WORLD NEWS DAY OP-ED: No AI could have broken the Fifa story — why journalism matters
2026 was destined to be a big year for football. The men’s World Cup provided both glory and controversy. But front and back pages were also dominated by off-the-field concerns. Without journalism, we wouldn’t have known about the failed $20bn Fifa plan until it was too late.
The $20 billion FIFA plan to sell the World Cup, known as the Fifa Forward Enterprise (FFE), was kept under wraps until journalists from The Times and Financial Times uncovered it. The plan aimed to transfer control of football's commercial and operational rights to private interests, raising a quarter of the company's value ($4.2 billion) from investors. However, after facing mounting pressure from across the football community and global media, the proposal was abandoned.
FIFA President Gianni Infantino's involvement in the plan, along with his close ties to the US Administration, has raised further concerns about FIFA's governance. The plan highlights the necessity for journalists to continue probing FIFA's affairs to maintain transparency and accountability within the organization. As AI technology advances, the importance of verified information and fact-checking becomes even more critical, as AI cannot produce reliable content without human verification and responsibility.
World News Day is an annual event that highlights the crucial role of journalism in providing trustworthy information and holding power accountable. Despite the industry's past shortcomings, journalists have been instrumental in uncovering stories like the FIFA plan, which would have gone unnoticed without their investigative work.
In the current era of polycrisis, characterized by wars, climate change, democratic pressures, and technological disruption, journalism is more vital than ever to provide factual, contextualized, and accountable information for society to navigate these challenges.
Written by urgent.news from Daily Maverick's reporting — not their text. Machine-written — may contain errors; check the original before relying on it.
