As millions of fans around the world feast their eyes on the largest World Cup in history, co-hosted by the US, Canada, and Mexico, the event once again finds itself tangled up in ugly political realities. While the governing body, FIFA, cowers behind its questionable "non-profit" status, the tournament has long facilitated corruption and human rights controversies. When Qatar hosted in 2022, Western media and critics went out of their way to scrutinise the Gulf nation.