The inconvenient truth about FIFA World Cup 2018 and football in general

The conversation about the sport's relationship with women is long overdue within FIFA

There is some poetic justice in the French football team of overwhelming African and Arab origin making it to the finals of the World Cup when players were racially abused by Russian fans earlier this year during a friendly match. Perhaps because the concern had been flagged with the Russian authorities, FIFA’s fears about racist chants as the rainbow teams took to the field proved unexpectedly unfounded as the tournament progressed. Instead, FIFA discovered, it was not racism but the harassment of women that became the most reported concern in this World Cup.

According to FARE, a coalition of European