Trump and the FIFA debacle
The US President is the first leader since Benito Mussolini in 1934 to intervene publicly in the World Cup in his team’s favour.
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FIFA President Gianni Infantino and US President Donald Trump share a lot in common, says the writer.
PHOTO : REUTERS
Edward Luce
Call it the anti-Midas touch. Donald Trump loves gold. Yet so much of what he handles, from reflecting pools to US alliances, seems to turn into something else. His latest foray was into the FIFA World Cup. A tournament that was proving an unexpected success went sour after Trump called FIFA, which then overturned the one-game ban on America’s star player, Folarin Balogun. The US lost 4-1 to Belgium in any case.
Compared with his ceaseless drive to multiply his family’s wealth, and acts of war or peace, Trump’s FIFA intervention might qualify as a footnote. It is a fair bet, however, that it was among his most noticed actions on the global street.
