Footballers from the Global South are having to face questions about their countries’ politics – questions European and US players don’t get.

“Why is it that African teams and Middle Eastern teams have to answer for what their governments are doing but European teams don’t?” South African comedian Trevor Noah asked recently during a World Cup watch party.

He was reacting to the questions western journalists had lobbed at Iranian players following their games. This goes far beyond Iran. It speaks to a familiar hierarchy in global journalism: some players are allowed to be athletes; others are turned into ambassadors, defendants and moral exhibits.

The World Cup is often sold as the place where football rises above politics. This has always been a canard. Politics, and hypocrisy, have always been part of the sport. Teams have boycotted or been banned from the competition because of the policies of their governments. Russia is banned for its invasion of Ukraine. South Africa was eventually banned for apartheid. Israel, however, gets to play in qualifiers despite occupying Palestine, Lebanon and Syria, bombing Iran, and despite findings by Amnesty International, Human Rights........

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