John Oliver absolutely loves the World Cup, which starts in Brazil this week, but he really hates FIFA, the "cartoonishly evil" organization that puts it on. That's the delicious tension at the heart of Sunday night's Last Week Tonight. Just how bad is FIFA, soccer's global governing body? Oliver plausibly compared it to a Brazilian bikini wax, a kangaroo court, slave-driving Egyptian pharaohs, and extortionists.
After trashing FIFA for about 10 hilarious minutes, Oliver admitted that he's still really, really excited about the World Cup. Which made him circle back to his first point: "I know that in America soccer is something you pick your 10-year-old daughter up from," he said near the beginning, but for everybody else it's more like a religion. "Not just that, it's an organized religion, and FIFA is its church," he concluded — an awful comparison, for the Vatican. If dumping on FIFA and organized religion sounds like a terrible way to get Americans pumped for the World Cup, Oliver sees it differently: "If that comparison doesn't make Americans love soccer, then frankly, nothing will." --Peter Weber
Subscribe to The Week
Escape your echo chamber. Get the facts behind the news, plus analysis from multiple perspectives.
Sign up for The Week's Free Newsletters
From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.
From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.
-
Canada beats US in charged 4 Nations hockey finalSpeed Read 'You can't take our country — and you can't take our game,' Prime Minister Justin Trudeau posted after the game
-
Eagles trounce Chiefs in Super Bowl LIXspeed read The Philadelphia Eagles beat the Kansas City Chiefs 40-22
-
Indian teen is youngest world chess championSpeed Read Gukesh Dommaraju, 18, unseated China's Ding Liren
-
Europe roiled by attacks on Israeli soccer fansSpeed Read Israeli fans supporting the Maccabi Tel Aviv team clashed with pro-Palestinian protesters in 'antisemitic attacks,' Dutch authorities said
-
New York wins WNBA title, nearly nabs World SeriesSpeed Read The Yankees with face the Los Angeles Dodgers in the upcoming Fall Classic
-
Caitlin Clark the No. 1 pick in bullish WNBA DraftSpeed Read As expected, she went to the Indiana Fever
-
South Carolina ends perfect season with NCAA titleSpeed Read The women's basketball team won a victory over superstar Caitlin Clark's Iowa Hawkeyes
-
Iowa's Caitlin Clark breaks NCAA scoring recordspeed read College basketball star Caitlin Clark set the new record in Iowa's defeat of Ohio State
