If your winning issue is trans women in sports, and you're struggling to uncover trans women in any league that anybody has ever heard of, then how do you keep trans athletes at the top of people's minds? Answer: You invent them. defector.com/the-right-ha...

The Right Has Created Their Perfect Trans Athlete | Defector

A lot of people in and around the WNBA are talking about trans women. In the aftermath of Indiana Fever role player Sophie Cunningham’s negative comments about trans people playing sports in an ESPN…

defector.com

This is rough but I think it talks about a lot of what is missing from the Cunningham/WNBA discourse. Namely, that trans people are not hypothetical thought experiments. They are real people who are being genocided by our government & any coverage that doesn't center that reality misses the mark.

the answer is always to disavow it

Would you let the Proud Boys march in and sit courtside?

thefrankiedlc.news

I joined Germany's public broadcaster DW yesterday to discuss the rebellion FIFA President Gianni Infantino is facing and whether Donald Trump can save him www.youtube.com/watch?v=qn8z...

FIFA in revolt: Can Infantino's Trump connection save him? | DW News

YouTube video by DW News

youtube.com

I wrote about the latest idiocy from Gianni Infantino newrepublic.com/article/2137...

What Gianni Infantino Learned From Donald Trump

The FIFA president’s plan to sell off a stake of the World Cup suggests he’s emulating his hero.

newrepublic.com

Women's American Football is very famously a thing.

Aaron Rupar@atrupar.com · last wk.

Trump: "The transgender mutilization of our children. I've looked at men playing in women's sports. It's very unfair. I had a top NFL football player standing next to a wonderful female athlete, and they were playing a game of football, if you can believe it. This game did not work out very well."

Morocco's World Cup ambitions stretch far beyond the pitch, intertwining football with diplomacy, domestic politics and the contested future of Western Sahara. My first for @wired.com: www.wired.me/story/how-mo...

How Morocco Turned Football Into a Tool of Statecraft

The kingdom’s World Cup ambitions stretch far beyond the pitch, intertwining football with diplomacy, domestic politics and the contested future of Western Sahara.

wired.me

I don’t know how to convince anyone of this, but the hundreds or thousands of words many publications run below the headline aren’t decorative. Often they contain nuance that doesn’t fit into ten words.

Breaking news story at Bounces: Following cultural momentum around anti-trans pushes in sports, the WTA has enacted a new policy that will require *all* players to undergo genetic sex testing in order to continue playing on WTA Tour. Read at Bounces: www.benrothenberg.com/p/wta-requir...

Breaking: WTA to Require Genetic Sex Testing for All Players

Following cultural tides, the women's tennis tour is mandating a strict new eligibility requirement.

benrothenberg.com

is there a pulitzer for photo captions because if so @theguardian.com just won it

Can always count on Drake to take an L

A perfect encapsulation of what this tournament has felt like

Karim Zidan@karimzidan.com · 2w ago

Infantino trying to drag Trump out of Spain's celebration makes it all the more perfect

Infantino rattling a bag of treats

Karim Zidan@karimzidan.com · 2w ago

Infantino trying to drag Trump out of Spain's celebration makes it all the more perfect

Infantino trying to drag Trump out of Spain's celebration makes it all the more perfect

A fitting emblem of that game.

These are the same people who claimed the Egyptians were sore losers 🙄

Red card couldn’t have happened to a nicer guy [saracasm]. Enzo Fernández is notorious for his racism & transphobia.

Fair to say this game won’t be winning over many converts to the sport yet. Reminder that this is the longest World Cup in history. Teams have been on the road for about 7 weeks now. Tournament running to 39 days (plus prep time)

In 2007, the Argentine soccer legend Lionel Messi was photographed with Lamine Yamal, an infant who would grow up to become a star for Spain’s national team. Joan Monfort, the freelance photographer behind the viral images, tells the story of the players’ first meeting.

The World Cup is a reflection of society — its divisions, anxieties and conspiracies. So with cries of malfeasance over referee decisions, Fifa actions and even Argentina’s run, the tournament becomes a mirror of the world that watches it My latest: www.theguardian.com/football/202...

VAR ‘fixes’, AI slop and perpetual outrage: the World Cup in the age of conspiracy | Karim Zidan

With cries of malfeasance and injustice over refereeing decisions, Fifa actions and even Argentina’s run, the tournament is a mirror of a theory-pilled society

theguardian.com

An excellent watch/listen, as anticipated, with @julesboykoff.bsky.social and @karimzidan.com. On the dark shadows of the World Cup and of being a football fan amidst corruption and sportswashing, and how to reconcile that. open.substack.com/pub/karimzid...?

The World Cup's Long Shadow w/ Jules Boykoff

The World Cup brought the world together. It also exposed FIFA’s fraught empire. I spoke to Jules Boykoff about these tensions, and whether anything can be done to reform football's overlords.

open.substack.com

Trump describes "probably the most unforgettable moment" of the World Cup: when he called FIFA's Gianni Infantino to pressure him to overturn the USMNT red card. Infantino just stands there smiling while Trump bloviates, heaping praise on him: "Gianni made yet another of his many good decisions."

Argentina's in the World Cup final. It is also the tournament's villain. VAR issues, an investigation & viral claims that the fix was in sparked backlash But the conspiracies aren't unique to football—they're a reflection of society itself, for better or worse www.theguardian.com/football/202...

VAR ‘fixes’, AI slop and perpetual outrage: the World Cup in the age of conspiracy | Karim Zidan

With cries of malfeasance and injustice over refereeing decisions, Fifa actions and even Argentina’s run, the tournament is a mirror of a theory-pilled society

theguardian.com

Prediction market users are poised to make the World Cup the largest gambling event in history, analysts said. When Argentina and Spain take the field on Sunday for the final game, more than $5.55 billion will be riding on the winner on Polymarket and Kalshi. trib.al/ycfgRtu

The other side of the United States and the World Cup www.theguardian.com/football/202...

‘Where did they go?’: homeless people feel force of America’s brutality in World Cup clean-up

Fifa says football brings the world together but the unhoused in Atlanta feel targeted and completely excluded from the tournament

theguardian.com

@karimzidan.com on a World Cup of conspiracy theories and perpetual outrage www.theguardian.com/football/202...

VAR ‘fixes’, AI slop and perpetual outrage: the World Cup in the age of conspiracy | Karim Zidan

With cries of malfeasance and injustice over refereeing decisions, Fifa actions and even Argentina’s run, the tournament is a mirror of a theory-pilled society

theguardian.com

Really enjoyed this conversation with @karimzidan.com for his excellent Sports Politika website. Ahead of the World Cup final, we discussed our highs & lows for the tournament as well as how to create a more just world football system moving forward.

Karim Zidan@karimzidan.com · 3w ago

The World Cup brought people together. It also exposed FIFA’s fraught empire. I spoke to @julesboykoff.bsky.social —author of the acclaimed 'Red Card' book on the 2026 tournament—about these tensions & what is needed to reform football's overlords www.sportspolitika.news/p/fifa-world...

Vår mann i USA, @samindrakunti.bsky.social rapporterer fra Trump Tower. På en bli-kvalm-skala, hvor plasserer du denne FIFA-seansen? VM-avslutning i Trump Tower: – FIFA har normalisert MAGA idrettspolitikk.no/2026/07/18/v...

VM-avslutning i Trump Tower: – FIFA har normalisert MAGA - Idrettspolitikk

New York (Idrettspolitikk.no): Donald Trump og Gianni Infantino har det siste året vært uatskillelige. Og fredag, to dager før VM-finalen, kom et foreløpig crescendo for Infantino. Da var han vertskap...

idrettspolitikk.no

A hard-hitting op-ed by the US Soccer Vice President, taking aim at FIFA President Gianni Infantino and Donald Trump. www.theguardian.com/football/202...

Infantino’s Faustian bargain with Trump has stained football’s biggest stage

Gianni Infantino sought influence with Donald Trump. Instead, Fifa’s president has entangled football in politics and wounded the game’s credibility

theguardian.com

Argentina's in the World Cup final. It is also the tournament's villain. VAR issues, an investigation & viral claims that the fix was in sparked backlash But the conspiracies aren't unique to football—they're a reflection of society itself, for better or worse www.theguardian.com/football/202...

VAR ‘fixes’, AI slop and perpetual outrage: the World Cup in the age of conspiracy | Karim Zidan

With cries of malfeasance and injustice over refereeing decisions, Fifa actions and even Argentina’s run, the tournament is a mirror of a theory-pilled society

theguardian.com

Characters who let the baby escape, only to face him years later as a fully grown threat