The FIFA Vector

Authors

• Pablo Andrés Castagno, Universidad Nacional de La MatanzaFollow

Abstract

A key aim within Critical and Cultural Studies is to analyze how non-governmental international institutions engage with political and economic processes. This article argues that the Fédération Internationale de Football Association (FIFA) shapes a fundamental institutional vector for global capital accumulation, which is based on the exploitation of players and communities. Under the influence of protection rackets, FIFA has actually functioned as a governmental machine that enforces the commodification of football. Furthermore, it propagates a narrative of football's magic that legitimizes non-democratic governments seeking some cultural validation. In these ways, FIFA interacts with the emergence of the vectoral state. Over the past years, FIFA has supported vectorfascism: the Trump administration’s ongoing war to recalibrate U.S. capitalist vectors through military, legal, financial, and repressive actions, both within the United States and internationally.

Recommended Citation

Castagno, Pablo Andrés (2026) "The FIFA Vector," Fast Capitalism: Vol. 23: Iss. 1, Article 9.
DOI: 10.32855/1930-014X.1509
Available at: https://mavmatrix.uta.edu/fastcapitalism/vol23/iss1/9