By H.H. Mohrmen
Now that the 2026 World Cup is over and the media spotlight has shifted elsewhere, there are a few things about this World Cup that stand out, especially for the people of Meghalaya. It was a pleasant surprise for the Government of Meghalaya when the official FIFA Instagram page posted about the Chief Minister Football Fan Club arrangement, and later even FIFA President Giovanni Vincenzo Infantino praised the initiative. The government has every right to feel proud because its efforts were appreciated by none other than the FIFA President, and the Chief Minister deserves a pat on the back for this innovative idea.
Although not every citizen of this state visited these Football Fan Club arrangements, perhaps except those who live near the towns and cities where they were organised, the idea was later copied by other state governments too.
Another gift from the government to the public was the holiday declared for all educational institutions in the state on the day after the final football match. My wife, who is also a school teacher and watched the whole match until the crack of dawn, said to me, “It is very thoughtful of our Chief Minister to give us a holiday today.” I replied, “Yes, and I think that is also one of the reasons why the state’s performance in education is poor, because students are always treated as the audience of last resort.”
For instance, whenever there is a function that requires a crowd to fill the hall and satisfy the ego of politicians, students are always the target audience. In many functions, if it were not for the students, the chief guests would be speaking to an empty hall. In the process, the students and the accompanying teachers lose precious learning hours. Add to that we have random holidays like this one. One wonder how many states declared a holiday after the final match of FIFA 2026.
The Most Controversial World Cup
Some will remember July 20, 2015, when FIFA President Sepp Blatter arrived at the organisation’s headquarters in Zurich for his first major press conference after announcing his plans to leave office. FIFA was then in the grip of an international corruption crisis. Less than two months earlier, Swiss authorities had arrested seven senior football officials after the United States charged several football administrators with racketeering, fraud, and bribery.
Before Blatter could begin speaking, British comedian Simon Brodkin approached the stage in character as “Jason Bent,” placed banknotes in front of Blatter, and announced that the money was for North Korea’s bid to host the 2026 World Cup. As security officers removed him, he threw the remaining notes over Blatter’s head, leaving the FIFA President standing beneath a shower of cash before the stage had to be cleared.
The stunt turned FIFA’s corruption scandal into a powerful image of football’s most influential administrator buried in money. Blatter later returned to announce that FIFA would elect his successor in February 2016, but the crisis surrounding the organisation did not end there.
Current FIFA President Giovanni Vincenzo Infantino has taken FIFA into a new era of controversy. The Swiss football administrator has served as FIFA President for almost a decade after serving as UEFA Secretary General from 2009 to 2016. He has also been a member of the International Olympic Committee since 2020. As FIFA President, Infantino has overseen three World Cups: Russia 2018, Qatar 2022, and the 2026 tournament hosted by the United States, Mexico, and Canada. However, it was only this year that the controversies linked to him became highly visible.
The Peace Prize
Infantino’s first major controversy during this World Cup cycle came on December 5, 2025, when he presented United States President Donald Trump with the inaugural FIFA Peace Prize at the Kennedy Center in Washington, D.C., just before the official draw for the 48 nation World Cup. The award, consisting of a gold trophy, medal, and certificate, recognised what FIFA described as Trump’s “exceptional and extraordinary actions to promote peace and unity.”
The award immediately attracted criticism. FairSquare, together with several European politicians and Human Rights Watch, filed an ethics complaint against FIFA, arguing that presenting such an award to a political leader violated FIFA’s claim of political neutrality. Critics also pointed out that neither the FIFA Council nor its vice presidents had been consulted about the selection, and FIFA has never explained how the recipient was chosen.
The Balogun Suspension
The second controversy centred on United States forward Folarin Balogun. During the Round of 32, Balogun received a straight red card for a foul on Bosnia and Herzegovina defender Tarik Muharemovic. Under FIFA disciplinary regulations, the offence automatically carried a one match suspension and normally could not be appealed.
Days later, FIFA unexpectedly reversed its decision by issuing a brief statement placing the suspension under a one year probationary period and allowing Balogun to play against Belgium in the Round of 16. President Trump later said publicly that he had personally called Infantino to request that the case be reviewed. Reports also suggested that the reversal was not even decided by the full disciplinary committee but by a single FIFA official acting alone.
Balogun played against Belgium, but the United States lost 4 to 1 and was eliminated. Infantino denied any political interference, insisting that FIFA’s judicial bodies act independently and decide cases according to the regulations and the facts before them. FairSquare has since asked the International Olympic Committee to investigate whether Infantino breached rules on political neutrality, citing the Balogun case together with his public support for Trump’s Nobel Peace Prize nomination and the creation of the FIFA Peace Prize.
When Fair Play Failed Iran
Perhaps the treatment received by the Iranian team should be one of the most embarrassing episodes for FIFA, because football is supposed to be fair to every participating nation. The Iranian team was based in Mexico and had to travel from Mexico to the United States for every match. This was clearly unfair.
Anyone who has travelled internationally knows how much time is spent clearing immigration and security checks, not to mention the additional complications arising from the tense political relationship between Iran and the United States. The Iranian team reportedly had very little opportunity to train properly before their matches. FIFA should have intervened to ensure that every team participating in the World Cup received fair and equal treatment. Unfortunately, that did not happen.
Lamine Yamal and the War Jaiñtia Tradition
While the tournament was going on, a meme of Lamine Yamal was shared in a popular War Jaiñtia WhatsApp groups. Not surprisingly, it was an artificial intelligence generated image showing Lamine dressed in traditional War Jaiñtia attire. At the bottom was a statement claiming that he was the son of a War father. They actually have a point. The claim is based on an old War Jaiñtia naming tradition in which the eldest child of a family is named after the father’s clan. This explains names such as Tariang because the father belongs to the Tariang clan, Chen from Pohchen, Lah from Khonglah, Chiang from Myrchiang, Du from Padu, Bareh from Bareh, and Min from Lamin. The meme therefore jokingly suggested that the Spanish football star was named Lamine because his father belonged to the Lamin clan. Jokes apart, there is more to this than humour, and it deserves a closer examination. For many years I did not know that there was a specific term for this naming tradition. I first wrote about it simply out of curiosity because I wanted to share this unique custom with the wider world. It was only later that I came across an academic paper which cited an article I had written in The Shillong Times many years ago about this unique War Jaiñtia tradition of naming children after their father’s clan.
The article discussed the practice of naming a child after the father’s clan, or by using one syllable from the father’s clan name. It was once a widespread custom among the War Jaiñtia people. It was through a paper by Risa Hilari Wahlang of the Department of History, University of Delhi, titled A Curious Case of Patronymic Tradition in a Matrilineal Society: A Case Study of Nongtalang, Meghalaya, published in the IOSR Journal of Humanities and Social Science, Volume 28, Issue 7, Series 2, in July 2023 that I realised this tradition had a recognised academic name. I am very happy that one of my articles became the basis for a research topic pursued by a young scholar. Later I also discovered that this was not the only academic paper that cited my articles published in The Shillong Times. There are also other papers which cited my article and that gives me immense satisfaction and inspires me to continue writing about our culture and traditions.
