Turkiye, the Turkish Football/Federation soccer governing body, has called on the suspension of Israel from all official matches under the auspices of world governing body FIFA .It is the first FIFA member to do so and raises questions about the operation of the 2026 World Cup tournament, where Canada, as co-host, will compete in games at BMO field in downtown Toronto. How will FIFA respond? On this question much will depend. The fiction of a sports/politics separation must be laid to rest. An end to the war must be achieved before games can continue as originally planned. With FIFA under the cloud of its choice of 2022 host Qatar and its leaders' previous financial scandals the form and oversight of the sport's governing body needs a radical review. Its elitist history is overdue replacement by a representative structure better suited to what is called "the people's game".
