“Please do not allow football to be dragged into every ideological or political battle,” said Fifa president Gianni Infantino before the last men’s World Cup in Qatar. That didn’t stop Qatar being accused of using the tournament to sportswash its poor human rights record.
Next up is Donald Trump, who is showing every intention of exploiting the 2026 World Cup – to be hosted by the US, Canada and Mexico – to push his Maga agenda. Ever the showman, “Trump will make sure he is front and centre at this tournament”, said Alexander Abnos in The Guardian – even “in spots where he has no business or where his involvement may be seen as uncouth or inappropriate”.
Host cities threat
Having claimed credit for securing the tournament for North America back in his first term, the US president has repeatedly sought to insert himself into the World Cup narrative since returning to the White House.
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He has recently used “safety concerns” to suggest he may ask Fifa to relocate matches away from Democratic-run US host cities, including Boston, Seattle and Los Angeles. “The governors are going to have to behave. The mayors are going to have to behave,” he warned.
Moving World Cup games away from a selected host city would be an “extraordinary decision that has little, if any, precedent”, said CNN. All the host cities were announced in 2022 and they have already lavished “time and money” on “infrastructure improvements, security planning and extensive plans to host an influx of millions of visitors”. Trump’s suggested alternative, against the background of his sending federal law enforcement agencies into Democratic-controlled areas “to crack down on illegal immigration and crime”, is for the host cities to “invite the National Guard” in now.
At a conference with Infantino in the White House, to discuss World Cup plans, Trump also told reporters he would be “OK” about ordering strikes against co-hosts Mexico as part of his ongoing war on drug trafficking. “They know how I stand,” he said.
Peace prize
Trump has struck up a bromance with Infantino – and critics say they share the same megalomaniac traits. This week’s visit to the White House was Infantino’s sixth this year, and he surprised many by accompanying the US president to Egypt for the signing of the Gaza ceasefire deal.
Infantino will use next month’s World Cup draw in Washington D.C. to award the inaugural Fifa Peace Prize, conceived to reward “individuals who have taken exceptional and extraordinary actions for peace and, by doing so, have united people across the world”. Fifa have disclosed no details about the process for choosing the winner and, if Trump receives the award, as expected, “it’s likely to add to the perception that it’s been created in response to the US president not winning the Nobel Peace Prize”, said The Associated Press.
The timing of the award and Infantino’s “proximity to the president” have “raised questions about whether FIFA is adhering to its own rules on political neutrality”, said The New York Times.
“Indelible, sublime moments will still happen” at next year’s World Cup, said Abnos in The Guardian. “But those moments will be punctuated by Trump – eternally encroaching on even the most elevated of emotional experiences.”
