FIFA accused of ‘tyranny’ after revoking Gazzetta’s World Cup Final accreditations

FIFA accused of ‘tyranny’ after revoking Gazzetta’s World Cup Final accreditations Italian sports newspaper Gazzetta dello Sport had three of its five accreditations for the 2026 World Cup Final revoked, amid suspicions that FIFA punished the media for its criticism of the organisation of this summer’s tournament. La Gazzetta dello Sport, Italy’s most popular sports newspaper, will have just two correspondents for today’s World Cup Final in New York, rather than five. The newspaper’s Spain correspondent, Filippo Maria Ricci, was initially allocated a seat in the media tribune for the match, but it was later denied, with FIFA citing a lack of available space. “It’s over. After 38 days, 11 live games, 165 articles for Gazzetta, my World Cup comes to an abrupt and unexpected end just before the final,” Ricci wrote on X: “This morning I had a ticket for the final, plus mixed zone and parking; a few hours later they’ve all been cancelled. FIFA told us that it was a matter of places. Gazzetta went from five accepted tickets to two; Corriere has 5/5 confirmed; and Repubblica has 3/3. I don’t know if other reasons led to the cut our quota, but I know for sure that my World Cup ends in the worst possible way, pervaded by a sense of injustice.” ARLINGTON, TEXAS – JULY 14: Pedro Porro #12 of Spain scores his team’s second goal past Mike Maignan #16 of France during the FIFA World Cup 2026 Semi Final match between France and Spain at Dallas Stadium on July 14, 2026 in Arlington, Texas. (Photo by Kevin C. Cox/Getty Images) The same happened to two of his colleagues, while Corriere della Sera and Repubblica, two other political newspapers in Italy, had no restrictions and were allowed to send five and three correspondents, respectively. Davide Chinellato, Gazzetta’s UK correspondent, wrote on X: “What a shame! A media as respected as Gazzetta, for which the FIFA president Gianni Infantino willingly penned a column when this endless World Cup started, now has three credentials for the Finals stripped away for criticising what went wrong. Is football a tyranny now?” Chinellato referred to some articles published by Gazzetta dello Sport over the last few days, in which the Italian newspaper criticised the tournament’s organisation and some controversial decisions made during the tournament, including the revocation of the red card against Folarin Balogun. To be fair, they were not the only ones to do so in Italy and other countries worldwide. On July 7, Gazzetta wrote on its front page : “World Cup kicked, the scandal of the suspended red card.” Yesterday, on July 18, the pink paper added: “World Cup disaster: Too many games, too much money and too much Trump.” WASHINGTON, DC – MARCH 07: U.S. President Donald Trump speaks alongside President of Fédération Internationale de Football Association (FIFA) Gianni Infantino after unveiling the 2025 Club World Cup trophy in the Oval Office at the White House on March 07, 2025 in Washington, DC. President Trump signed an executive order establishing a White House Task Force for the 2026 World Cup. (Photo by Anna Moneymaker/Getty Images) Ricci and Gazzetta received support from a few colleagues online: “It may well be a cynical thought, but it’s hard not to suspect that FIFA’s decision to revoke more than half of the press accreditations it had allocated to Gazzetta for the final is, in some way, connected to the criticism of Infantino’s World Cup,” wrote Radio 24’s Giovanni Capuano. “And it’s not a pleasant suspicion. Which is why it’s entirely plausible that Infantino will want to put things right before the match kicks off.”