The FIFA World Cup brings joy. It also raises difficult questions.

This month, Toronto and Vancouver will each welcome an estimated 300,000 people as two of the 16 host cities for the FIFA Men’s World Cup, taking place across Canada, Mexico and the United States. Mega-events like this one often surface ethical questions for a host country, but FIFA is an especially problematic partner — from turning a blind eye to the abuse of migrant labourers who built venues for the last world cup in Qatar to its hijab ban for women players.

Reporting on FIFA’s hijab ban — a rule that was eventually overturned — is how Shireen Ahmed got her start in sports reporting. “I’m someone who came in fighting and really standing on the point saying sports are political, which is something we can no longer deny,” says Ahmed, an award-winning, multi-platform journalist based in Toronto.

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While Ahmed will be covering the matches this summer, she’ll also be keeping an eye on the politics behind them. Ahmed spoke with Sadiya Ansari about the ethical quandaries this tournament presents, from Iran’s team having to play in the U.S. while the host country is waging war against its people at home to public money being spent to support an event with extortionate ticket prices.

SADIYA ANSARI: The estimated public cost to host the FIFA World Cup has ballooned. In Toronto, it has increased to $380 million (10 times the initial estimate) and in Vancouver, it has nearly tripled the original estimate, now totalling $624 million. Meanwhile, public spending on this tournament in Canada is about $1 billion, shared across all three levels of government. At the same time, FIFA has projected $15 billion in revenue. Is this how we should be using public money?

SHIREEN AHMED: We’ve seen the history of people building stages and arenas and then, like in Brazil, they remain empty after the games. That is a problem.

In Toronto, they’re adding 17,000 seats to the BMO Field, which is a bit wild to me because I’ve been at events where they can’t even fill capacity as is.

At the same time, there can be economic benefits to hosting, but it does pose a strain on residents in those communities. City infrastructure, like driving downtown when you live in the suburbs, is already choosing violence to go on highways that are ill-equipped. The transit system is also completely taxed and underfunded. The actual effect of what this World Cup will be on Torontonians is really problematic.

But Torontonians and Vancouverites don’t have a choice. When Taylor Swift came to Toronto in 2024, most of the CBC office worked remotely because the concert was right across the street. I was like, I’m out! This is the same thing that a lot of people want to do. They want to be out of the city because of the massive inconveniences that will be thrust upon them during this time.

Another aspect of this is the strain on the healthcare system. Dr. Catharine Varner, an emergency physician, wrote a piece in the CMAJ laying out how unprepared our health systems are for mass gatherings, especially as hospitals are already overcapacity in both Vancouver and Toronto. Is this something that is typically planned for?

My aging parents can barely access healthcare here. To put that kind of pressure and stress on the system is not something that I think was adequately thought of or prepared for when the bid proposal went forward. Don’t forget: the bid proposals are submitted more than five years ahead of the proposed event. It affects the people on the ground and nobody thinks of them.

How accessible will ticket prices be for people in Toronto or Vancouver to actually be able to go to these games?

I don’t think it is accessible at all. You can’t even watch them if you don’t have TSN, which is a paid subscription service, unlike the CBC, which used to have rights to FIFA. Like the Olympics, the games should be free to watch.

That’s why community watch parties are so important. In Toronto, we have pockets of racialized and cultural communities that will watch in a group, and it’s wonderful. If Italy plays, you might find yourself going to Corso Italia in Toronto.

The brand of FIFA is also so precious to [the federation] that local mom and pop restaurants and bars that would commonly show games can’t use the FIFA brand or the worlds “World Cup” in their advertising. That means you can’t say ‘we’re showing the World Cup’ in a sign outside your pub within two kilometres around the stadium.

Part of the joke was that these places would have to say they’re showing the sports ball tournament. FIFA will have people actively policing this so these bars don’t take away potential funds earned by FIFA. The way that they generate money, to me, is abhorrent.

Iran’s people have been through a lot this year, including attacks from the United States and Israel in the ongoing war and a brutal clampdown by its own government earlier this year. Do you have any thoughts on how the national team should be covered during this tournament? To what extent can — or should — we separate the players from the political circumstances they have little control over?

To answer your question very specifically: they can’t be separated. During the last World Cup, there was the “zan, zendegi, azadi” (“women, life, freedom”) movement, and the team was aware of that. It’s not like they exist in a vacuum, where politics don’t surround them. Politics are incredibly intertwined with life in Iran — whether it’s sport or culture. Unfortunately, players from many federations, not just Iran, aren’t allowed to express themselves. Imagine if an American athlete was critical of the Trump government. How well would that go over?

I really hope when people cover Iran, they will talk to as many people from the country as possible — not white experts who have covered the Middle East.

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What are the implications for people traveling to the United States for this sprawling tournament?

This is essentially the people’s tournament and in every World Cup iteration, the federation of that nation gets an opportunity to sell tickets to people who can travel. That has always been part of the tradition of the World Cup. But that doesn’t mean you’re going to get a visa. If you’re from an African nation, will you be permitted? And for those that can go, is it safe to? I’m not traveling to the United States for the World Cup because, as a brown, hijab-wearing woman, I don’t feel safe there.

Given that 104 games will take place across 16 countries, the carbon footprint is estimated to be the worst ever for FIFA, despite the organization’s commitment to have a net zero impact by 2040. What are some of the environmental concerns on your mind?

The carbon footprint will be atrocious. When you look at the geography of the three co-hosts — from Guadalajara, Mexico City, Seattle, Vancouver, Toronto, New York City — it’s immense.

Every tournament that happens is presented as the best or the most sustainable. They’re going to say, well, at all of our arenas, we have cooling centers that are solar-powered. But we’re not going to kid ourselves to think this is some kind of ecological progress.

There are other things related to the ecological imprint that we haven’t talked about. For instance, the collection of garbage in the city is such a massive problem. It’s going to be a mess.

Despite the problems, you are a big believer in football being the people’s sport. How do you balance that with the concerns you have?

I don’t want to take away from the young girls, young boys and other people who need this outlet. I’m going to allow myself the joy to feel exuberance, particularly because some of the storylines for the Canadian men’s team are really fascinating. The majority of that team has immigrant experience. I love the stories that will come from that and the way that Canada is shaping up its own identity in soccer. But the reality is two things can exist at the same time. We can love the game, but we can also be very critical of the systems around it.

What do you think the lasting impact of hosting the tournament will be for Canada?

I will be in the press box in Toronto covering the games and telling stories around the geopolitics, but I’m also really interested in how we help grow this game in Canada. I don’t want this to be a situation where people at the top walk away with a chunk of money, because the lifeblood of soccer is grassroots. And I want those small leagues — whether it’s pickup leagues or leagues in the suburbs or in the inner cities — to be thriving. Currently, they are thriving in Canada. Soccer is the most commonly played youth sport in this country because it’s accessible, and I want that to continue.

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Sadiya Ansari is a writer in Berlin.

This interview has been edited for length and clarity.