In Donald Trump’s America, the World Cup was always going to be political. Power and influence are a game currently being played by the US President’s rules, and that doesn’t change for sport.
To report on the World Cup today is to witness a hostile environment for the game as we know it, even as fans expect football’s custodians to protect it in any circumstances. In this tournament, we’ve seen one without the other.
I won’t forget the Haitians I had a kickabout with in a Boston park before their game against Scotland, whose compatriots were shut out of the tournament because of a US entry ban. “Racism,” they told me.
Shorts
The same restrictions applied to Ivory Coast, Senegal and Iran. Whatever the arguments around US national security, it has been a far cry from Fifa’s inclusive slogan: “Football Unites the World”.
