By Daily Sports Nigeria on December 4, 2025

Staged just a mile from the White House, Friday's World Cup draw will have a distinctly political feel.

The glittering ceremony will take place at the Kennedy Center, the famous Washington arts venue now chaired by US President Donald Trump after he overhauled its board this year.

Alongside stars from football, US sports and show business, Trump will be in attendance, as will the leaders of the other two co-hosts - Mexico President Claudia Sheinbaum and Canada Prime Minister Mark Carney.

Proceedings, however, seem to have been planned with the US president very much in mind.

Seventies group Village People have been booked to play YMCA, a Trump favourite that is regularly heard at his campaign rallies. And, in a break with tradition, the draw ceremony will feature the awarding of a new Fifa Peace Prize, with Trump widely expected to be the recipient.

Such gestures will only underline the alliance forged between the US president and Fifa counterpart Gianni Infantino, who announced the award last month after claiming that Trump deserved to win the Nobel Peace Prize for his contribution to the Israel-Gaza ceasefire, and enthusiastically praising his policies.

For critics, such moves are a threat to Fifa's commitment to political neutrality, one enshrined in its statutes, and risk turning the draw - and the tournament itself - into propaganda tools.

They believe Infantino and Trump are effectively too close for comfort, and that it sends a message that world football's governing body is aligning with the Make America Great Again (Maga) movement, and endorsing what many feel is a divisive administration. Is it wise, they ask, that Fifa is seen to associate so closely with a man who only this week made disparaging comments about Somali immigrants, describing them as "garbage"?

Asked about the new award amid reports that the Fifa Council was not consulted about it, one senior official at the governing body told BBC Sport: "Why can't this be bigger than the Nobel Peace Prize? Football has huge global support, so it's right that it recognises extraordinary efforts to bring about peace every year."

They pointed to the fact that in 2019 there was no such controversy when Fifa gave the president of Argentina an award to honour his contribution to football, and said the organisation deserves praise for endorsing peace in a divided world.

Amid such football diplomacy, there have also been concerns about the impact that some of Trump's policies and statements could have on the World Cup, and uncertainty over how welcome visitors from some countries will be.

In June the White House listed 19 countries, predominantly in Africa, the Middle East and the Caribbean, which would face full or partial immigration restrictions, referencing a need to manage security threats.

Amid suggestions that the list could be expanded to as many as 30 countries after an Afghan man was identified as the suspect in the recent shooting of two National Guard soldiers near the White House, Fifa has vowed to have a welcoming and unifying tournament.

But Iran and Haiti, whose teams have qualified for the World Cup, are among the countries affected by the ban. Last week Iran said they planned to boycott the draw because of the limited number of visas for their delegation.

The June executive order exempts athletes and coaching staff from travelling for the World Cup, but fans could face a ban.

"We want to make sure that we're as welcoming as possible," Andrew Giuliani, the executive director of the White House's World Cup Task Force, said on Wednesday.

Giuliani hailed a programme designed to shorten wait times for interviews for visitor visas for those with tickets, but he did not rule out Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) raids targeting undocumented immigrants at World Cup venues. Giuliani insisted that authorities wanted to ensure visitors came into the US legally to prioritise the safety of US citizens.

Such a stance worries civil liberties campaigners, with Human Rights Watch (HRW) claiming the draw will take place against "a backdrop of violent detentions of immigrants, National Guard deployments in US cities, and the obsequious cancellation of Fifa's own anti-racism and anti-discrimination campaigns". They are among a group of organisations who on Wednesday claimed the World Cup was at increasing danger of being "weaponised for authoritarian aims."

"There is still time to honour Fifa's promises for a World Cup not tainted by human rights abuses, but the clock is ticking," HRW said.

Having praised Infantino as "one of the greatest men of sport" during a meeting at the Oval Office last month, Trump suggested he might even take matches away from Democratic-run host cities if he had concerns over safety and security.

While it is unclear whether the president will - or even could - follow through with a move that would cause major logistical and legal disruption, his words added to the uncertainty surrounding the tournament.

At the same meeting Trump suggested he could launch "strikes" against Mexico if it would stop drugs from being trafficked into the US. Coming after Trump's trade policies had already caused friction with both Mexico and Canada, it only reinforced concerns about the level of co-operation between the three World Cup co-hosts over issues such as security at the tournament.

Infantino could claim that, given the unpredictability of some of Trump's statements, having a close relationship with him is even more crucial.

But others would argue it also risks impeding his ability to stand up to the US president.

Source BBC Sports

Posted December 4, 2025

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