African countries must boycott 2026 World Cup

Zimbabwean political analyst Taffy Mhaka has urged African countries to boycott the 2026 FIFA World Cup to be held in the United States, Canada and Mexico.

He believes that just as African countries boycotted the Olympics in solidarity with the anti-apartheid movement in South Africa in 1976, similar action is needed to protest the US’s support for the Israeli military operation in Gaza. According to him, a festival like football cannot take place where lives are being lost indiscriminately in Gaza.

The protest comes against a recent motion by 25 members of the British Parliament demanding that the United States be removed as the host country for violating international law.

Similar sentiments are being heard from various countries in Europe. Politicians in the Netherlands and France have also warned that participating in the tournament would legitimize human rights abuses. Global concerns are growing, particularly over the Donald Trump administration’s immigration policies and attacks on civil liberties.

Highlighting the horror of the Gaza situation, the report notes that more than 72,032 Palestinians have been killed and 171,661 injured in the war that began in October 2023. Much of Gaza’s infrastructure is now in ruins. The analysis claims that Washington’s $3.8 billion in annual military aid and diplomatic protection are directly responsible for this devastation.

The crisis has deep parallels with Africa’s political history. In 1976, when the New Zealand rugby team toured apartheid South Africa, 22 African countries boycotted the Montreal Olympics, despite the death of 15-year-old Hastings Ndlovu in a police shooting in South Africa and the bloodshed of hundreds of students.

That sacrifice accelerated the formation of global public opinion against racism. The deaths of thousands of children like Sidra Hassouna in Gaza today are a reminder of those old wounds.

According to analyst Mhaka, FIFA's impartiality was called into question when FIFA President Gianni Infantino awarded Donald Trump the 'Peace Prize'. In this situation, a concerted boycott by football powers such as Morocco, Senegal, Algeria, Tunisia, Egypt, Ivory Coast, Ghana and South Africa could send a strong message to the world.

This boycott may not immediately stop the war, but it will show that African countries will not accept a football festival on the graves of Palestinian children.