf Hitler, his death in 1945. Adolf Hitler's rise to power, He rose to power as the le ...

in the 1930s before

World War II World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposin ...

. In March 2014 Blatter declined their request and responded by saying: "The World Cup has been given and voted to Russia and we are going forward with our work".

Deployment of troops in Eastern Ukraine

Following several reports of direct military involvement of Russian troops in

Eastern Ukraine Eastern Ukraine or east Ukraine ( uk, Східна Україна, Skhidna Ukrayina; russian: Восточная Украина, Vostochnaya Ukraina) is primarily the territory of Ukraine east of the Dnipro (or Dnieper) river, particularly Khark ...

, European diplomats revealed on 29 August 2014 that British Prime Minister

David Cameron David William Donald Cameron (born 9 October 1966) is a British former politician who served as Prime Minister of the United Kingdom from 2010 to 2016 and Leader of the Conservative Party from 2005 to 2016. He previously served as Leader o ...

was working for Russia to be stripped of its hosting of the World Cup, as part of an extended sanctions package. Some days later it was revealed that this was on the list of proposals for extended EU sanctions against Russia. However, no immediate action was taken due to the fact that the proposal was made nearly four years before the tournament.

Malaysia Airlines Flight 17

In July 2014, after

Malaysia Airlines Flight 17 Malaysia Airlines Flight 17 (MH17/MAS17) was a scheduled passenger flight from Amsterdam to Kuala Lumpur that was shot down by Russian forces on 17 July 2014, while flying over eastern Ukraine. All 283 passengers and 15 crew were killed. Cont ...

was shot down, Western leaders blamed Russia and there were again calls for the tournament to be moved. Michael Fuchs, a parliamentarian in the German government, stated his belief that moving the tournament would have more impact than sanctions on Russia. The

German FA The German Football Association (german: Deutscher Fußball-Bund ; DFB ) is the governing body of football in Germany. A founding member of both FIFA and UEFA, the DFB has jurisdiction for the German football league system and is in charge of ...

(DFB) did not comment on the issue, although its Dutch counterpart (KNVB), representing the country with the most victims in the disaster, declared that such discussion should wait until the investigation of the accident.

Nick Clegg Sir Nicholas William Peter Clegg (born 7 January 1967) is a British media executive and former Deputy Prime Minister of the United Kingdom who has been president for global affairs at Meta Platforms since 2022, having previously been vicepr ...

, the then–

Deputy Prime Minister of the United Kingdom The deputy prime minister of the United Kingdom is a minister of the Crown and a member of the British Cabinet. The office is not always in use, and prime ministers may use other offices, such as First Secretary of State, to indicate the seni ...

, also stated his belief that due to the crash Russia should be stripped of the World Cup. The Prime Minister,

, did not share this idea, but appreciated the concern. Sepp Blatter said that the tournament should be a "force for good".

Events after Russia winning to host the World Cup

Racism

After it was announced that Russia would host the 2018 World Cup, Dr

Rafał Pankowski Rafał Pankowski (born 1976)Dr. Rafal Pankowski speaker profile

< ...

, a head of

FARE Monitoring Centre, accused the

Russian Football Union The Russian Football Union (russian: Российский Футбольный Союз, ''Rossiyskiy Futbolnyy Soyuz'' or RFS) is the official governing body of association football in the Russian Federation. With headquarters in Moscow, it org ...

of downplaying racist chants in stadiums. In October 2013, after allegedly being racially abused by fans of the Russian club

CSKA Moscow CSKA Moscow (russian: ЦСКА Москва) is a Russian sports club based in Moscow. It was created in 1911 in the Russian Empire on base of OLLS (Skiing Society, founded 1901). Later, during the Soviet Union, Soviet era, it was a central piece ...

, Ivorian footballer

Yaya Touré Gnégnéri Yaya Touré (born 13 May 1983) is an Ivorian professional football coach and former player who played as a midfielder. He is an academy coach for Premier League side Tottenham Hotspur. Touré aspired to be a striker during his yout ...

stated that black players might boycott the 2018 World Cup unless Russia tackles racism in football. On 13 July 2014, when the next World Cup was handed to Russia,

Russian President The president of the Russian Federation ( rus, Президент Российской Федерации, Prezident Rossiyskoy Federatsii) is the head of state of the Russian Federation. The president leads the executive branch of the federal ...

said: "President Blatter puts a lot of personal effort into addressing social issues, and we hope that the preparations for the World Cup in Russia will also contribute to tasks, such as fighting drugs, racism and other challenges we face today". In March 2015, Anatoly Vorobyov, the general secretary of the Russian Football Union, said that "not everything is going smoothly" in the campaign to eliminate the "virus" of racism from Russian football before the tournament. Later that month,

Vyacheslav Koloskov Vyacheslav Ivanovich Koloskov (russian: Вячеслав Иванович Колосков, June 15, 1941, Moscow, USSR) is a Russian and Soviet sport functionary, vice-president of FIFA (1980–1996). Career He was a football player but without ...

, a member of the Russian bid team and former Vice President of FIFA, said that too much is made of racism in Russia, and that

monkey chanting Monkey chanting or monkey chants are chants or calls aimed at ridiculing or denigrating Black sportspeople, usually footballers, who play in majority-White countries. The chants are intended to imitate "monkey" or "ape" noises. They may be accomp ...

is not racist.

LGBT activism

In response to discrimination against

people in the country, a number of petitions have been circulated calling for FIFA to strip Russia of hosting rights. Thousands signed these petitions, including United States senators

and

and gay rights activists

Greg Louganis Gregory Efthimios Louganis (; born January 29, 1960) is an American Olympic diver, LGBT activist, and author who won gold medals at the 1984 and 1988 Summer Olympics on the springboard and platform. He is the only man and the second diver in Ol ...

Stephen Fry Stephen John Fry (born 24 August 1957) is an English actor, broadcaster, comedian, director and writer. He first came to prominence in the 1980s as one half of the comic double act Fry and Laurie, alongside Hugh Laurie, with the two starring ...

and

George Takei George Takei (; ja, ジョージ・タケイ; born Hosato Takei (武井穂郷), April 20, 1937) is an American actor, author and activist known for his role as Hikaru Sulu, helmsman of the fictional starship USS ''Enterprise'' in the televi ...

. On 14 June 2018 UK-based activist

Peter Tatchell Peter Gary Tatchell (born 25 January 1952) is a British human rights campaigner, originally from Australia, best known for his work with LGBT social movements. Tatchell was selected as the Labour Party's parliamentary candidate for Bermondsey ...

was detained in Moscow by local police while staging a protest against the treatment of Russian LGBTs.

Ban on negative news reporting

Russia's interior ministry ordered police not to provide negative news to the media during the World Cup and instead report only of solved crime cases to project a more positive image of the country. Russian police was instructed not to publish information about conducted raids or results of investigations into the crimes such as robberies and murders.

UK response, reception and the British media

UK news media had repeatedly warned English football fans travelling to Russia of potential hooligan violence, anti-British hostility and racist intimidation. English fans who have travelled have said they received a warm welcome after arriving in Russia. The ''Independent'' reported that "Most of the English fans blamed the low attendance for a 2-1 win on what they described as alarmist press stories." Also

Polish Polish may refer to: * Anything from or related to Poland, a country in Europe * Polish language * Poles, people from Poland or of Polish descent * Polish chicken *Polish brothers (Mark Polish and Michael Polish, born 1970), American twin screenwr ...

media reported on the friendly reception of Polish fans in Moscow and fears of repeated violence between Polish and Russian fans in Warsaw 2012 have not been met.

England's failed attempt to stage the 2018 World Cup

''The Daily Telegraph'' reported in June 2017 that the former Prime Minister

and

Prince William, Duke of Cambridge William, Prince of Wales, (William Arthur Philip Louis; born 21 June 1982) is the heir apparent to the British throne. He is the elder son of King Charles III and his first wife Diana, Princess of Wales. Born in London, William was educat ...

"were at a meeting during which a vote-swapping deal between England and South Korea was discussed, according to an official report ... At one point officials discussed the possibility of arranging a meeting with the Queen for one FIFA representative whose vote could have helped England."

Skripal poisoning and aftermath

On 14 March 2018, following the poisoning of former spy

Sergei Skripal Sergei Viktorovich Skripal ( rus, Серге́й Ви́кторович Скрипáль, p=sʲɪrˈɡʲej ˈvʲiktərəvʲɪtɕ skrʲɪˈpalʲ; born 23 June 1951) is a former Russian military intelligence officer who acted as a double agent f ...

and his daughter in

Salisbury Salisbury ( ) is a cathedral city in Wiltshire, England with a population of 41,820, at the confluence of the rivers Avon, Nadder and Bourne. The city is approximately from Southampton and from Bath. Salisbury is in the southeast of Wil ...

in the United Kingdom, the British government announced that all official visits to the World Cup were suspended. No ministers or members of the Royal Family will attend matches or other ceremonies. The participation of the England team would not be affected. On 21 March, British Foreign Secretary

Boris Johnson Alexander Boris de Pfeffel Johnson (; born 19 June 1964) is a British politician, writer and journalist who served as Prime Minister of the United Kingdom and Leader of the Conservative Party from 2019 to 2022. He previously served as F ...

accused the Russian government of planning to use its hosting of the World Cup for propaganda, comparing it to

Nazi Germany Nazi Germany (lit. "National Socialist State"), ' (lit. "Nazi State") for short; also ' (lit. "National Socialist Germany") (officially known as the German Reich from 1933 until 1943, and the Greater German Reich from 1943 to 1945) was ...

's use of the 1936 Olympics in Berlin for such purposes. Contrarily, however, he added that it would be unfair to ban the British football teams from competing. Russia denied the accusations and denounced Johnson's statements as "unacceptable and totally irresponsible" and "poisoned with venom of hate, unprofessionalism and boorishness".

United States sanctions against Iran

American company

Nike Nike often refers to: * Nike (mythology), a Greek goddess who personifies victory * Nike, Inc., a major American producer of athletic shoes, apparel, and sports equipment Nike may also refer to: People * Nike (name), a surname and feminine given ...

stopped supplying

Iran Iran, officially the Islamic Republic of Iran, and also called Persia, is a country located in Western Asia. It is bordered by Iraq and Turkey to the west, by Azerbaijan and Armenia to the northwest, by the Caspian Sea and Turkmeni ...

's FIFA World Cup squad members with football boots just days before their opening match in the World Cup due to the new

United States sanctions against Iran The United States has since 1979 applied various economic, trade, scientific and military sanctions against Iran. United States economic sanctions are administered by the Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC), an agency of the United States De ...

. Iran team's head coach

Carlos Queiroz Carlos Manuel Brito Leal de Queiroz (; born 1 March 1953) is a Portuguese football coach who currently is the head coach of the Iran national team. He has served as the manager of his native Portugal's national team, the United Arab Emirates, ...

criticized the decision.

Use of Cossacks against protesters

"The new Cossacks are part of a broader movement of armed Russian nationalism," said Nikolay Mitrokhin, a senior research fellow at the

University of Eastern Finland The University of Eastern Finland ( fi, Itä-Suomen yliopisto) is a university in Finland founded in 2010 with campuses in Joensuu and Kuopio. History The Finnish Parliament passed the Universities Act on June 16, 2009, which, among other things ...

. "Most of them fought in the Donbas, and many of them took part in the occupation of Crimea. It would appear that the Kremlin is now thinking about using them in

Moscow Moscow ( , US chiefly ; rus, links=no, Москва, r=Moskva, p=mɐskˈva, a=Москва.ogg) is the capital and largest city of Russia. The city stands on the Moskva River in Central Russia, with a population estimated at 13.0 million ...

in the same way."

Don Cossacks Don Cossacks (russian: Донские казаки, Donskie kazaki) or Donians (russian: донцы, dontsy) are Cossacks who settled along the middle and lower Don. Historically, they lived within the former Don Cossack Host (russian: До� ...

, the volunteer paramilitary soldiers from Southern Russia who fought in

Donbas The Donbas or Donbass (, ; uk, Донба́с ; russian: Донба́сс ) is a historical, cultural, and economic region in eastern Ukraine. Parts of the Donbas are controlled by Russian separatist groups as a result of the Russo-Ukrai ...

, during the Ukrainian conflict were redeployed this time by the Kremlin to counter protesters and will be used to counter protesters of the World Cup. "The new Cossacks were figures of fun, with their strange paraphernalia and dubious claims of historical lineage. But in Vladimir Putin's third term, as the Kremlin looked to create a nationalist, conservative ideology, they became influential. They began to receive significant state funding and political support."

During the World Cup

Mexican homophobic chanting

During the Germany versus Mexico group stage match, Mexican fans chanted "puto" at German goalkeeper

Manuel Neuer Manuel Peter Neuer (; born 27 March 1986) is a German professional footballer who plays as a goalkeeper and captains both club Bayern Munich and the Germany national team. He is regarded as one of the greatest goalkeepers in the history of the ...

; "puto" is a homophobic slang for a male sex worker that Mexicans and other Latin American countries have frequently used to taunt opposing teams. The origins of the insults against Neuer have been attributed to an incorrect Spanish translation of his statement "it would be good if a professional football player came out because it would help others to do the same". The FIFA disciplinary committee fined the

Mexican Football Federation The Mexican Football Federation (; abbreviated as Femexfut or FMF) is the governing body of association football in Mexico. It adm the Mexico national team, the Liga MX and all affiliated amateur sectors, and controls promoting, organizing, direc ...

10,000 Swiss francs ($10,400) for the homophobic chants. The Mexican Football Federation was earlier sanctioned 12 times including 10 fines for anti-gay slurs during its World Cup qualifying campaign. Mexico striker

Javier Hernández Javier Hernández Balcázar (; born 1 June 1988), commonly known by the nickname Chicharito (, Mexican Spanish: ''little pea''), is a Mexican professional footballer who plays as a striker for Major League Soccer club LA Galaxy. He is known ...

posted on Instagram, "To all Mexican fans in the stadiums, don't shout 'pu--'. Let's not risk another sanction."

Swiss celebrations against Serbia

In Switzerland's 2–1 win over Serbia, Swiss goalscorers

Xherdan Shaqiri Xherdan Shaqiri (; born 10 October 1991) is a Swiss professional footballer who plays as a winger for Major League Soccer club Chicago Fire and the Switzerland national team. Shaqiri began his career at FC Basel, winning honours including t ...

and

Granit Xhaka Granit Xhaka (born 27 September 1992) is a Swiss professional footballer who plays as a midfielder for club Arsenal and the Switzerland national team. Xhaka began his career at hometown club FC Basel, winning the Swiss Super League in each of ...

both celebrated their goals with the double-headed eagle gesture with their hands. The gesture can be interpreted as a symbol of

Albanian nationalism Albanian nationalism is a general grouping of nationalist ideas and concepts generated by ethnic Albanians that were first formed in the 19th century during the Albanian National Awakening ( sq, Rilindja). Albanian nationalism is also associated w ...

and sometimes as symbol of the

Greater Albania Greater Albania is an irredentist and nationalist concept that seeks to unify the lands that many Albanians consider to form their national homeland. It is based on claims on the present-day or historical presence of Albanian populations in th ...

irredentist concept, and both Shaqiri and Xhaka are of

Kosovar Albanian The Albanians of Kosovo ( sq, Shqiptarët e Kosovës, ), also commonly called Kosovo Albanians, Kosovar/Kosovan Albanians or Kosovars/Kosovans, constitute the largest ethnic group in Kosovo. Kosovo Albanians belong to the ethnic Albanian sub-gr ...

heritage.

Kosovo Kosovo ( sq, Kosova or ; sr-Cyrl, Косово ), officially the Republic of Kosovo ( sq, Republika e Kosovës, links=no; sr, Република Косово, Republika Kosovo, links=no), is a partially recognised state in Southeast Euro ...

, the former Serbian province that unilaterally declared independence in 2008, is a partially recognized country claimed by Serbia. Both Kosovar President

Hashim Thaçi Hashim Thaçi (; born 24 April 1968) is a Kosovar Albanian politician who was the president of Kosovo from April 2016 until his resignation on 5 November 2020 to face a war crimes tribunal. He was the first prime minister of Kosovo and the For ...

and

Albanian Prime Minister The Prime Minister of Albania ( sq, Kryeministri i Shqipërisë), officially styled Prime Minister of the Republic of Albania ( sq, Kryeministri i Republikës së Shqipërisë), is the head of government of the Republic of Albania and the mos ...

Edi Rama Edi Rama (born Edvin Kristaq Rama, 4 July 1964) is an Albanian politician, painter, writer, former university lecturer, publicist and former basketball player, who has served as the 33rd and current Prime Minister of Albania since 2013 and chairm ...

shared their support for the celebration on social media, while it was called "a disgrace" by several Serbian newspapers. FIFA subsequently opened an investigation into the incident on 23 June. While some Serbian supporters booed the players, their general anger after the match was more directed at some debatable referee decisions rather than the goal celebrations. During the match some Serbian fans wore shirts with pictures of war criminal

Ratko Mladić Ratko Mladić ( sr-Cyrl, Ратко Младић, ; born 12 March 1942) is a Bosnian Serb convicted war criminal and colonel-general who led the Army of Republika Srpska (VRS) during the Yugoslav Wars. In 2017, he was found guilty of committing ...

, while some fans reportedly chanted anti-Albanian slogans. On 26 June 2018 Shaqiri and Xhaka were each fined 10,000

Swiss franc The Swiss franc is the currency and legal tender of Switzerland and Liechtenstein. It is also legal tender in the Italian exclave of Campione d'Italia which is surrounded by Swiss territory. The Swiss National Bank (SNB) issues banknotes and the f ...

s by FIFA for the celebrations, although a crowd funding start-up in Albania had already raised enough money to cover the fines. Reactions to the fines imposed were mixed, some Albanian and Kosovar fans said the fine would discourage players celebrating their identity, while some Serbian fans thought that the players in question should have been banned from playing.

Croatian celebrations against Russia

Luka Modrić, Danijel Subašić and Dejan Lovren line-up for Croatia before the game v Russia, 7 July 2018

Croatian goalscorer

Domagoj Vida Domagoj Vida (; born 29 April 1989) is a Croatian professional footballer who plays as a defender for Super League Greece club AEK Athens and the Croatia national team. He is capable of playing in any defensive position but is mostly deployed ...

and Croatian team's coaching staff assistant

Ognjen Vukojević Ognjen Vukojević (born 20 December 1983) is a Croatian football manager and former professional player. He is currently the manager of the Croatia national under-20 team, an assistant manager of Ukrainian Premier League club Dynamo Kyiv, and a ...

celebrated Croatia's World Cup victory over Russia by shouting "

Glory to Ukraine "Glory to Ukraine!" ( uk, Слава Україні!, Sláva Ukrayíni!, ) is a Ukrainian national salute, known as a symbol of Ukrainian sovereignty and resistance and as the official salute of the Armed Forces of Ukraine since 2018. It is oft ...

!", a slogan adopted by

Ukrainian nationalists Ukrainian nationalism refers to the promotion of the unity of Ukrainians as a people and it also refers to the promotion of the identity of Ukraine as a nation state. The nation building that arose as nationalism grew following the French Revol ...

. FIFA's disciplinary code prohibits political, nationalist and racist slogans in any form. Vida, celebrating the victory with former Croatian international and current assistant coach,

Ivica Olić Ivica Olić (; born 14 September 1979) is a Croatian professional football manager and former player who is an assistant coach of the Croatia national team. During his career, he played for German Bundesliga clubs such as Hamburger SV, VfL Wolf ...

, was also recorded saying "

Belgrade Belgrade ( , ;, ; Names of European cities in different languages: B, names in other languages) is the Capital city, capital and List of cities in Serbia, largest city in Serbia. It is located at the confluence of the Sava and Danube rivers a ...

is on fire!" in Croatian. However, Serbian media reported "Belgrade" refers to the name of a pub in

Kyiv Kyiv, also spelled Kiev, is the capital and most populous city of Ukraine. It is in north-central Ukraine along the Dnieper, Dnieper River. As of 1 January 2021, its population was 2,962,180, making Kyiv the List of European cities by populat ...

that Vida had frequented, not the capital of Serbia, and that the phrase was used to encourage the pub to have a party. Aleksandar Holiga, editor of Croatian website Telesport, has largely downplayed the incident saying "I don't think Vida understood the full meaning and context of what he was saying. Both of them were just doing it because they are close to

Dynamo Kiev Football Club Dynamo Kyiv (, ) is a Ukrainian professional football club based in Kyiv. Founded in 1927 as a Kyivan football team of republican branch of the bigger Soviet Dynamo Sports Society, the club as a separate business entity was officia ...

. It's something that fans would chant" and that "politically, Croatia doesn't have a perfect relationship with Russia, but then who does in the rest of Europe?"

BBC #REDIRECT BBC #REDIRECT BBC #REDIRECT BBC Here i going to introduce about the best teacher of my life b BALAJI sir. He is the precious gift that I got befor 2yrs . How has helped and thought all the concept and made my success in the 10th board ex ...

reported that "Ukrainians accused FIFA of siding with Russia and flooded the football body's

Facebook Facebook is an online social media and social networking service owned by American company Meta Platforms. Founded in 2004 by Mark Zuckerberg with fellow Harvard College students and roommates Eduardo Saverin, Andrew McCollum, Dustin M ...

page with declarations of "Glory to Ukraine"." After victory over England on July 11 in an interview to

Russia 24 Russia-24 (russian: Россия-24) is a state-owned Russian-language news channel from Russia. It covers major national and international events as well as focuses on domestic issues. It is owned by VGTRK. History The broadcast began January 1 ...

Vida said, speaking Russian, that "he was mistaken" and "apologized to Russian people". Domagoj Vida received an official warning by FIFA and Ognjen Vukojević has been fined 15,000

s and expelled from Croatian team's coaching staff by the

Croatian Football Federation The Croatian Football Federation ( hr, Hrvatski nogometni savez, HNS) is the governing body of association football in Croatia. It was originally formed in 1912 and is based in the capital city of Zagreb. The organisation is a member of both FIF ...

Group H fair play controversy

Japan Japan ( ja, 日本, or , and formally , ''Nihonkoku'') is an island country in East Asia. It is situated in the northwest Pacific Ocean, and is bordered on the west by the Sea of Japan, while extending from the Sea of Okhotsk in the north ...

and

Senegal Senegal,; Wolof: ''Senegaal''; Pulaar: 𞤅𞤫𞤲𞤫𞤺𞤢𞥄𞤤𞤭 (Senegaali); Arabic: السنغال ''As-Sinighal'') officially the Republic of Senegal,; Wolof: ''Réewum Senegaal''; Pulaar : 𞤈𞤫𞤲𞤣𞤢𞥄𞤲𞤣𞤭 � ...

finished

Group H Group H may refer to: * A set of international motor racing regulations used in touring car racing * One of eight groups of four teams competing at the FIFA World Cup ** 2022 FIFA World Cup Group H ** 2018 FIFA World Cup Group H ** 2014 FIFA Worl ...

with the same number of points, the same goal difference, the same number of goals scored and a 2–2 draw as their head-to-head record. Japan beat Senegal into second place based on their fair play record, as they had fewer yellow cards (four against six). The last two matches were played simultaneously. When

Colombia Colombia (, ; ), officially the Republic of Colombia, is a country in South America with insular regions in North America—near Nicaragua's Caribbean coast—as well as in the Pacific Ocean. The Colombian mainland is bordered by the Car ...

scored against Senegal to go 1–0 ahead in the 74th minute, Japan went into second ahead of Senegal on the fair play rule. During their last game against

Poland Poland, officially the Republic of Poland, is a country in Central Europe. It is divided into 16 administrative provinces called voivodeships, covering an area of . Poland has a population of over 38 million and is the fifth-most populous ...

, the Japanese team were made aware of their advantageous position with ten minutes left and decided to play a very conservative game. They passed to one another and kept the ball in their own box, seeking to avoid any bookings. They did not attempt to score, despite being one goal behind. Poland, for their part were happy to let them do this as they were already winning but had no chance of advancing into the next round. Some fans at the match booed the players."news.com.au" - 'Japan lost more than just its match against Poland'
/ref> After the match the Japanese manager, Akira Nishino, said in an interview "I am not too happy about this, but I forced my players to do what I said. It's the World Cup, and sometimes these things can't be avoided." However, there was widespread criticism from football figures throughout the world. Comparisons were made to the

1982 Events January * January 1 – In Malaysia and Singapore, clocks are adjusted to the same time zone, UTC+8 (GMT+8.00). * January 13 – Air Florida Flight 90 crashes shortly after takeoff into the 14th Street bridges, 14th Street Bridge in ...

Disgrace of Gijón The "Disgrace of Gijón" is the name given to a 1982 FIFA World Cup football match played between West Germany and Austria at the El Molinón stadium in Gijón, Spain, on 25 June 1982. The match was the sixth and last game of the first-round G ...

'."Fifa World Cup fair play farce embarrasses Japan fans as social media users slam 'anti-football' tactics"
. ''

South China Morning Post The ''South China Morning Post'' (''SCMP''), with its Sunday edition, the ''Sunday Morning Post'', is a Hong Kong-based English-language newspaper owned by Alibaba Group. Founded in 1903 by Tse Tsan-tai and Alfred Cunningham, it has remained ...

''. Japanese social media users also criticised their own team. However, others defended the Japanese team and FIFA said it had no plans to drop the fair play rule, despite calls for it to do so.

VAR controversies

FIFA officially approved the use of a

Video assistant referee The video assistant referee (VAR) is a match official in association football who reviews decisions made by the referee. The assistant video assistant referee (AVAR) is a current or former referee appointed to assist the VAR in the video ope ...

(VAR) for the

during the

FIFA Council The FIFA Council (formerly the FIFA Executive Committee) is an institution of FIFA (the governing body of association football, futsal and beach football). It is the main decision-making body of the organization in the intervals of FIFA Congress. ...

meeting on 16 March 2018 in

Bogotá Bogotá (, also , , ), officially Bogotá, Distrito Capital, abbreviated Bogotá, D.C., and formerly known as Santa Fe de Bogotá (; ) during the Spanish period and between 1991 and 2000, is the capital city of Colombia, and one of the larges ...

. This tournament became the first competition to use VAR in full (at all matches and in all venues). Ronaldo yellow card

After the introduction of VAR in the 2018 World Cup, FIFA deemed it a success. Nevertheless, the use (or lack of use) of VAR has been criticised. Independent assessments note that while most decisions were made correctly as a result of VAR, some were wrong despite VAR review and some decisions which were called incorrectly were not even reviewed. ''

The Guardian ''The Guardian'' is a British daily newspaper. It was founded in 1821 as ''The Manchester Guardian'', and changed its name in 1959. Along with its sister papers ''The Observer'' and ''The Guardian Weekly'', ''The Guardian'' is part of the Gu ...

'' concludes that VAR has been most effective for factual decisions such as offsides and mistaken identities, while subjective decisions such as penalties or the disciplining of players have fared much worse. Lack of clarity and consistency are two main areas of weakness. A problem in consistency at the World Cup 2018 was for example the different rulings in similar game situations, which could be explained by unclear interpretation of VAR rules. For instance, in the game between Portugal and Iran in the group stage, Iran got a penalty kick after a handball by

Cedric Soares Cedric () is a masculine given name invented by Walter Scott in the 1819 novel '' Ivanhoe''.Sir Walter Scott, Graham Tulloch (ed.), ''Ivanhoe'', vol. 8 of The Edinburgh Edition of the Waverley Novels, Edinburgh University Press, 1998, , "explanato ...

, while in the game between Nigeria and Argentina, Nigeria did not get this chance after

Marcos Rojo Faustino Marcos Alberto Rojo (born 20 March 1990) is an Argentine professional footballer who plays as a defender for Boca Juniors and the Argentina national team. Rojo began his career at local club Estudiantes de La Plata, where he won the C ...

headed the ball onto his own arm, even after the referee checked the VAR. Another line of criticism has been targeted at the effectiveness of the system in achieving its goal. In the opinion of Scott Stinson from the National Post, VAR, like any other replay system, fails to correct human error and instead only adds to the controversies because human judgment is still necessary. Lack of transparency is another contentious point, as teams have no way to know which incidents were reviewed by the VAR team. At a press conference held after the group stage, FIFA referees committee chairman

Pierluigi Collina Pierluigi Collina (; born 13 February 1960) is an Italian former football referee. He was named "The World's Best Referee" by the International Federation of Football History & Statistics six consecutive times from 1998-2003. Collina is still i ...

showed footage of the decision-making process accompanied with audio of the conversations between VAR officials and the referees. Asked if this audio could be made publicly available, as it is in

rugby Rugby may refer to: Sport * Rugby football in many forms: ** Rugby league: 13 players per side *** Masters Rugby League *** Mod league *** Rugby league nines *** Rugby league sevens *** Touch (sport) *** Wheelchair rugby league ** Rugby union: 1 ...

and

cricket Cricket is a bat-and-ball game played between two teams of eleven players on a field at the centre of which is a pitch with a wicket at each end, each comprising two bails balanced on three stumps. The batting side scores runs by striki ...

, Collina answered enthusiastically but cautioned that it might still be too early. Others have pointed to the game-changing nature of VAR. Initial fears that using the system would lengthen the game considerably have not been confirmed, with every VAR review taking up an average of only 80 seconds. The dramatic increase in the number of penalties awarded at the 2018 World Cup has been attributed to VAR catching fouls which would otherwise have remained unpunished. Of the 169 goals scored in the tournament, 22 were from the spot (with 29 being awarded in total), beating the previous record of 17 set in the

1998 FIFA World Cup The 1998 FIFA World Cup was the 16th FIFA World Cup, the football world championship for men's national teams. The finals tournament was held in France from 10 June to 12 July 1998. The country was chosen as the host nation by FIFA for the ...

Jonathan Liew Jonathan Liew (born 1985) is a sports writer for ''The Guardian''. Liew has been named the sports writer of the year, and sports columnist of the year, at the annual SJA Awards. Journalism career Liew started in 2009 on the ''Daily Telegraph'' g ...

of ''

The Independent ''The Independent'' is a British online newspaper. It was established in 1986 as a national morning printed paper. Nicknamed the ''Indy'', it began as a broadsheet and changed to tabloid format in 2003. The last printed edition was publis ...

'' compares the situation to the introduction of the

Decision Review System The Decision Review System (DRS), formerly known as the Umpire Decision Review System (UDRS), is a technology-based system used in cricket to assist the match officials in their decision-making. On-field umpires may choose to consult with the thi ...

in cricket and notes the changes it had on that sport, and suggests that it might lead to changes of a similar nature in football. Some have also pointed out that only red cards, goals, offsides and mistaken identities can be checked by VAR, while other judgements that might potentially lead to a goal cannot be checked. For example, in the 2018 FIFA World Cup final,

Antoine Griezmann Antoine Griezmann (; born 21 March 1991) is a French professional footballer who plays as a forward for La Liga club Atlético Madrid and the France national team. A versatile player, Griezmann is known for his attacking, passing, and supportiv ...

fell to the ground after a challenge by

Marcelo Brozović Marcelo Brozović (; born 16 November 1992) is a Croatian professional footballer who plays as a defensive midfielder for club Inter Milan and the Croatia national team. He represented his nation at the 2014, 2018 and 2022 editions of the FIFA ...

. The referee awarded a free kick to France despite Croatia players protesting that Griezmann had dived. The free kick led to an own goal by

Mario Mandžukić Mario Mandžukić (; born 21 May 1986) is a Croatian football coach and a former player who is an assistant coach of the Croatia national team. As a player, he played as a forward and became known for his aggressiveness, defensive contribution ...

, accidentally diverting the ball into his own net. Later replays showed that Griezmann was already falling before Brozović made contact with him. Some users on social media called for the use of VAR, but VAR cannot check the incident due to the guidelines set for VAR. Many football fans also accuse VAR of favouring "big teams". During a 2–2 draw between Spain and Morocco, a challenge from

Gerard Piqué Gerard Piqué Bernabeu (, ; born 2 February 1987) is a Spanish former professional footballer who played as a centre-back. He is considered one of the best defenders of his generation. Initially a highly promising student at La Masia, Piqué ...

did not result in a red card for the Spanish defender, nor did the referee check VAR on multiple possible penalty calls. Fans also claim that the corner kick that led to

Iago Aspas Iago Aspas Juncal (; born 1 August 1987) is a Spanish professional footballer who plays as a striker for Celta and the Spain national team. He has spent most of his career with Celta, appearing in 418 official games across 13 seasons and scor ...

's late equaliser was played on the wrong side. There was an uproar on social media after the Group B games, with many fans claiming that Iran and Morocco have been "robbed". Moroccan midfielder

Younès Belhanda Younès Belhanda (; born 25 February 1990) is a professional footballer who plays as an attacking midfielder for Turkish Süper Lig club Adana Demirspor and the Morocco national team. Born in France, he initially represented his native country ...

criticized VAR for only helping "big teams" as well. Goalkeeper

Munir Mohand Mohamedi Munir Mohand Mohamedi El Kajoui ( ar, منير مهند محمدي الكجوي; born 10 May 1989), known simply as Munir, is a professional footballer who plays as a goalkeeper for Saudi Professional League club Al Wehda FC and the Morocco na ...

said Morocco also felt that Cristiano Ronaldo's winning goal in the second fixture should not be allowed as Pepe appeared to foul a defender. As he left the pitch, Morocco winger

Nordin Amrabat Noureddine "Nordin" Amrabat ( ar, نورالدين أمرابط, ber, ⵏⵓⵓⵔⴷⴷⵉⵏ ⴰⵎⵔⴰⴱⴰⵜ; born 31 March 1987) is a professional footballer who plays as a winger for Greek Super League club AEK Athens. Amrabat played ...

also appeared to say that the VAR system was "bullshit." Nigeria players were also furious at Rojo's "clear handball" not being called, despite the referee checking VAR. "I don't understand how that was not a penalty," Mikel said. "It was a clear handball. If you look at this game yesterday against Portugal, this was even worse. He

ojo Ojo may refer to: *Ōjō, a Japanese Buddhist term referring to rebirth in the Pure Land of Amitabha Buddha *Ojo, a curious red bear cub who has a wild imagination and is good friends with Treelo on ''Bear in the Big Blue House'' * ''Ojo'' (comi ...

had the ball and it hit his hand and it was open. Maybe the referee didn't want to give a second penalty," Mikel said. "For us, we've seen the replay, it was a clear handball. He looked at the VAR, the ball hit the hand. I asked him for explanation, did the ball hit the hand? He said `Yes.' Why is it not a penalty? He did not know." During the World Cup final, Croatia winger

Ivan Perišić Ivan Perišić (; born 2 February 1989) is a Croatian professional footballer who plays for Premier League club Tottenham Hotspur and the Croatia national team. Usually deployed as a winger, he has also featured as an attacking midfielder, se ...

's arm appeared to make contact with the ball. Some experts claimed that Perišić's arm deliberately moved towards the ball, as shown in slow-motion. However, some argue that it was a natural movement, and Perišić did not have enough time to react after

Blaise Matuidi Blaise Matuidi (born 9 April 1987) is a French former professional footballer who played as a midfielder. He most notably played for Paris Saint-Germain, Juventus, and the France national team. Matuidi began his football career playing for ...

failed to head the ball. Some fans and experts argue that due to the fact that VAR is in slow-motion, it made Perišić's handball look bad.

Russian pension reform

On the opening day of the World Cup (14 June) the authorities of Russia announced the extremely unpopular pension reform presuming a substantial increase of the retirement age. Ordinary Russian citizens accused their government and president of trying to hide such information amid the euphoria of the tournament, i.e. to use the event as a cover.

Alexei Navalny Alexei Anatolievich Navalny ( rus, links=no, Алексей Анатольевич Навальный, , ɐlʲɪkˈsʲej ɐnɐˈtolʲjɪvʲɪtɕ nɐˈvalʲnɨj; born 4 June 1976) is a Opposition to Vladimir Putin in Russia, Russian opposition ...

interpreted this reform as a “robbery of tens of millions of people”.

Sexism

Late in the tournament

requested that television and photographic coverage of fans at matches should give less emphasis to attractive young women. One Russian fan shown several times in the telecast of the opening match turned out to be a

glamour model A model is a person with a role either to promote, display or advertise commercial products (notably fashion clothing in fashion shows) or to serve as a visual aid for people who are creating works of art or to pose for photography. Though mo ...

Getty Images Getty Images Holdings, Inc. is an American visual media company and is a supplier of stock images, editorial photography, video and music for business and consumers, with a library of over 477 million assets. It targets three markets— creative ...

apologised for publishing a gallery of "the hottest fans at the World Cup". There were reports of Russian women and female media personnel being harassed by male fans. A Brazilian reporter was commended for upbraiding a man who attempted to kiss her during a live broadcast.

Patrice Evra Patrice Latyr Evra (; born 15 May 1981) is a French football coach and former professional player. Originally a forward, he primarily played as a left-back. Evra served as captain for both Manchester United and the France national team. His m ...

was accused of patronising fellow player-turned-pundit

Eni Aluko Eniola Aluko (born 21 February 1987) is a football executive, commentator, and former professional player. She is the first Sporting Director for Angel City FC of the American National women's soccer league and formerly held the position of Spo ...

after applauding a point made by her during

ITV ITV or iTV may refer to: ITV *Independent Television (ITV), a British television network, consisting of: ** ITV (TV network), a free-to-air national commercial television network covering the United Kingdom, the Isle of Man, and the Channel Islan ...

's coverage.

Burger King social media campaign

Burger King Burger King (BK) is an American-based multinational chain store, chain of hamburger fast food restaurants. Headquartered in Miami-Dade County, Florida, the company was founded in 1953 as Insta-Burger King, a Jacksonville, Florida–based res ...

issued an apology for an insensitive advertisement that was launched on the Russian social media outlet VK, promising a payment of $47,000 plus a lifetime supply of Whoppers, for any Russian woman if they were to become pregnant with a child fathered by a World Cup player. The ad claimed the women should get "the best football genes" and "ensure the success of the Russian team for generations to come", following the trend of playing on sexist stereotypes that are seen often in Russian ads.

Riots in France

Violence and

riots A riot is a form of civil disorder commonly characterized by a group lashing out in a violent public disturbance against authority, property, or people. Riots typically involve destruction of property, public or private. The property targeted ...

erupted in

Paris Paris () is the capital and most populous city of France, with an estimated population of 2,165,423 residents in 2019 in an area of more than 105 km² (41 sq mi), making it the 30th most densely populated city in the world in 2020. S ...

Lyon Lyon,, ; Occitan: ''Lion'', hist. ''Lionés'' also spelled in English as Lyons, is the third-largest city and second-largest metropolitan area of France. It is located at the confluence of the rivers Rhône and Saône, to the northwest of t ...

Marseille Marseille ( , , ; also spelled in English as Marseilles; oc, Marselha ) is the prefecture of the French department of Bouches-du-Rhône and capital of the Provence-Alpes-Côte d'Azur region. Situated in the camargue region of southern Franc ...

and across the country after the French World Cup victory. Two French football supporters died while celebrating.

References

{{2018 FIFA World Cup 2018 FIFA World Cup

2018 File:2018 Events Collage.png, From top left, clockwise: The 2018 Winter Olympics opening ceremony in PyeongChang, South Korea; Protests erupt following the Assassination of Jamal Khashoggi; March for Our Lives protests take place across the United ...

Foreign relations of Russia 2014 controversies 2015 controversies 2016 controversies 2017 controversies 2018 controversies Doping in Russia Criticism of sports