Black Agenda Report
Black Agenda Report
News, commentary and analysis from the black left.

  • Home
  • Africa
  • African America
  • Education
  • Environment
  • International
  • Media and Culture
  • Political Economy
  • Radio
  • US Politics
  • War and Empire

The Anti Fascist Football Coalition Joins the Call for the Remaining Teams in the World Cup to Withdraw and Urges People of Conscience to Fight Back Against U.S. Fascism
Black Alliance For Peace
15 Jul 2026
🖨️ Print Article
FIFA protest

FIFA allowed a nation that commits genocide and runs detention gulags to host the World Cup, and the Anti-Fascist Football Coalition says staying in the tournament is no longer an option.

Originally published in Black Alliance for Peace.

On July 8, the Black Alliance for Peace called for the remaining teams in the World Cup to withdraw from the tournament to reject the lawlessness and impunity of the U.S. in its renewed active warfare against Iran, as well as the ongoing, illegal, and barbaric acts of genocide in Palestine and Lebanon. On July 9, the Anti-Fascist Football Coalition (AFFC), composed of 35 international organizations, joined the call with fervor. 

The AFFC is clear: The U.S. is the greatest violator of human rights on the planet. The reignited war on Iran is one atrocity among the dozens of war crimes the U.S. is waging globally. We cannot and will not normalize genocide and state violence by allowing the World Cup to uphold “business as usual.” 

“The renewal of hostilities against Iran, the persistence of Israel’s U.S.-backed bombardment of Lebanon during the so-called ceasefire, and Israel’s assassination of Mohammed Fawaz al-Wahidi moments before the Egypt-Argentina match are reasons enough for the remaining nations to withdraw from the tournament,” said Julio LĂłpez Torres, of Diaspora Pa’lante Collective. 

“Add to this, the violence being carried out by the Trump regime in the United States. In Houston, just three days after hosting a World Cup match, ICE agents murdered Lorenzo Salgado Araujo. In a city that hosted seven World Cup matches, including two knockout games, a man was executed for going to work. A country that still has colonial possessions, like the colonization of my country of Puerto Rico (which is used as a launching ground to wage war on the Caribbean and Latin America), was never worthy of hosting the beautiful game.”

Orlando Mateo, of Compas de la Diaspora, stated, “It is a disgrace that the imperialist, carceral-genocidal machine called the United States has been allowed to host the World Cup in the first place, given their role in the Gaza Holocaust. However, the recent aggression against the Islamic Republic of Iran, as well as escalations in the domestic war against the immigrant proletariat – by way of increased deportation, inhumane conditions at detention centers, and cancellation of TPS for 350,000 Haitians and 6,000 Syrians – plus the U.S. just hosted Israel for the World Baseball Classic! - all of that should prompt any free, conscious person, federation, state or fĂştbol player to retire from the rest of this sham tournament. Anything less than that is complicity.” 

The Anti-Fascist Football Coalition calls on organizations and individuals to collectively resist and fight back - to join in this call for concrete solidarity from the international community against the U.S. agenda for global domination at the ongoing expense of human life. The AFFC continues its commitment to Boycott the World Cup and Boycott the U.S., forcefully rejecting the ongoing devaluation of non-white life displayed by the U.S., FIFA, and its corporate ruling class partners. 

Join hundreds of organizations and individuals endorsing the Campaign for further coordinated action in our struggle for People(s)-Centered Human Rights: bit.ly/EndorseNow 

FIFA
World Cup
international crimes
Genocide
Iran
Anti-Fascist Football Coalition
Haiti
Temporary Protected Status
Immigration
Puerto Rico
football

Do you need and appreciate Black Agenda Report articles? Please click on the DONATE icon, and help us out, if you can.


Related Stories

Luis Britto GarcĂ­a
Venezuela Is Not Iran
19 August 2026
Venezuela is not Iran or Cuba, but those nations teach us that sovereignty is not given but is obtained through resistance.
Ramzy Baroud
The Spark in Tell: How a Village Resistance Disrupted Israel’s West Bank Strategy
29 July 2026
Palestinians have the right to defend themselves under international law and they exercised it in the town of Tell on the West Bank. 
Bertin M. Louis, Jr.
Anti-Haitianism: A Hemispheric Rejection of Black Humanity
29 July 2026
From the United States to the Dominican Republic to the Bahamas, the violence, collective scapegoating, and mass deportation of Haitians lay ba
Sara Flounders
U.S. Government Terrorists Weaponize Subpoenas vs. the Left
29 July 2026
The House Ways and Means subpoenas against peace and justice organizations, paired with the State Department's designation of Cuba as the cente
​​​​​​​ Ajamu Baraka, BAR editor and columnist
Bulletin on Domestic Militarism and Repression - Vol. 1 Issue #4
22 July 2026
The National Security Presidential Memorandum-7 (NSPM-7) reveals dangerous policies that many don't know exist.
Ruben Bauer Naveira
The Global Food Crisis
22 July 2026
Faced with the blockade of vital oil routes, the extreme dependence of modern agriculture on fossil fuels foreshadows not only high prices but
​​​​​​​ Ajamu Baraka, BAR editor and columnist , Margaret Kimberley, BAR Executive Editor and Senior Columnist
The White Supremacist Imperative on Violence: A Black Radical Perspective on the U.S./EU/NATO Axis of Domination
15 July 2026
The U.S.-EU-NATO axis remains intact, and its commitment to militarism represents an existential threat to the world.
Djibo Sobukwe
FIFA, World Cup 2026, Sports and the Contradictions of US/EU Colonial Hegemony 
15 July 2026
Haiti qualified for the World Cup on the anniversary of its revolution, the DRC brought the spirit of Lumumba to the pitch, and Iran wore pins
Sondos Asem
Senior UAE and regional officials referred to ICC over role in Sudan atrocities
15 July 2026
Coalition of NGOs accuses foreign officials, primarily from the UAE, of aiding and abetting war crimes, crimes against humanity, and genocide i
Navid Zarrinnal
The Iranian Revolution and African Solidarity
08 July 2026
Iran's 1979 revolution was a victory for national sovereignty which also forged solidarity with African people. 

More Stories


  • Protest at Massachusetts Institute of Technology
    Austin Cole
    Black Graduate Student Association Statement in Solidarity with the MIT for Palestine Coalition
    15 Nov 2023
    Black graduate students at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology wrote this statement in support of Palestinians and of their rights to speak and act freely.
  • Protest in Panama against Canadian mining company First Quantum Minerals
    AfroResistance
    Public Protests Persist in Panama: A Country Without a Colonial Enclave Mentality
    15 Nov 2023
    Panamanians are in protest against a contract granted to a Canadian Mining Company. Black communities are particularly impacted by environmental degradation and displacement caused by open-pit mining.
  • Kenyan police
    Communist Party of Kenya
    Kenyan Police in Haiti- A Betrayal of Principles and a Dance with Imperialism
    15 Nov 2023
    The Kenyan government now demands that the United Nations pay for the deployment of a police force to Haiti. But Black face imperialism is the problem, not negotiations over money.
  • Protesters in Tacoma, Washington block loading of an Israeli bound ship.
    Essam Elkorghli
    Labor and Resistance for Palestine
    15 Nov 2023
    Workers around the world can play a role in mobilizing action against the apartheid Israeli state.
  • Cover of “Experiments with Power”
    Roberto Sirvent, BAR Book Forum Editor
    BAR Book Forum: J. Brent Crosson’s Book, “Experiments with Power”
    15 Nov 2023
    In this series, we ask acclaimed authors to answer five questions about their book. This week’s featured author is J. Brent Crosson. Crosson is Associate Professor of Religious Studies and…
  • Load More
Subscribe
connect with us
about us
contact us