India, Aug. 5 -- The controversy surrounding FIFA President Gianni Infantino's latest plans is not merely about finance or governance - it is about whether football will remain a shared cultural inheritance or become just another global commodity. The battle now is not over who controls the game, but over whether the sport can survive the relentless march of money

Sport has always been one of the purest ways human beings test themselves, and football has long been the most tribal of all its languages. But when power, money and vanity begin to crowd out meaning, the game starts to feel less like a shared ritual and more like a cartel.

Those opening lines matter because they capture why football still cuts so deep. It is not just entertai...