How FIFA and Samsung Can Change Football and the World

How FIFA and Samsung Can Change Football and the World

The Sign We Were Given

On November 18, 2025, something remarkable happened.

Haiti qualified for the 2026 World Cup. Against all odds. Having not played a single home game in five years. Expected to lose to Costa Rica or Honduras.

They went straight to the top of their group.

But here's what made me stop: November 18, 1803 was the Battle of Vertières—the final victory where enslaved Haitians defeated Napoleon's empire, proving the impossible was possible and establishing the first Black republic.

222 years later. Same date. Same message.

When dignity meets determination, the impossible becomes possible. Again.

I'm not a historian. I'm a former youth soccer coach with a provincial license who spent 15 years on muddy fields in Montreal. I coached FSS U15-AA to the Quebec Cup championship. I've also spent 20 years in Canadian public service, watching how money flows—and doesn't flow—through our institutions.

And I believe that November 18th qualification wasn't just a sports result. It was a sign. A reminder that we're ready for something different in how we value human contribution.

Especially in football, the world's game.

The Invisible Foundation

Before I talk about what's possible, let me tell you about what we're losing.

Pierre-Richard Thomas wore Canada's national team jersey in the 1984-1985 U20 World Cup campaigns. He played professionally for Nîmes Olympiques in France, then came home to Montreal where he played for Le Manic, Le Supra, and the Montreal Impact. After retiring in 1994, he founded École de Soccer Prestige, became a technical director, and spent decades building young players.

Pierre had world-class credentials. In France, with that resume, he would have been valued, compensated, integrated into a system that recognizes football expertise as legitimate professional work.

But he came home to Canada, where billions flow to hockey, basketball, and American football while youth soccer survives on volunteer goodwill. Where even elite football knowledge is treated as a hobby, not a profession. Where passion is expected to pay the bills.

Pierre-Richard Thomas is no longer with us.

His story isn't unique. Across North America and around the world, qualified coaches burn out, leave the game, or worse - because our economic system has no mechanism to recognize civic contribution in football.

The equation was missing a variable.

Football's Half-Built System

Here's what I learned coaching youth football and working in government finance:

Football operates on one financial rail - the speculative one.

FIFA has mastered this brilliantly:

$7+ billion in reserves Billions in broadcast rights Massive corporate sponsorships Player transfers worth hundreds of millions World Cup revenue funding global operations

This engine is spectacular. It creates the pageantry, rewards risk, funds professional excellence. And it works.

But where does all that talent come from?

From millions of volunteer coaches giving evenings and weekends. From community programs in muddy fields. From parents organizing rides and fundraisers. From local clubs barely surviving financially. From technical directors like Pierre working multiple clubs just to make ends meet.

This is the civic foundation that makes professional football possible.

And it's economically invisible. Not measured. Not valued. Not recognized.

The Physics of Imbalance

Consider what keeps a star alive for billions of years: fusion pressure pushing outward, gravity pulling inward. Two opposing forces in perfect balance.

If either force dominated, the star would explode or collapse. Balance isn't optional—it's the condition of existence.

Football has the same requirement.

Right now, football has:

Rail 1 (Speculative): Extraction, profit, ROI, spectacle Rail 2 (Civic): Contribution, foundation-building, youth development, community service

The problem: Rail 1 is recognized, measured, rewarded. Rail 2 is invisible.

So Rail 1 extracts talent developed by Rail 2, but doesn't replenish it. Rail 2 depletes. Coaches burn out. Programs die. The foundation crumbles.

Eventually, even Rail 1 runs out of raw material.

This isn't ideology. This is physics. A system with only one force becomes inherently unstable.

What Completion Looks Like

I'm the founder of GOLDA.Global and designer of GoudDi - a civic digital currency framework that operates as the missing counterforce in economic systems.

Think of it as the civic rail that balances the speculative rail.

Here's how it works for football:

Youth clubs register as civic nodes in the GoudDi ecosystem. Every verified activity generates measurable civic value:

Coaching session (2 hours): 60-80 GoudDi Match day coaching (3 hours): 90-120 GoudDi Field maintenance (2 hours): 50-60 GoudDi Club administration (monthly): 200-400 GoudDi Tournament organization: 500-800 GoudDi

Each verification creates a Civic Leaf - a transparent, portable record of the work, the contribution.

A dedicated coach earning of about 1,000+ GoudDi monthly isn't receiving charity. They're receiving recognition for verified work that builds the foundation of the world's game.

The same system operates everywhere. While FSS in Montreal accumulates civic value through coaching, FC Delmas in Port-au-Prince uses the identical protocol.

Not charity from rich to poor. Not dependency. Not extraction.

The same dignity recognized, wherever it appears.

The Partnership That Changes Everything: FIFA + Samsung

Here's what makes this not just possible, but inevitable:

FIFA provides the institutional framework:

• Symbolic recognition that grassroots football generates civic value
• Global legitimacy for the measurement standard
• Access to 265 million players worldwide
• Zero financial commitment - just endorsement

Samsung provides the technology infrastructure:

• Smartphones and tablets for coaches to verify contributions
• Digital ecosystem for transparent civic tracking
• Global distribution network already in place
• Corporate social responsibility at unprecedented scale

Figure 1: Samsung's global reach.

Why Samsung?

Samsung has been a FIFA World Cup sponsor. They already understand football's global reach. They already invest billions in the sport's spectacle.

But what if they also powered the foundation?

Imagine: Every youth coach in Montreal, Port-au-Prince, Mumbai receives a Samsung device that verifies their civic contribution. Every hour tracked. Every young player developed. All transparent. All measurable. All building toward the next generation of World Cup talent.

This isn't just corporate social responsibility—it's the largest technology-for-good deployment in human history. And it happens to create Samsung's next billion customers in emerging markets where football is king.

For Samsung:

• Differentiation beyond "we sell phones"
• Technology serving 265 million lives
• Perfect CSR narrative with measurable impact
• Emerging market development strategy
• Association with football's civic values, not just spectacle

For FIFA:

• Redemption after corruption scandals
• First global transparency standard for youth development
• Proof that football serves communities, not just corporations
• Technology partner that makes the vision operational

For Football:

• Sustainable volunteer programs that don't burn out
• Transparent diaspora support for home clubs
• Youth development visible, valued, protected across every border
• The foundation becomes unshakeable

This isn't charity. It's equilibrium. The civic counterforce that every sustainable system requires—made operational through the perfect partnership.

June 2026: When the World Watches

In six months, Haiti takes the field against Brazil, Morocco, and Scotland.

The team with no home stadium. The nation everyone discounted. The impossible made real—again.

By then, maybe some youth coaches are earning GoudDi for verified contributions. Maybe some clubs are using transparent civic protocols. Maybe some communities are seeing what becomes possible when we complete the system.

And whether Haiti scores against Brazil, whether they advance, whether they shock the world again—one truth will be undeniable:

The same principle that kept them fighting on November 18, 1803 is the same principle that qualified them on November 18, 2025, and it's the same principle that could transform football globally in 2026:

When we restore equilibrium—when we recognize civic contribution alongside commercial extraction—the impossible becomes sustainable.

Pierre's Question

We can't bring Pierre-Richard Thomas back.

But we can answer the question his life poses: Will we build a system where the next generation of coaches doesn't face what he faced?

Will we recognize that civic contribution in football deserves measurement and value?

Will we complete the equation?

FIFA holds the key. Not through funding—through acknowledgment. A simple recognition that what happens on muddy fields in Montreal and Port-au-Prince and Mumbai and São Paulo creates value that matters.

Two rails. Two logics. One beautiful game.

The speculative force that creates spectacle. The civic force that creates foundation. Both essential. Both honored. Both in balance.

November 18th gave us the sign. June 2026 gives us the stage. The ball is in FIFA's half.

What happens next could change 265 million lives.

I'm looking for the right person to have this conversation at Samsung's CSR division or FIFA's development programs. If that's you, or if you know who it should be, let's talk.

Learn More:

• Read the complete GoudDi framework: GoudDi: The Civic Crypto Prescription
• Explore the Civic Equilibrium principle: The Principle of Civic Equilibrium

Support the Movement: If this vision resonates, share this article. Tag someone at FIFA or Samsung. Start a conversation in your community. The transformation begins with the right introduction.

In memory of Pierre-Richard Thomas and all who gave everything to build the beautiful game's foundation.

About the Author: Donald Clermont is the founder of GOLDA.Global and designer of GoudDi, a civic digital currency framework. He spent 20 years in Canadian public service and 15+ years coaching youth soccer, including leading FSS U15-AA to the Regional Cup championship. Born in Haiti, he lives in Montreal and believes football can teach us how to restore economic equilibrium.

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