FIFA bans Panama soccer leader again in fallout from fat-shaming comment

By Canadian Press on November 21, 2025.

ZURICH (AP) — Days after Panama qualified for the 2026 World Cup, FIFA banned the country’s soccer federation president for failing to respect a previous ban imposed for fat-shaming a women’s national team star.

FIFA said Manuel Arias was “banned from all football-related activity for six months,” which will expire about four weeks before the World Cup kicks off in the United States, Mexico and Canada.

Arias was barred from attending the World Cup draw on Dec. 5 in Washington, D.C. which U.S. President Donald Trump is due to attend.

FIFA said its disciplinary judges also imposed a fine of 20,000 Swiss francs ($25,000) on the Panamanian official for not complying with its ethics committee’s previous ruling that banned him for six months into July. No details were given of how he breached the ban.

Arias suggested Marta Cox was “fat” after she made critical comments about the setup at the national team, which qualified for the 2023 Women’s World Cup.

He acknowledged his “unfortunate” comments in March 2024.

During his first six-month ban, Arias should have been excluded from two World Cup qualifying games in June and the Gold Cup in the United States that ran into July.

Arias can appeal the latest FIFA sanctions.

Panama earned its place at the men’s World Cup by beating El Salvador 3-0 on Tuesday while previous group leader Suriname lost in Guatemala 3-1.

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AP soccer: https://apnews.com/hub/soccer

The Associated Press

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