FIFA, Democracy and Sovereignty: tensions and paradoxes

Abstract

The article’s starting point is thestatement made by FIFA’s chairmen during pro-tests in Brazilian cities, in June 2013, accord-ing to which democracy is an obstacle to theorganization of the World Cup.  Secondo of all,an analysis of a supposed “FIFA territory” in-troduced by the “World Cup General Statute” ismade. The aim is to think of these two aspectsthrough the tensions of Modernity, between theeffectiveness of sovereignty and democracy un-derstood as promises and the pressures of themarket forces notably volatile and unpredict-able. Thus, the political protests can be under-stood as the reaction to the privatization of pub-lic sphere and as a remainder that the fixationof “territories” can also be an opportunity toencounter and to exercise dissent.