Who Is Football For? Fan Testimony from the 2026 FIFA World Cup

Le résumé fourni par la source

Football's commercial model depends on supporters, who generate the atmosphere that broadcasters buy and sponsors pay to reach. This report asks whether the people who supply that value have any standing in the decisions that shape it. Between April and July 2026, The Reflective Football conducted an estimated four hundred interviews with supporters of roughly twenty national teams and clubs in Dubai, United Arab Emirates, across the close of the European season and the 2026 FIFA World Cup. The evidence base comprises 70 transcribed fan interviews drawn from 195 published films. Three findings are reported. Supporters describe football's commercial chain accurately and unprompted. Supporters draw a boundary between rivalry and hatred that football's governing institutions have never articulated, one supporter naming it in a coinage of his own. And no supporter interviewed expected to be consulted about decisions affecting the matchday they pay for. The report examines the mid-match hydration break as a live case: a change with a legitimate player welfare rationale, introduced without supporter consultation, which supporters of six nationalities independently interpreted as commercial. It sets that alongside the institutional record, including the 2021 European Super League, and concludes with principles for supporter consultation, including a standing seat for recognised supporters organisations in the bodies that govern the game. The absence of consultation documented here was not a failure of access. Supporters were available, willing and quick to answer. A right of reply is reserved for all organisations referred to.

Ce résumé expose les affirmations des auteurs. BNTIC ne l’interprète pas comme une validation indépendante des résultats.