Trump’s special envoy tries to parachute Italy into World Cup

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Fifa reportedly does not intend to replace Iran with Italy at this summer’s World Cup after this was suggested by the US special envoy. Paolo Zampolli, an Italian native, made this proposal to Donald Trump on the grounds that the country had won the tournament four times. Never mind that Italy did not qualify and so has no right to be there. The FT reports that Zampolli’s plan was suggested to smooth over relations between the US and Italy in the wake of Giorgia Meloni criticising Trump over his spat with the pope. Fifa, to its credit, has maintained the position that Iran will compete at the tournament. Replacing the team with the Azzurri for diplomatic reasons would fly in the face of Fifa’s claim that it is a politically neutral organisation. The Italian sports minister said yesterday that the idea was “firstly not possible and secondly not appropriate”.