Headaches abound for FIFA as the biggest sporting event in the world kicks off in North America.
By ALI WALKER and ZIA WEISEin WASHINGTON
Illustration by Natália Delgado/ POLITICO
U.S. President Donald Trump is hardly the first World Cup host to seek to score political points from the tournament. For almost a century, leaders ranging from Italian dictator Benito Mussolini to French President Jacques Chirac have done exactly that.
This year’s competition is also not the first to be overshadowed by conflict. North Korea tried to upstage the event in 2002 with a bloody naval assault on South Korea, and the Falklands War between Britain and Argentina loomed over the 1982 World Cup.
