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The Scholars' CircleAuthor: The Scholars' Circle
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Scholars’ Circle – Politics Around World Cup Games – June 21, 2026
Monday, 22 June, 2026
The world is obsessed with the World Cup. Soccer, or what most of the world calls football, is the most popular sport across the globe. And no event captures more attention than the World Cup. And the host of the World Cup has the global attention on them throughout the tournament. This year’s tournament is the first to be hosted by three different countries, the United States, Mexico and Canada. It is a remarkable opportunity to build a nation’s image and reputation and build goodwill. But has this year’s World Cup and the controversies around it enhanced the images of these three nations? In particular, the tournament is taking place during a war where the country the US attacked, Iran, is playing in the US. Visa issues to enter the United States have dominated the news. And the high price of tickets for events have resulted in empty seats in stadiums. On today’s show, we will explore what is being called the “most political World Cup in history” and its impact on the hosts of the event. [ dur: 58mins. ] Nick Cull is Professor of Public Diplomacy, Global Communication Policy Fellow, Center for Communication Leadership and Policy at the University of Southern California. He is the author of Reputational Security: Refocusing Public Diplomacy for a Dangerous World. Simon Rofe is the world’s first Professor of Sports Diplomacy at Cernegie School of Sport at Leeds Beckett University. He is a leading expert in Sports Diplomacy. He is the author of Sport and Diplomacy: Games Within Games. Daniel T. Durbin is a professor of communication and director of the Institute of Sports, Media and Society at the USC Annenberg School of Communications. He is the author of “The Rules of Sport and the Rule of Rhetoric: Sport as Performative Public Discourse”. Lindsay Krasnoff Clinical Assistant Professor Preston Robert Tisch Institute for Global Sport at New York University. She is the author of Basketball Empire: France and the Making of a Global NBA and WNBA and The Making of Les Bleus: Sport in France, 1958-2010 A note: we are recording this on Friday, June 19. This program is produced by Ankine Aghassian, Doug Becker and Sudd Dongre. Politics and Activism, Society and Culture, Organized Sports
