Government vs. FIFA

Contrary to what many believe, governments are far more involved in world soccer than is apparent.  There are positives and negatives to this involvement, but the main problem comes when each government goes against the rules and regulations of FIFA, the Fédération Internationale de Football Association. It's a strange concept because one would think that governments would have the final say over FIFA, but because countries care so much about being represented in international competitions, they generally submit to the rules of FIFA.  One example of this was after the 2010 world cup in South Africa.  Because the players of the Nigerian national team did so poorly, the government placed a ban on the national team for two years, breaking the rules of FIFA.  The Nigerian government were told that if they went through with the threat they would be expelled from world football (soccer) at all levels.  When they heard this, the Nigerian government immediately lifted the two year ban, giving into the requirements of FIFA. So although governments can choose to do what they want with their sports teams, they choose to give in to what organizations and federations want so that they will not lose the privilege to be represented on the international level.
Another example of how government gets involved with world football also took place in the 2010 FIFA world cup.  North Korea, being a closed country, would not only refuse to allow fans to support the national team in South Africa, but the games would not even be aired on television for supporters at home.  Then the problem came that it would be a disgrace to not have live fans at the tournament.  To solve this, the dictator of North Korea, Kim Jong Il, hired roughly fifty Chinese actors to pretend to cheer on the North Korean squad.  Although this looked absurd from stands, at least the people were represented in some way.  However, this was not the only action the government would take in respect to the country's squad.  In one of the beginning games of the tournament, North Korea played against Brazil, one of the favorites to win everything that year.  After a long, tough game, the final score was 2-1 with North Korea only losing by one goal. The dictator was so proud of his team that he decided to heir their next game, against Portugal, on live television for the nation to watch.  That game they lost by an embarrassing 6-1 score line to which the dictator did not respond well.  Never again was another game played on television and upon return to their country, the players were punished through hard manual labor.  This, once again, shows how things can make a turn for the worst when the government gets involved in world football.