Uploaded June 2026 | Updated September 2026, 1 week ago
"While the term 'sportswashing' hasn’t often been applied to the United States, I think it very much should."
Autocracies have long used international sports events, like the World Cup or the Olympics, as platforms to whitewash abuses of power. Aptly, human rights advocates coined the term “sportswashing” to describe it.
Reporter Alex Nguyen spoke with Jules Boykoff, a professor of politics at Pacific University in Oregon and former professional soccer player, on how Trump—like Putin before him—is the World Cup’s biggest winner.
"While the term 'sportswashing' hasn’t often been applied to the United States, I think it very much should."
Autocracies have long used international sports events, like the World Cup or the Olympics, as platforms to whitewash abuses of power. Aptly, human rights advocates coined the term “sportswashing” to describe it.
Reporter Alex Nguyen spoke with Jules Boykoff, a professor of politics at Pacific University in Oregon and former professional soccer player, on how Trump—like Putin before him—is the World Cup’s biggest winner.
