While removing FIFA’s legal status as a non-profit organisation seems not to be an option, the executed amendment ofthe Swiss anti-corruption law is a step forward. In addition, this study examines whether Switzerland is capable of regulating or restricting FIFA’s hegemonic power. These cases reveal FIFA’s hegemonic power both through the overruling of national law in favour of transnational law, and by the questionable bidding processes to host the games in Qatar and the Russian Federation.

This has empirical support as seen in four World Cup cases: previous Cups in Brazil (2014) and South Africa (2010) and the forthcoming tournaments in Russia (2018) and Qatar (2022).

This study provides an insight into the dispute between transnational and national law in sports, which FIFA has used to strengthen its hegemony. To understand FIFA’s hegemonic role on the global stage, it is best to place it within the context oftwo major shifts in the international system-power transition and diffusion. The hegemonic power ofFIFA over countries hosting its capstone World Cup tournament is worth examining in the context of hegemony theory in International Relations literature.

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