Photo of stadium by Al Bello/Getty Image
Audio By Carbonatix
The soccer world’s top governing body is investigating allegations of racist abuse leveled at one of the internet’s most popular streaming personalities as he attended a FIFA World Cup match between Argentina and Cape Verde, according to a Tuesday announcement from FIFA.
With a massive online following of more than 100 million viewers, iShowSpeed or “Speed” (real name Darren Jason Watkins Jr.) streams videos of himself doing backflips, foot-racing athletes, and attending professional soccer games while reacting with his trademark over-the-top mannerisms. He’s famously a super fan of Portugal star Cristiano Ronaldo (seen by fans as the arch-rival to Argentina’s Lionel Messi), so some good-natured ribbing between opposing fans is to be expected.
But that friction appeared to cross a line at a Miami game, where some fans in Argentina jerseys hurled racist language at the 21-year-old Black man. The implication would certainly stain Argentina’s run at defending their 2022 World Cup title, but it’s actually far from the first time someone linked to the Argentinian national team has been accused of racism, according to reporting by The Athletic.
A representative for Speed hadn’t responded to New Times’ request for comment by the time of this reporting.
According to one tweet showing a clip of the interactions between Argentina fans and Speed, fans can be heard telling him in Spanish that he’s “gonna cry at the zoo.”
According to a post on FIFA’s X account, “FIFA strongly condemns racism, hate and discrimination in all forms. These actions have no place in football, at the FIFA World Cup, or anywhere in society.
“FIFA was made aware of an incident involving a supporter and IShowSpeed at Miami Stadium during the Argentina vs Cabo Verde match on July 3, 2026 and immediately initiated an investigation. The FIFA World Cup is a celebration of unity, diversity and respect. It brings together people, cultures and communities from around the world, and anyone who acts in a manner that undermines these values is not welcome in our game.”
The abuse appeared to follow Speed to Atlanta on Tuesday when he was in attendance for the Argentina vs. Egypt match, where a fan in the Argentina section was seen making monkey gestures at the streamer.
An article on sports blog site The Big Lead attempts to explain the history of Argentinian racism in soccer, arguing it dates back to anti-Black policies dating back to the late 19th century. The effect of those policies seems to be evident in the Argentinian national team squad. As New York’s oldest Black newspaper, New York Amsterdam News, put it, “All of the 48 World Cup squads have at least one player who is Black or of mixed-race, with the exception of Argentina.”
