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Heidi Klum and Kevin Hart are booked. So are Donald Trump, Claudia Sheinbaum and Mark Carney. Music will be by Robbie Williams, Nicola Scherzinger and Village People.
So what? The World Cup draw is today and it’s going to be weird. Millions of football fans are about to find out which opponents their countries face at next year’s competition. But because the US is a co-host, much of the focus will be on Trump and the Fifa president Gianni Infantino. The pair’s budding relationship
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risks sidelining the other hosts, Canada and Mexico;
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has led to accusations that Infantino has breached Fifa rules; and
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doesn’t so much blur the line between sport and politics as obliterate it.
Power play. In his decade as leader of global football’s governing body, Infantino has forged close relationships with the heads of state of whichever country is hosting the men’s World Cup. He feted Vladimir Putin ahead of the 2018 edition in Russia, and members of the Qatari royal family before they held the tournament in 2022.
Hardly surprising. The World Cup is responsible for more than 80% of Fifa revenues, watched by billions, and next year will involve 48 different countries. In scale and scope, the final is arguably the world’s largest collective experience.
Bromance. But Infantino’s relationship with Trump appears to be particularly close, resembling less a marriage of convenience than a friendship. Infantino was seated prominently at Trump’s second inauguration in a red tie. Since then he has been a regular visitor to the White House. Fifa has also taken office space in Trump Tower, its second base in the US.
Warm words. Trump has referred to Infantino as “my boy Gianni”.
On the pitch. Infantino led Trump onto the field to present Chelsea with the Club World Cup this summer. They were booed by fans at the MetLife Stadium, which hosts next summer’s final. Trump was unmoved and insisted on staying in place as Chelsea celebrated their win.
It’s yours. The trophy that Trump presented was a replica. The original, which was designed by Tiffany’s, sits in the Oval Office. The president said he liked it when he was first shown it by Infantino. He was told he could keep it.
On the world stage. The pair have become so close, in fact, that Infantino was present at the Gaza Peace Summit held in Egypt in October. The Fifa president was the only non-head of state at the summit and said he was invited by Trump.
Ok but. Fifa has strict rules on political interference in football. At the time of the summit, a spokesman for the body told the NYT that many world leaders were present and Infantino was justified in being there as an equal.
Odds on. Trump reportedly hoped the Gaza ceasefire would get him the Nobel peace prize. The president was overlooked, but can take some solace in the fact Infantino is expected to award him the inaugural Fifa peace prize at today’s draw. The event will take place at Washington DC’s Kennedy Center, where Trump now serves as chairman of the board.
Trade off. Infantino’s allies would say that his approach to Trump is no different to how he handled Russia or Qatar: vital realpolitik to ensure the World Cup, the crown jewel of Fifa’s calendar, maximises revenue and runs smoothly.
Rock, hard place. What’s not clear is how this will happen if, as he has suggested he might, Trump tries to remove games from cities that attract his anger. Nine of the 11 US host cities have Democratic mayors. They have spent millions of dollars preparing for the greatest show on Earth and fans will have already spent huge sums to get to certain games in certain places.
What’s more… Infantino is, aside from anything else, a genuine football fanatic. He may be forced into a difficult choice between the sport he loves and the president he has courted.
Photograph by Chris Brunskill/Fantasista via Getty Images