For many months, the imminent Fifa World Cup will be dogged by controversy. Fans, though, should focus on what happens on the football field instead of the politics off the field. As all too often in the past, the beautiful game is making headlines for all the wrong reasons. Tickets to matches in the host countries – the US, Canada and Mexico – are hideously expensive. Donald Trump, America’s president, has a lukewarm relationship with his neighbours and co-hosts. He accuses Mexico, which hosts the opening game between its national team and Bafana Bafana on Thursday, of being a nation of drug dealers, crime cartels and illegal immigrants. By asserting the agency of middle-income countries at the World Economic Forum in Davos earlier this year, Canadian prime minister Mark Carney appears to have offended Trump’s superpower sense. The world’s most popular sporting tournament has unfortunately been mired in unnecessary controversy. Coming after air strikes on Iran last year, the abduction of Venezuelan president Nicolás Maduro earlier this year fuelled anti-US government sentiments. The war against Iran, now into its fourth month amid fragile talks, has soured the mood. It’s only recently the US confirmed that the Iranian team will be allowed travel documents to attend the tournament. The talks to end the war have contributed to the thawing of relations, allowing the beautiful game to continue. Omar Artan, who was supposed to be the first Somali to officiate in a football World Cup, was denied entry into the US this week. He is stuck in Turkey with no sign that he will be allowed to travel to the US at all. Football is supposed to be a game of peace and friendship, and the most important stakeholders are supposed to be the fans, alongside the players. Fifa’s miscalculation Fans are made up of two categories: the fanatics, or addicts, who will go anywhere to attend a game; and ordinary supporters. The latter often can’t travel and support their national football teams mainly by watching the games on television. The pricing of World Cup 2026 tickets has prevented even many football fanatics and addicts from attending the tournament. That has strangled football tourism, a key byproduct of the game, and the vibe around the world is muted.There is a basic misread of what the global game is about. For many years Fifa, with all its problems, has advocated for football to be free from politics. Yet inexplicably, Fifa president Gianni Infantino invited politics into the global game when he decided that Trump deserved a “peace award” from world football’s governing body. By way of context, Trump joined Israel in strikes against Iran and allowed the bombardment of Gaza and Lebanon. It boggles the mind how Infantino deemed it fit for him to receive a peace award in the middle of such conflicts. Infantino ought to have known that Trump’s insistence that he is a president who ends, not starts, wars was nonsense. His peace board for Gaza has yet to take off. Fifa has scored other own goals in the run-up to the tournament, bringing in new rules to govern the game. Most of these are unnecessary, deprioritising the interests of players and fans. After the conclusion of the African Confederation of Nations (Afcon) tournament, Afcon, a Fifa affiliate, decided to strip Senegal of the cup because its players and coach walked off the pitch in protest during the final. It has been trying to backpedal ever since.Wrongs and rights With all its faults, there are some things that Fifa has got right in this edition of the tournament. While the world body got the football horribly wrong, it got the money issue right. The expansion of the tournament to include more teams is a welcome amendment, and the focus on players’ wellbeing is also a positive. On paper at least, Fifa exists to serve the interests of its affiliates. However, under Infantino this mission appears questionable. A number of the events it organises seem to rival the calendars of its affiliates. The most significant criticisms of the organisation of this edition of the World Cup are the irrational changes of several rules and allowing politics to come into the game. Those mishaps are regrettable but shouldn’t define this tournament. Fans must set aside the off-the-field theatrics and concentrate on the games themselves. The game is bigger than the administrators and politicians. Players and fans matter more than administrators and politicians, who come and go. • Dludlu is a former Sowetan editor.