Geopolitics through the lens of sport

Three of the last five World Cups were hosted by countries that deliberately violate human rights: Russia in 2018, Qatar in 2022, and soon Saudi Arabia in 2034. That's not a coincidence. It's a strategy. Sovereign wealth funds buy football clubs, and networks like City Football Group decide which continent to invest in the same way a private equity fund decides where to allocate capital.

Here's the curious part: Latin America plays from the periphery on almost every traditional index of power, like GDP, military strength, technological advancement. In sport, that hierarchy flips. The region that plays from behind on every power index plays from ahead on the most globally visible field there is. Understanding why (and what that reveals about soft power, national identity, and legitimacy) is the center of my work.

While I was studying all of this in theory, I also lived a bit of that world from the inside: I spent a few years between a sports-focused student company, a bank, and a TV network, watching up close how the commercial and media engineering that sustains this whole business actually works. That hands-on side is what makes me suspicious every time someone sells me a suspiciously good number or a partnership "for the love of the game." I've seen firsthand how that love, almost always, has a spreadsheet behind it.

Nice to meet you, TM!