Sports
FIFA and UEFA Officials’ Feelings About Donald Trump Wanting USA to Own Greenland
How FIFA and UEFA senior officials feel about Donald Trump’s desire for the USA to take ownership of Greenland has been revealed as tensions continue to grow over the political climate heading into this summer’s World Cup. The US president has taken centre stage in tournament preparations, largely for the wrong reasons.
The White House leader has repeatedly threatened to ban countries from the World Cup, while his ever-growing “travel ban” list remains a concern for those hoping to attend the tournament. Despite all that controversy, he was awarded a sycophantic gesture from FIFA president Gianni Infantino in the form of the inaugural “Peace Prize,” roughly a month before launching airstrikes and hostage operations in Venezuela and warning NATO that he was not afraid to use “excessive force” to acquire Greenland.
This has led to mounting pressure on event organisers to strip the USA of its hosting rights alongside Mexico and Canada, with 21 UK MPs calling for Trump to be “kicked out” and the Netherlands forced to reveal their stance on a potential boycott earlier this week after 100,000 signatures on a petition. Now, FIFA and UEFA’s feelings have been revealed in response to the growing backlash.
FIFA and UEFA’s Feelings Towards Trump’s Greenland Threats
Senior officials at the top of FIFA and UEFA are “very concerned” about the potential impact of the United States interest in Greenland on the World Cup and wider game, sources say, as football federations try to navigate a diplomatic crisis, according to the Independent.
However, there have been no official meetings, and no public statements. Everyone is instead looking to FIFA president Infantino and wondering exactly what he is thinking, which the report explains is the ultimate consequence of having one central figure as opposed to a team of decision-makers within world football’s governing body.
“He simply has to be worried about what next,” in the words of one source who knows the FIFA chief. Infantino is felt by other senior officials to be just hoping this ultimately passes in the way most Trump flare-ups do. Even if nothing happens, though, it is an unprecedented situation for FIFA to be in – and one accentuated by its president’s proximity to this US administration.
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As FairSquare’s Nick McGeehan says, though, the World Cup is now “an obvious point of leverage” for European federations. “It would be remarkable if European leaders weren’t seriously discussing a boycott as an option,” he added, per the same article.
“Trump remains at his heart a ratings man, and a European boycott kills this World Cup and would deprive him of his role in the ‘greatest show on earth’. Beyond that, a boycott would provoke anger in the host cities, and among sponsors and broadcasters.”
Some more abrasive officials believe that, if FIFA is now truly politicised, it should take a harder line and even threaten to move the World Cup immediately, given that Denmark is one of its member nations. UEFA also holds a potential power play in the form of granting Greenland the full membership it has long sought, but there is currently no appetite to do so.
The situation has had knock-on effects elsewhere. US investors have recently shown strong interest in Danish clubs because of the football environment and access to European competition, but one source involved in a negotiation says talks have been paused while the Greenland situation remains unresolved. As the Independent valiantly puts it: “The time for politics is actually now.”
