An Unprecedented Political Intervention
In a remarkable Oval Office meeting on 17th November 2025, former US President Donald Trump and FIFA President Gianni Infantino discussed the potential relocation of matches from host cities for the upcoming 2026 World Cup. The meeting, captured in photographs by Win McNamee/Getty Images, has sent shockwaves through the football community, raising serious concerns about political interference in the world's most popular sporting event.
Trump declared that games could be moved if he deemed there was "a problem" with security or if host cities were "non-compliant" in some manner. In practice, this appears to mean cities run by Democratic or so-called "communist" leadership, potentially drawing a line under traditionally liberal strongholds like Boston.
The Forrest Gump of Trump's Administration
Infantino's appearance marks his latest foray into Trump's political orbit, transforming the FIFA president into what critics describe as "the Forrest Gump of Trump's administration." This year alone, Infantino has attended Trump's Middle East peace summit, causing such delays to FIFA's own congress that even UEFA accused him of prioritising "private political interests" and staged a delegate walk-out.
Last month, Gianni was back on the political trail at Trump's Gaza peace talks in Egypt. Earlier this month, he instituted a preposterous FIFA peace prize that he plans to inaugurate at the final draw for the 2026 World Cup in Washington next month. Many suspect this timing is arranged so Trump could become the inaugural recipient.
During yesterday's meeting, Infantino grinned along while Trump announced potential "strikes" on Mexico - one of the United States' 2026 World Cup co-host nations. The writing appeared on the wall back in January when Infantino attended Trump's inauguration, where he was filmed giggling appreciatively as the former president announced plans to rename the Gulf of Mexico to the Gulf of America.
Fans Face Uncertainty and Extortionate Costs
The potential consequences for football supporters are severe. A political leader removing games from host cities has never happened in the 95-year history of the World Cup tournament, confirming growing global impressions that the United States might be uniquely backward in its approach to hosting major events.
Football fans considering purchasing expensive tickets and making travel arrangements must now contend with the possibility that they're journeying to a country so volatile that even its own former president talks down its safety. The situation is compounded by FIFA allowing World Cup tickets to be subject to the widely despised dynamic pricing model, potentially making attendance prohibitively expensive for many supporters.
Trump's White House World Cup taskforce head, Andrew Giuliani, described the next World Cup as only happening because of Trump's "vision" and predicted it would be "one of the greatest cultural events in world history." Infantino employed different superlatives, promising it would be "the greatest and most inclusive World Cup ever."
However, in the hands of marketing men like Infantino, the word "inclusive" often serves as a red flag indicating that someone is about to be excluded - and in this case, it appears to be the fans themselves. They face not only extortionate ticket prices but also the genuine possibility that matches could be shifted hundreds or even thousands of miles away due to political considerations.
The UK Foreign Office may need to issue official advice warning of the logistical and political dangers of attending what could be remorselessly poor matches between two of the 48 countries that Infantino has triumphantly ruined the group stages with. Supporters might even find themselves watching no match at all if a city's mayor is deemed less politically acceptable than leadership figures from previous host countries Qatar and Russia - neither of which were democracies.
Infantino's true achievement thus far appears to be presiding over an era where "sportswashing" has transformed from a niche critical term into something all football fans recognise immediately because they encounter it constantly. As for his newly invented peace prize, given that the last time Gianni created an award - FIFA's The Best Awards - he held them twice within nine months, there's every chance Trump could win it multiple times before the 2026 World Cup even begins.
