Latest news with #Infantino
Yahoo
10 hours ago
- Politics
- Yahoo
Juventus players befuddled by visit with Trump at White House: 'I just want to play football, man'
President Trump speaks to the press June 18 in the Oval Office of the White House as members of Italian soccer club Juventus (from left, Timothy Weah, Weston McKennie, Daniele Rugani, coach Igor Tudor and Dusan Vlahovics) stand behind him. (Brendan Smialowski / AFP via Getty Images) Members of the Italian soccer team Juventus visited with President Trump in the Oval Office on Wednesday afternoon. Exactly why the gathering took place remains largely a mystery. Six of the team's players (Weston McKennie, Timothy Weah, Manuel Locatelli, Federico Gatti, Teun Koopmeiners and Dusan Vlahovic), their coach Igor Tudor, a handful of team executives and FIFA president Gianni Infantino stopped by hours before Juventus' FIFA Club World Cup game against United Arab Emirates' Al Ain that night at Audi Field. Advertisement Trump was presented with a Juventus jersey and one for next year's World Cup, which the United States will be co-host with Canada and Mexico. But as Trump took questions from the media for about 15 minutes during the event, very little soccer was discussed. Instead, the players stood behind him patiently — fidgeting now and then, their faces mainly expressionless — as Trump answered questions that mostly related to the potential of U.S. involvement in Israel's war against Iran. Later that night, speaking to a different group of reporters after his team's 5-0 victory over Al Ain, Weah called the White House experience "a bit weird" and implied he and the other players weren't given the option of declining the visit. Read more: Hiltzik: How Trump could sabotage L.A.'s World Cup and Olympics Advertisement 'They told us that we have to go and I had no choice but to go," said Weah, a U.S. men's national team member whose father George is a past winner of the prestigious France Football Ballon d'Or award and was the president of Liberia from 2018-2024. "So [I] showed up.' FIFA declined to comment. The White House and Juventus did not respond to requests for comment from The Times. While Weah said he thought his first White House visit "was a cool experience," he added that 'I'm not one for the politics, so it wasn't that exciting.' 'When [Trump] started talking about all the politics with Iran and everything, it's kind of like, I just want to play football, man,' Weah said. Advertisement Fellow USMNT player McKennie had made critical comments about Trump during the Black Lives Matter movement in June 2020. Juventus players Weston McKennie, left, and Tim Weah take a selfie outside the White House after they and other team members met with President Trump in the Oval Office on Wednesday. (Alex Brandon / Associated Press) 'I don't think that Trump is the right one for the job as the president," McKennie said at the time. "I think he's ignorant. I don't support him a bit. I don't think he's a man to stand by his word. In my eyes, you can call him racist.' Still, during his introductory comments, Trump briefly singled out Weah and McKennie as "my American players" when he mentioned that night's game. "Good luck," he said while shaking both of their hands in what had the potential to be an awkward moment. "I hope you guys are the two best players on the field." Advertisement Read more: Hernández: Dodgers visiting Trump's White House goes against everything they represent That's not to say, however, that there weren't any awkward moments. Because there were — none more so than when Trump brought up "men playing in women's sports," then looked over his right shoulder and asked: "Could a woman make your team, fellas? Tell me. You think?" When no players answered, Trump said, "You're being nice," then turned to face the other direction and asked the same question. 'We have a very good women's team,' Juventus general manager Damien Comolli replied. Advertisement Trump asked, "But they should be playing with women, right?" When he got no response, Trump smiled and turned back toward the reporters. Read more: With FIFA World Cup one year away, fans and politicians still aren't sure what to expect "See, they're very diplomatic," he said. Trump made a couple of other attempts to involve the soccer contingent in the discussion. At one point, the president used the word "stealth" when discussing U.S. military planes, then turned around and remarked, "You guys want to be stealthy tonight. You can be stealthy — you'll never lose, right?" Advertisement The players did not seem to respond. For the final question of the session, a reporter favorably compared Trump's border policy to that of former President Biden and asked, "What do you attribute that success to?" Trump looked behind him and stated, "See, that's what I call a good question, fellas." Once again, the players did not appear to respond. Read more: FIFA Club World Cup: Everything you need to know about all 32 teams Get the best, most interesting and strangest stories of the day from the L.A. sports scene and beyond from our newsletter The Sports Report. This story originally appeared in Los Angeles Times.
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Business Standard
2 days ago
- Sport
- Business Standard
FIFA Club World Cup 2025 begins, but why is it flying under the radar?
The 2025 FIFA Club World Cup opened with a burst of glamour as Lionel Messi took center stage at the Hard Rock Stadium in Miami. The Argentine superstar led Inter Miami in a goalless draw against Egypt's Al Ahly, drawing a massive crowd despite failing to find the back of the net. Watching from the VIP stands were football legends David Beckham, Ronaldo Nazário, Roberto Baggio, Kaka, Bebeto, and Javier Zanetti, adding star power to the tournament's launch. Despite the lack of goals, fans turned out in large numbers, eager to see Messi in action on home soil. FIFA President Gianni Infantino, who has championed the expanded Club World Cup as a legacy project, was also in attendance and looked pleased with the tournament's kickoff. Infantino's Ambitious Vision Infantino's strategy to boost the Club World Cup's stature includes allowing MLS champions Inter Miami a special entry as host nation representatives, a reported invitation to Cristiano Ronaldo, and raising the winner's prize money by $35 million. He called the event 'the beginning of a new chapter' in global football. Yet, just three days in, the competition has yet to match its lofty billing. While top clubs have shown flashes of brilliance, several issues have begun to surface. Heat and Scheduling Draw Criticism Player welfare has been a growing concern, with mid-day matches scheduled under extreme heat. During the PSG vs Atletico Madrid clash in Pasadena, temperatures soared to 31°C (88°F). Coaches and players noted the weather's impact on gameplay. FIFA has implemented cooling breaks and additional substitutions, but players' unions like FIFPRO have criticized the tournament's timing, citing increased risks of injury and mental burnout following a long season. Mismatched Contests Raise Eyebrows Sunday saw Bayern Munich dismantle Auckland City 10-0, highlighting the disparity between elite European teams and clubs from smaller federations. Auckland, made up largely of semi-professionals, struggled against a full-strength Bayern side. More one-sided encounters are anticipated as teams like Benfica and Boca Juniors face similarly lower-ranked opponents. While opening matches featuring Messi and PSG attracted huge crowds, other games painted a different picture. Chelsea's fixture against LAFC in Atlanta had only 22,000 fans in a 75,000-seat stadium. Flamengo's match in Philadelphia saw a turnout below 40%, and Seattle's game drew similar numbers. Although FIFA announced that over 1.5 million tickets have been sold and fans from 130 countries are attending, the lower-than-expected attendance for some matches hints at the challenges of sustaining momentum throughout the tournament.
USA Today
2 days ago
- Politics
- USA Today
FIFA abandons principles once again by dropping anti-racism messages
FIFA abandons principles once again by dropping anti-racism messages | Opinion Show Caption Hide Caption Soccer fans worry over the threat of ICE at FIFA Club World Cup Ahead of the kick-off of the FIFA Club World Cup, fans discussed fears of ICE raids impacting the soccer tournament. Maybe one of these days FIFA's actions will back up its big talk about combatting hate and discrimination. Today is not that day, however. A month after FIFA president Gianni Infantino said racism and bigotry were such a blight on the beautiful game that offenders deserve criminal penalties, the federation seems to have lost the messages that had become a staple of its anti-discrimination campaigns. The PSAs on the Jumbotron, the decals and banners on the field, the messages on the P.A. system, the posts on social media — they're nowhere to be found at the Club World Cup. Maybe they got misplaced on the way from FIFA headquarters. Maybe FIFA ran out of money after making its gaudy new trophy for the Club World Cup — you know, the one Infantino made sure to etch his name on. Or maybe, just maybe, Infantino saw how sensitive U.S. President Donald Trump is to anything that dares suggest racism is bad or that Black and brown people are entitled to respect and decided it was best if FIFA didn't bring it up. If this sounds familiar, it should. The last time there was a major tournament in a country run by a great and all-powerful Oz, Infantino and FIFA were quick to abandon their values, too. Rather than risk offending their Qatari hosts, they threw both longtime partner AB InBev and the LGBTQ community under the bus during the men's World Cup in 2022. Now FIFA is abandoning what should be one of its highest priorities: Calling out the racism and discrimination that remains far too prevalent in soccer. As if any reminder of why it's so imperative for FIFA to challenge discrimination in full throat, a Spanish court on Monday issued prison sentences to four people convicted of a hate crime for hanging an effigy of Vinicius Jr. The Brazilian has been subjected to repeated racist abuse since joining Real Madrid, which just so happens to be one of the 32 teams playing in the Club World Cup. Real Madrid's first game in the tournament is Wednesday, June 18, against Saudi Arabia's Al-Hilal. More: Kylian Mbappé deals with fever ahead of Real Madrid's Club World Cup opener 'I play in Spain, where I suffered a lot and still suffer sometimes,' Vinicius Jr. said last year. 'But of course, it is less with the help of all the clubs, of all the people who are doing everything possible to combat racism.' That FIFA can no longer be counted on to be part of that is appalling. That it's done so voluntarily is infuriating. FIFA hasn't commented on why it is suddenly caving on its commitment to calling out racism and discrimination, either to The Athletic, which first reported the absence of the messages, or USA TODAY Sports. But really, what's there to say? Infantino had his fingers crossed behind his back when he said last month that, and I quote, 'Racism and discrimination — they are not just wrong, they are crimes.'? FIFA really does want to stamp out racism but it wants to avoid Trump's ire more? They're just trying to get the Club World Cup, and next year's men's World Cup, played without Trump and Stephen Miller realizing the tournaments will bring an influx of thousands of Black and brown people to the United States? If Infantino and FIFA do actually believe racism, and every other form of discrimination, is bad and has no place in the game, it shouldn't matter where a tournament is being played. If Infantino and FIFA truly want soccer to be a game that belongs to everyone, the 'local customs' of a host nation and the personal prejudices of its leaders ought to be irrelevant. But by their actions, first in Qatar and now in the United States, Infantino and FIFA have made it clear their supposed core values of equality and respect have limits. Or come with a whole lot of asterisks attached. Airing a PSA, making a couple of social posts and slapping signs on the field and the LED boards that surround it is the bare minimum of what FIFA should be doing, and it can't even muster the courage to do that. It's easy to have convictions when they're not being put to the test. Infantino and FIFA's are, and they're failing miserably. Follow USA TODAY Sports columnist Nancy Armour on social media @nrarmour.
BBC News
2 days ago
- Entertainment
- BBC News
'Future of football' or an expensive mistake?
If you are working on the Club World Cup - this reborn competition - as a journalist or influencer, you have to sound hyper excited, but I feel browbeaten into showing some love for Infantino's 'beautiful' baby, otherwise I am portrayed as an unfeeling Grinch.I will give it a chance before I decide, while doing my very best to ignore all the tiresome fake razzamatazz surrounding the games. It is clearly a bunch of steps too far for exhausted players but if the tournament takes off and delivers some great football that feels meaningful, I'll be here to give it every a 0-0 opener wasn't exactly what Fifa and its cheerleaders wanted, neither was the 10-0 embarrassment between Bayern and Auckland, but is a 63 game tournament over 29 wait and most concerning thing for Fifa must be the feeble ticket sales particularly at the inflated prices initially advertised for some early games. Empty stadiums are not a good look, even if you move the fans and instruct the TV cameras to veer away from the empty spaces. With streaming free in the UK and other regions, there have been staggering sums spent on this tournament. If it doesn't work and the sums do not add up, this loss leader for Fifa could yet become one of the biggest financial white elephants in sporting it does work, then this is the future of football and could in time grow to be bigger than the Champions League or the World Cup. This is certainly Fifa's vision and it is why the staggering sums have been spent here in the first up to read more from Pat Nevin in his Football Extra newsletter
Yahoo
3 days ago
- Politics
- Yahoo
FIFA has taken us for fools over its promise to fight racism
FIFA has taken us for fools over its promise to fight racism Maybe ultimately, we're the fools. Because did we expect anything else from FIFA? Did we really believe world football's governing body was going to make use of the colossal platform available to it? Did we actually think it was going to do even the bare minimum? Advertisement The news that FIFA has decided not to display any anti-racism or anti-discrimination messaging during games at the ongoing Club World Cup in the United States came with a grim inevitability. Despite rustling up some promotional materials for its 'no racism' and 'no discrimination' initiatives, none have been used so far in the first week of the tournament. There has been nothing in the stadiums, on social media, on captains' armbands. Anywhere at all, in fact. When asked by , FIFA did not comment on whether there was a link between this decision and the increasingly close relationship between its president Gianni Infantino and the competition's host nation's President Donald Trump, but as soon as it became clear that Infantino was prioritising nurturing that bond over, say, actually running FIFA, it probably should have been obvious that this was going to happen. Trump's attempts to eradicate anything that faintly smells of diversity, equity and inclusion (DEI) — three words which he has, astonishingly, managed to redefine as bad things — already appear to have spilt over into sport. February's Super Bowl was the first in four years not to have 'End racism' messaging in the stadium. In March, an article on the U.S. Department of Defense's website celebrating Jackie Robinson, the former soldier who became the first man to break the colour barrier in Major League Baseball (MLB), was removed amid a purge of government web content relating to DEI. The article on Robinson was eventually restored, but the direction of travel was clear. Advertisement So, when it came to FIFA and launching its new, greatly expanded Club World Cup with this first edition in the States, this was probably a case of when, rather than if. From a strictly pragmatic, realpolitik point of view, you could argue that it's sensible for Infantino to cosy up to the president of the country hosting your next two global events, with much of the national-team World Cup next year being played in the U.S. too. But if that means abandoning any moral principles you have, or at least pretend to have, is it worth it? Instead, FIFA's big message for this tournament is its 'Football Unites the World' slogan, which displayed on captains' armbands, but not in many other places. Football unites the world. Sure. But behind what? What is the force for good here? If you're saying that football has a broader social impact beyond just the game, then you have to give us something tangible to prove the point. Otherwise, it's just meaningless. Advertisement Still, perhaps that's the point. At various intervals, FIFA and Infantino have spoken solemnly about their commitment to anti-racism. In January 2024, he encouraged the idea that teams should forfeit matches in the event of racist incidents. FIFA's 2022 World Cup sustainability report included a promise to carry out 'diversity and anti-discrimination awareness-raising initiatives.' Good idea. If nothing else, football should be used to raise awareness. It's the most popular sport in the world, arguably the biggest cultural force on the planet. When, though, if not at the Club World Cup, the tournament FIFA has been telling us for years is going to be the greatest show on earth? Would this not have been a pretty good opportunity to plaster everything with strong messaging, to make sure that if any viewers took anything from watching these games in America, it was that FIFA was committed to anti-discrimination? Advertisement It's a particularly Eurocentric point of view to label this tournament a waste of time, another brick placed on top of the Jenga tower that is the international football schedule. But it has much more value and holds much more interest to fans and clubs from other parts of the world. It is far from insignificant. So at the very least, it could have been used as a platform, a method of influencing and drawing attention to the things that FIFA say it is committed to. Football's messaging when it comes to discrimination messaging is generally dishwater-weak as it is. UEFA, the game's European governing body, used to display a video before games in its competitions where famous football figures would stare into the camera and intone, in their native language, 'No to racism'. A noble sentiment, although it's stretching credibility to think that a racist would see, say, Pavel Nedved telling them that this sort of thing is not on, and thus change their ways. Advertisement But at least it was something. FIFA isn't even doing that. Comparisons will be made to the row over the 'One Love' armbands a few teams suggested they were going to wear during matches at the 2022 World Cup in Qatar, an idea that FIFA nixed pretty quickly, and indeed pre-emptively banned from the Women's World Cup in Australia and New Zealand the following year. That was an external initiative, though: from a corporate perspective, it was consistent with its stance that only FIFA-approved messaging could be used. This is different. This is FIFA actively jettisoning something it has previously declared to be a precious part of football's social fabric, apparently because it is politically inconvenient. It all begs the question: if you can't even rely on FIFA to publicise what it claims to stand for, then what's the point? Advertisement FIFA didn't comment on its plans for the actual World Cup next summer, to be hosted in the United States, Canada and Mexico, but it doesn't bode well. What will the slogan be for that? 'Can everyone just be nice?' 'Please don't be mean to each other'? Could this be watered-down even further, to homeopathic levels? If anyone can, FIFA can. It shouldn't be that hard to present some sort of worthwhile message, even if these are often frustratingly milquetoast. Major League Soccer and MLB recently carried out Pride initiatives, as did the Premier League. Teams in England were still taking the knee before games at the end of the most recent domestic season. But even that seems beyond FIFA. Again, perhaps this is our fault. Expect nothing, and you won't be disappointed. Expect the most basic expression of humanity, and you will. Advertisement This is FIFA, after all. This article originally appeared in The Athletic. MLS, Premier League, Soccer, International Football, La Liga, Bundesliga, Serie A, Sports Business, Culture, Men's World Cup, Women's World Cup, FIFA Club World Cup 2025 The Athletic Media Company
