Trump wanted to star at the World Cup, but politics may spoil the party
The FIFA president has been ubiquitous in Washington and Mar-a-Lago. He even showed up at Trump’s Gaza peace summit in Egypt last year. After the US president’s second-term inaugural rally, he declared on Instagram, “Together, we will make not only America great again, but also the entire world.”
This apparent endorsement seemed to conflict with FIFA’s statutes, which stress it remains “neutral in matters of politics.” Infantino, however, defended his friendship with Trump at a meeting in Northern Ireland last year. “I think it is absolutely crucial for the success of a World Cup to have a close relationship with the president,” Infantino was quoted as saying by Agence France-Presse.
Still, eve-of-tournament controversies raise the question of just how much leverage FIFA has won with Trump.
“Infantino might say, ‘(This is) what do I have to do as president of this organization, to secure political support, so that everything goes smoothly,’” said Alexander Cooley, a senior nonresident fellow at the Chicago Council on Global Affairs. But FIFA may have walked into a political trap. “I think what you’re seeing is that the Trump administration really doesn’t care about global public opinion.”
In a press conference in Mexico City on Wednesday, Infantino did indeed argue that his relationship with Trump was critical, saying it would have been impossible to organize a World Cup in the US without the president.
“I have a great relationship with President Trump. I am very happy about that,” he said.
The FIFA boss also said that people should “chill” about the case of the Somali referee refused entry into the US, insisting that FIFA couldn’t tell governments who to let into their countries. “We don’t live on the moon; we live on Planet Earth,” he said. Infantino also argued that only FIFA and its relationships could have secured permission for Iran to play its games on US soil.
But Infantino would not be the first global figure to find that buttering up a US president who demands shows of respect has little payoff. Many European leaders flattered the president during his first year back in office but couldn’t slake his fury, which drove transatlantic relations to their lowest point in decades.
Cooley, also a professor of political science at Barnard College, argued that Trump’s team may be making a classic immigration play to his base with treatment of World Cup fans, delegations and referees. “If the world is up in arms or disappointed in that, who cares?” Cooley said, paraphrasing a possible administration sentiment.
