--- title: "African voices take aim at Fifa as outrage grows over 2026 World Cup pricing and politics" description: "Newly elected New York mayor Zohran Mamdani has publicly condemned Fifa’s ‘obscene’ ticket prices for the 2026 World Cup, warning that ordinary fans, especially working-class and immigrant communities, will be priced out of the world’s most popular sport." type: "NewsArticle" publisher: "Daily Maverick" site: "https://www.dailymaverick.co.za" section: "POLITICALLY AWEH" author: "Politically Aweh" author_url: "https://www.dailymaverick.co.za/author/politically-aweh/" canonical_url: "https://www.dailymaverick.co.za/article/2025-11-17-african-voices-take-aim-at-fifa-as-outrage-grows-over-2026-world-cup-pricing-and-politics/" published: "2025-11-17T16:00:48" updated: "2025-11-14T18:41:47" lang: "en-ZA" word_count: 346 --- # African voices take aim at Fifa as outrage grows over 2026 World Cup pricing and politics > Newly elected New York mayor Zohran Mamdani has publicly condemned Fifa’s ‘obscene’ ticket prices for the 2026 World Cup, warning that ordinary fans, especially working-class and immigrant communities, will be priced out of the world’s most popular sport. By Politically Aweh · Published 17 November 2025, 18:00 SAST · Updated 14 November 2025, 20:41 SAST ## Key points - In a caffeine-fuelled parody, Siv Ngesi hilariously exposes the hypocrisy of the upcoming 2026 World Cup, where the beautiful game is overshadowed by billion-dollar sponsors like Saudi Aramco, leaving fans wondering if football is still for the people or just a playground for the elite. - The beautiful game is increasingly dominated by billionaires and corporate interests, alienating fans worldwide. - Politically Aweh's new parody featuring Siv Ngesi critiques the 2026 World Cup's corporate greenwashing and social injustices. - Analysts warn the expanded tournament will be the most polluting World Cup yet, coinciding with climate crises in North America. - The sketch highlights unresolved royalties from South Africa’s 2010 World Cup anthem, urging Fifa to prioritise fans over fossil fuels. ## Content For South Africans watching the global fallout, the critique hits home: the beautiful game is increasingly becoming a playground for billionaires, oil giants and powerful political interests. [YouTube video: "YouTube video"](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1rbd1lfitvk) Politically Aweh has entered the conversation with a new parody video featuring actor and comedian Siv Ngesi. In the sketch, Ngesi plays an over-caffeinated, all-American Fifa spokesperson selling the 2026 World Cup as a triumph of unity, while the visuals roll out a more recognisable reality: travel bans, ICE detention centres, spiralling costs and relentless corporate greenwash. Host KG Mokgadi says the intent is straightforward: “Football should be for everyone. When ticket prices, sponsors and politics work together to shut people out, satire becomes one of the few tools left to call it what it is.” #### Follow the money: Aramco and the ‘hottest’ World Cup ever The sketch forms part of a global campaign taking aim at climate-wrecking sponsorships in sport. The target this time is Fifa’s new headline sponsor Saudi Aramco, the world’s largest oil company and leading carbon polluter. With the tournament expanding to 48 teams, 104 matches, and 16 host cities, analysts warn that 2026 will be the most polluting World Cup to date, hosted in North America as it battles unprecedented heatwaves and wildfires linked to climate change. As Ngesi says: “This summer, get ready for the hottest World Cup ever — literally.” The parody revives a lingering question from South Africa’s own World Cup legacy: the fate of royalties from Shakira’s 2010 anthem *Waka Waka*, which Fifa pledged would benefit African charities. Fifteen years later, post-2014 earnings remain unaccounted for. Ngesi skewers the delay: “Just because Shakira married, had kids and got divorced before we paid them doesn’t mean we’re not getting around to it!” At the heart of this sketch is one message Fifa cannot ignore: protect the game, drop Aramco, stop shutting out supporters, and bring football back to the fans — not the fossil fuels. **DM** *For more from Politically Aweh, subscribe on*[YouTube](