Twenty-eight years after the Rome Statute was adopted, the International Criminal Court faces an unprecedented campaign of political and economic pressure. Toby Cadman examines what this means for judicial independence, international accountability and the future of the rule of law.

Toby Cadman examines how political pressure, contested officiating and institutional decision-making at the 2026 World Cup have raised wider questions about independence, integrity and public trust.

When the world’s greatest tournament kicks off this week, it will also become the largest live test of the machinery of cross-border control the democratic world has yet staged. The football is the spectacle. The apparatus behind it deserves equal attention. On 11 June 2026, the largest FIFA World Cup…

Football and politics have never been separate. In this thought-provoking analysis, Toby Cadman explores how the 2026 FIFA World Cup has become a stage for geopolitical influence, institutional controversy, and commercial interests, raising uncomfortable questions about who truly benefits from the beautiful game.