The FT reported this morning that:
A top envoy to President Donald Trump has asked Fifa to replace Iran with Italy in the upcoming World Cup, setting up high-stakes US sports diplomacy involving a spurned ally and a sworn enemy.
US special envoy Paolo Zampolli suggested the swap to Fifa president Gianni Infantino and Trump, as leader of the country co-hosting the tournament. He argued that Italy's four World Cup titles justify awarding it the slot, according to people familiar with the matter.
There is only one country that is, at present, barred from participation in the FIFA football World Cup, and that is Russia. The ban was imposed because of its illegal invasion of Ukraine in 2022, and it is still in force, and rightly so. A country that wages an illegal war should not be allowed to participate in international sport.
Nor should any country that organises or supports institutional racism be permitted to take part. For this reason, sanctions were imposed on South Africa for almost three decades as a consequence of its apartheid system, and again, entirely appropriately so.
There are now two leading states in the world that should face bans for this reason. They are the USA and Israel. Embarassingly, the USA is hosting the event. Israel has not qualified since 1970. The USA is pursuing an illegal war. Israel is pursuing apartheid, genocide and illegal war.
But, utterly bizarrely, instead of the US being banned and the event being cancelled, we are seeing a call for Iran, the abused country in this current war, to be banned. That is wholly inappropriate.
Will it happen? Who can tell in the corrupt world that FIFA has long inhabited, and which saw it present Trump with a bizarre award not long ago. The possibility that it might is real. This call could all be part of a coordinated stage management process.
If that happens, the required response is obvious. I would have to boycott the World Cup. That would be annoying. I enjoy football. But if FIFA punishes the victim of an illegal war, then its credibility will have disappeared for good. That does not mean I think Iran is a virtuous nation. It is not. But perspective is required here. And this call is profoundly inappropriate when the sanctions required are on the aggressors in this war.
Thanks for reading this post.
You can share this post on social media of your choice by clicking these icons:
There are links to this blog's glossary in the above post that explain technical terms used in it. Follow them for more explanations.
You can subscribe to this blog's daily email here.
And if you would like to support this blog you can, here:
Buy me a coffee!
The next world cup is dead to me – but I agree that Iran should not be banned and the proposal is ghastly.
There is an excellent Rugby 7’s tournament on at the moment; the women’s 6 Nations is rugby as it should be played – without wanting to cause GBH unlike the men’s game. A pleasure to watch.
Let’s start with this – typical two faced Trump.
“During the discussions, President Trump reiterated that the Iranian team is, of course, welcome to compete in the tournament in the United States.”
https://www.cbssports.com/soccer/news/iran-at-the-2026-world-cup-what-happens-next/
He is, of course, a liar. A man who changes his mind to suit whatever mood he is in.
A couple of possibilities.
It is likely that Iran will not go to the world cup. Their Minister for sport has already indicated that because of the ongoing war, they should not go, but as yet, no official confirmation.
https://www.cbssports.com/soccer/news/iran-at-the-2026-world-cup-what-happens-next/
But also, if Iran does decide to go, will Trump allow them entry to the country? It would be very easy for him to set up a situation were US immigration find a “reason” to stop some Iranian players and officials from entering. I suspect that his ICE private army will be sent to escort them, or lock them up.
Having this world cup in the USA has been questionable for some time. Just getting into the country is complicated by all the new immigration rules, including having your social media record checked.
But then there is the cost — final tickets have recently gone on sale for $11,000!
https://www.bbc.co.uk/sport/football/articles/ce8lzj0rprpo
Who knows with Trump? By the time the World Cup comes around he might be engaged with threats of war, or at war with Europe over Greenland.
USA — the wrong place to hold the world cup.
Much to agree with
My gut feel, at present, is that there will be talk and opinion and rumour but nothing definite will happen for a little while yet. Then one of the smaller nations will be first to put their head above the parapet and withdraw. To be followed by a mass withdrawal of several ‘bigger’ (in footballing terms) nations.
Should that not happen then I can see individual players withdrawing in protest.
Craig
Hopefully, Iran has the political nous to send their football team to the World Cup. If Trump prevents their entry or arrests them so they cannot play, it will be Trump who can be seen to have destroyed the basis of the competition, and it will be far too late for other countries, who have not qualified and so have no right to be there, to send a team. I wonder if Paolo Zampolli is entirely impartial in suggesting that Italy should go?
Personally I hope that every team will pull out in protest at the competition being held in an unsafe, violent and fascist country. (originally Chelsea but now Newcastle supporter)
Totally agree Richard. I said to a friend a few weeks ago, if Italy don’t qualify via the play – offs, they’ll be ‘invited’ to replace Iran, given the massive Italian population in New York. That said, I wouldn’t be at all surprised for Trump to push for Israel to replace Iran which would effectively cancel the tournament as countries such as Spain will boycott.
The USA is a poor choice to hold a summer world cup on so many levels, and they’ve held it relatively recently. FIFA corruption/money comes ahead of the actual football though, unfortunately.
I also enjoy football but the only time I attend a match is to watch my granddaughter play for the under 16s.
One of the areas where things have improved in my lifetime.
🙂
The tournament is actually being co-hosted by the US, Canada, and Mexico. Why not cut out the middleman and restrict the tournament to Canada and Mexico? The outrageous ticket and transport to stadiums costs are already reason enough to boycott the US.
I agree that the US and Israel should face a ban from the world cup. I will certainly be boycotting the the event. I’d also like to see Israel removed from Eurovision, for similar reasons.
It was a shame that Russia and Belarus athletes were permitted to compete under their own flags at this year’s winter Paralympics. There was a minor boycott (maybe too strong nonattendance?l of the opening ceremony…wow¡
Elite sport is political, let’s stop all the “keep politics out of sport” cr@p
I was boycotting the WC before the Iran illegal war because of US support of Israel in Gaza and lack of support to Ukraine – but support of Russia in their illegal war…so more of a US boycott