FIFA President Gianni Infantino expressed regret to the organization’s board on Thursday regarding his plan to sell stakes in the World Cup to private investors. “I apologized for the mistakes that we made in relation to the communication and consultation process related to the … project, which then led to many consequences,” said Infantino after the meeting, adding that his proposal had dominated discussions. “But what is important to remember is that it was a proposal — so in no way a done deal — just a proposal that actually intended to enable FIFA to invest more in our member associations, as opposed to replacing support from existing resources,” he added. Thursday’s meeting in Zurich was the first time FIFA’s Council convened since the 2026 World Cup ended and details of Infantino’s controversial proposal came to light. The plan was hit with immediate backlash from football associations around the world, as well as high-profile figures like EU Sports Commissioner Glenn Micallef and U.K. Prime Minister Andy Burnham. The sell-off plan also prompted calls for Infantino to resign as FIFA president, while U.S. President Donald Trump stepped in to defend him. FIFA Council Vice President and Football Association Chair Debbie Hewitt expressed disappointment that documents about the plan had not been shared with the board, saying many questions remained unanswered after the meeting. “I’ve repeatedly asked for the papers to be shared … In spite of the request today, I haven’t received them,” she told the BBC. During the three-and-a-half-hour meeting, Infantino was also pressed about the contentious decision to suspend the red-card ban given to U.S. player Folarin Balogun during this summer’s tournament. FIFA said in a statement its legal committee would undertake a review of the body’s disciplinary procedures, and “a presentation will also be made at the next FIFA Council meeting in December 2026.”

MADRID — Spain’s conservatives hope a trio of impending regional elections will collapse the government of Socialist Prime Minister Pedro Sánchez, the EU’s only remaining heavyweight national leader from the center left. First up this Sunday is the northeastern region of Aragón, dubbed the “Spanish Ohio” thanks to its track record as a barometer of the national mood. The center-right People’s Party (PP) appears to be heading for victory, but a surging far right is likely to make the biggest gains. Aragón will be followed by two more elections in PP-held regions — Castilla y León in March and Andalusia in June. For the conservatives, the goal is to seize on the corruption scandals in the Socialist party, which have severely weakened Sánchez, to confirm the PP’s regional dominance and dial up pressure on the government in Madrid. Speaking to supporters on the campaign trail in the town of Calatayud, Alberto Núñez Feijóo, leader of the PP, called on Aragón’s voters “to be the spokespeople of all Spaniards on Sunday at the ballot box.” “Friends, vote to stop the lies, to stop the corruption, to stop the arrogance and to stop the discredit into which national politics has fallen,” he said. Oriol Bartomeus, a political scientist at Barcelona’s Autonomous University, said the key across these regional elections was to build momentum at the national level. “The [PP’s] intention is to convert all these elections into a national story,” he said. “If the PP wins and the Socialists suffer a bad defeat, that will be used to say that Sánchez must step down because his party is in freefall.” PILING ON THE PRESSURE Sánchez’s coalition is already on the ropes following a storm of scandals. Probes into a kickback scheme implicating two former senior Socialists, as well as sexual harassment allegations concerning other figures in the party, have been hogging headlines in recent months. An ongoing investigation into the business dealings of Sánchez’s wife and the upcoming trial of his brother on charges of influence peddling have given the opposition further ammunition. Meanwhile, two January train crashes that killed a combined 47 people and triggered rail chaos in some parts of Spain have added to the government’s woes. A ballot held in the western region of Extremadura in December handed the PP electoral momentum: The party made modest gains while the Socialists lost 10 of their 28 seats. The Aragón election is a snap ballot called by regional president Jorge Azcón amid a parliamentary impasse that followed a decision by the far-right Vox to withdraw support for the conservatives. “Friends, vote to stop the lies, to stop the corruption, to stop the arrogance and to stop the discredit into which national politics has fallen,” Alberto Núñez Feijóo said. | ZIPI/EPA Polls suggest Aragón is heading for a similar result to Extremadura, with the PP clearly ahead and possibly making slight gains. The Socialists, meanwhile, are left hoping to avoid their worst-ever result in the region. Polls have the PP on track to win about 28 seats in the 67-seat assembly, with Vox taking 12 to 14 and the Socialists 17 or 18. In every general election since the country’s return to democracy in 1977, the winning party in Aragón has been the national overall victor, earning it the “Spanish Ohio” nickname — although analysts say its capital Zaragoza and the province that surrounds it currently provide a more reliable measure of the national vote. With a surface area slightly greater than that of Switzerland, the region borders Catalonia to the east and France to the north, encompassing vast rural areas. But it has also developed a reputation as a technological hub, and Zaragoza is Spain’s fifth-largest city. WARNINGS ABOUT VOX The Socialists have also given the election a national dimension by deploying the former minister of education, training and sport, Pilar Alegría, as their candidate. The warning from the Socialists is that Vox — which triggered the regional election in a clash with the PP over the acceptance of unaccompanied migrant children — could still ultimately agree to form a majority with the PP after extracting concessions. The Aragón election is a snap ballot called by regional president Jorge Azcón amid a parliamentary impasse that followed a decision by the far-right Vox to withdraw support for the conservatives. | Chema Moya/EPA Prime Minister Sánchez has campaigned alongside Alegría, urging voters to mobilize against the prospect of a consolidated PP-Vox majority, which he casts as part of an international radical right-wing tide. “The question we have to ask ourselves here in Aragón is: What you don’t want for the rest of the world, do you want that for Europe, for Spain and for Aragón?” the prime minister said at a campaign rally in the city of Teruel. He condemned the “misogyny and hate” of Vox, which he warned could form part of a coalition with the PP if they secured a majority. Tomás Guitarte, the leading candidate for Aragón Exists, which seeks to represent voters in rural areas, said such debates have distracted from more pressing concerns. “Sixty percent of the population of Aragón lives in two percent of its territory, while the rest are suffering serious problems related to depopulation,” he told POLITICO.  “They should be talking about this but instead the national leaders come here and turn the campaign into a national debate, focused on what concerns them in Madrid more than the real concerns of Aragón,” he said. Guitarte also pointed to housing as a serious concern for voters. Describing itself as cutting across party lines, Aragón Existe presents itself as a potential coalition partner for the PP, which is unlikely to secure an outright majority. However, Vox is likely to be the PP’s only viable partner and the one set to make the most substantial gains. The national conservative party has been courting the region’s farming sector with attacks on EU agricultural policy while condemning the central government’s willingness to welcome migrants. Polls show Vox could come close to doubling its seven seats, echoing its strong performance in national polls. The Socialists have also given the election a national dimension by deploying the former minister of education, training and sport, Pilar Alegría, as their candidate. | Mariscal/EPA Bartomeus said the PP was struggling to fend off the electoral threat posed by Vox, which divides the right. “The more Vox’s support increases, the worse the PP will perform,” he said. “The PP doesn’t go up substantially because part of its voter base is going to Vox.” Political analysts don’t generally believe the Aragón result alone could force Sánchez to bring forward the general election, scheduled for 2027. But the cumulative effect of defeats there, in Castilla y León and, above all, in the former Socialist stronghold of Andalusia could make it very hard for Sánchez to hang on.

The EU’s top sports official has sharply criticized FIFA President Gianni Infantino for saying that world football’s governing body should lift its ban on Russia competing in international tournaments.  Infantino said Monday that Russia, which was banned by FIFA following the country’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine in February 2022, should be allowed to compete again, claiming that bans and boycotts “create more hatred.” It would send a positive message to have “girls and boys from Russia” participating in football tournaments across Europe, he added.  European Sport Commissioner Glenn Micallef pushed back Wednesday, calling for the ban to remain in place in a social media post with the hashtag #YellowCardForFIFA.  “Sport does not exist in a vacuum. It reflects who we are and what we choose to stand for,” Micallef said. “Letting aggressors return to global football as if nothing happened ignores real security risks and deep pain caused by the war.”  Infantino’s remarks also drew a furious response from Ukraine.   “679 Ukrainian girls and boys will never be able to play football — Russia killed them,” said Ukraine’s Foreign Affairs Minister Andrii Sybiha on social media. “And it keeps killing more while moral degenerates suggest lifting bans, despite Russia’s failure to end its war.”  Moscow, unsurprisingly, embraced Infantino’s suggestion. “We have seen these statements [by Infantino], and we welcome them,” Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov said. “It’s high time to think about this.”  The U.S. is hosting the men’s World Cup this summer together with Mexico and Canada. Even if the ban were lifted, Russia could not compete as it did not take part in the qualifying rounds.  Infantino maintains close ties with Donald Trump and in December gave him the newly created FIFA Peace Prize — widely seen as a token honor — after the American president was not awarded the Nobel Peace Prize. The sporting world is increasingly softening in its stance on Russian participation in tournaments, with International Olympic Committee President Kirsty Coventry signaling that Russian athletes shouldn’t be held responsible for the actions of their government.

5 TIMES THE WINTER OLYMPICS GOT SUPER POLITICAL Invasions, nuclear crises and Nazi propaganda: The Games have seen it all. By SEBASTIAN STARCEVIC Illustration by Natália Delgado /POLITICO The Winter Olympics return to Europe this week, with Milan and Cortina d’Ampezzo set to host the world’s greatest athletes against the snowy backdrop of the Italian Alps. But beyond the ice rinks and ski runs, the Games have long doubled as a stage for global alliances, heated political rivalries and diplomatic crises.  “An event like the Olympics is inherently political because it is effectively a competition between nations,” said Madrid’s IE Assistant Professor Andrew Bertoli, who studies the intersection of sport and politics. “So the Games can effectively become an arena where nations compete for prestige, respect and soft power.” If history is any guide, this time won’t be any different. From invasions to the Nazis to nuclear crises, here are five times politics and the Winter Olympics collided. 1980: AMERICA’S “MIRACLE ON ICE” One of the most iconic moments in Olympic history came about amid a resurgence in Cold War tensions between the U.S. and the Soviet Union. The USSR had invaded Afghanistan only months earlier, and Washington’s rhetoric toward Moscow had hardened, with Ronald Reagan storming to the presidency a month prior on an aggressive anti-Soviet platform. At the 1980 Winter Games in Lake Placid, New York, that superpower rivalry was on full display on the ice. The U.S. men’s ice hockey team — made up largely of college players and amateurs — faced off against the Soviet squad, a battle-hardened, gold medal-winning machine. The Americans weren’t supposed to stand a chance. Then the impossible happened. In a stunning upset, the U.S. team skated to a 4-3 victory, a win that helped them clinch the gold medal. As the final seconds ticked away, ABC broadcaster Al Michaels famously cried, “Do you believe in miracles? Yes!” The impact echoed far beyond the rink. For many Americans, the victory was a morale boost in a period marked by geopolitical anxiety and division. Reagan later said it was proof “nice guys in a tough world can finish first.” The miracle’s legacy has endured well into the 21st century, with U.S. President Donald Trump awarding members of the hockey team the Congressional Gold Medal in December last year. 2014: RUSSIA INVADES CRIMEA AFTER SOCHI Four days. That’s how long Moscow waited after hosting the Winter Olympics in the Russian resort city of Sochi before sending troops into Crimea, occupying and annexing the Ukrainian peninsula. Ukrainian President Viktor Yanukovych had fled to Moscow days earlier, ousted by protesters demanding democracy and closer integration with the EU. As demonstrators filled Kyiv’s Independence Square, their clashes with government forces played on television screens around the world alongside highlights from the Games, in which Russia dominated the medal tally. Vladimir Putin poses with Russian athletes while visiting the Coastal Cluster Olympic Village ahead of the Sochi 2014 Winter Olympics. | Pascal Le Segretain/Getty Images No sooner was the Olympic flame extinguished in Sochi on Feb. 23 than on Feb. 27 trucks and tanks rolled into Crimea. Soldiers in unmarked uniforms set up roadblocks, stormed Crimean government buildings and raised the Russian flag high above them. Later that year, Moscow would face allegations of a state-sponsored doping program and many of its athletes were ultimately stripped of their gold medals. 2022: RUSSIA INVADES UKRAINE … AGAIN There’s a theme here. Russian President Vladimir Putin made an appearance at the opening ceremony of Beijing’s Winter Games in 2022, meeting on the sidelines with Chinese counterpart Xi Jinping and declaring a “no limits” partnership. Four days after the end of the Games, on Feb. 24, Putin announced a “special military operation,” declaring war on Ukraine. Within minutes, Russian troops flooded into Ukraine, and missiles rained down on Kyiv, Kharkiv and other cities across the country. According to U.S. intelligence, The New York Times reported, Chinese officials asked the Kremlin to delay launching its attack until after the Games had wrapped up. Beijing denied it had advance knowledge of the invasion. 2018: KOREAN UNITY ON DISPLAY As South Korea prepared to host the Winter Games in its mountainous Pyeongchang region, just a few hundred kilometers over the border, the North Koreans were conducting nuclear missile tests, sparking global alarm and leading U.S. President Donald Trump to threaten to strike the country. The IOC said it was “closely monitoring” the situation amid concerns about whether the Games could be held safely on the peninsula. South Korean Vice Unification Minister Chun Hae-Sung, shakes hands with the head of North Korean delegation Jon Jong-Su after their meeting on January 17, 2018 in Panmunjom, South Korea. | South Korean Unification Ministry via Getty Images But then in his New Year’s address, North Korean dictator Kim Jong Un signaled openness to participating in the Winter Olympics. In the end, North Korean athletes not only participated in the Games, but at the opening ceremony they marched with their South Korean counterparts under a single flag, that of a unified Korea. Pyongyang and Seoul also joined forces in women’s ice hockey, sending a single team to compete — another rare show of unity that helped restart diplomatic talks between the capitals, though tensions ultimately resumed after the Games and continue to this day. 1936: HITLER INVADES THE RHINELAND Much has been said about the 1936 Summer Olympics in Berlin, in which the Nazi regime barred Jewish athletes from participating and used the Games to spread propaganda. But a few months earlier Germany also hosted the Winter Olympics in the town of Garmisch-Partenkirchen, allowing the Nazis to project an image of a peaceful, prosperous Germany and restore its global standing nearly two decades after World War I. A famous photograph from the event even shows Adolf Hitler and Joseph Goebbels signing autographs for the Canadian figure skating team. Weeks after the Games ended, Hitler sent troops into the Rhineland, a major violation of the Treaty of Versailles that was met with little pushback from France and Britain, and which some historians argue emboldened the Nazis to eventually invade Poland, triggering World War II.

FIFA President Gianni Infantino said Monday the world football governing body should lift its ban on Russia competing in international tournaments. Russia was banned from taking part in international football tournaments by FIFA immediately following the country’s invasion of Ukraine in the winter of 2022. The ban has remained in place, though youth teams have been allowed to compete since 2023. “We have to,” Infantino told Sky News in an interview when asked if he would look into lifting the ban. “I’m against bans, I’m against boycotts as well,” he added, saying they just “create more hatred.”  It would send a positive message to have “girls and boys from Russia” participating in football tournaments across Europe, he said.   Infantino maintains close ties with U.S. President Donald Trump and awarded him the newly created FIFA Peace Prize — widely seen as a token honor after the American president did not get the Nobel Peace Prize despite campaigning heavily for it — in December. FIFA also opened an office in New York’s Trump Tower in July and appointed Trump’s daughter Ivanka to the board of an education charity project co-funded by 2026 FIFA World Cup ticket sales.  The U.S. is hosting the World Cup this summer together with Mexico and Canada and has faced calls for boycotts from some quarters of politics and society over the Trump administration’s foreign policy. Russia hosted the tournament in 2018.

Germany’s football association on Friday ruled out a boycott of the 2026 FIFA World Cup after facing some pressure to pull out over U.S. President Donald Trump’s foreign policy. “The DFB Executive Committee agrees that debates on sports policy should be conducted internally and not in public,” the association said in a statement. “A boycott of the 2026 World Cup in the United States, Mexico and Canada is currently not under consideration. In preparation for the tournament, the DFB is in dialogue with representatives from politics, security, business and sport. “We believe in the unifying power of sport and in the global impact that a football World Cup can have. Our goal is to strengthen this positive force — not to prevent it,” it added. Over the last two weeks, German media and politicians have debated a potential boycott of the sporting event following Trump’s now-retracted threats to impose tariffs on EU countries opposing his plans to annex Greenland. The World Cup is one of Trump’s prestige projects, and the U.S. president maintains close ties to Gianni Infantino, president of the world football governing body FIFA. A boycott by heavyweight European nations would cripple the tournament. Speaking at the World Economic Forum in Davos amid tensions over Greenland, Infantino sought to downplay political divisions, saying: “The world stands still because the World Cup and football has really an impact on the lives, on the moods of people like [nothing] else. There is nothing anywhere close to what football does. It changes the mood not just of people, but of countries.”  Calls for a politically motivated boycott of sporting mega events are not new. Ahead of the 2022 World Cup tournament in Qatar, media and politicians in several EU countries debated boycotting the event over the host country’s treatment of migrant workers. Germany has won the World Cup four times.

Women’s tennis has an Alexander Lukashenko problem. The Belarusian autocrat’s ongoing, public celebration of compatriot Aryna Sabalenka — the world No. 1 — has sparked fury in Kyiv, ahead of her crucial Australian Open semifinal against Ukrainian Elina Svitolina. “No matter how much international sports officials and global sports bureaucrats insist that sport is ‘outside politics,’ for regimes like those of Lukashenko and Putin this has never been true,” Heorhii Tykhyi, a spokesperson for Ukraine’s foreign ministry, told POLITICO. “For them, sport is not merely political — it is one of the key instruments of state policy, and more specifically, of state propaganda, including the propaganda of war.” The Ukrainian criticism has put Sabalenka — winner of four grand slams, the most prestigious tournaments on the tennis calendar — and her relationship with the Lukashenko regime back in the spotlight. Belarus, like its close ally Russia, has used sports as a soft power asset on the world stage, even as the West ostracizes Minsk over its support for Moscow’s all-out war on Ukraine. Sabalenka, whose visibility as the world’s best female tennis player has made her a central figure in Belarusian propaganda, faces Svitolina in Melbourne on Thursday morning, in a match that has added geopolitical significance while Russia’s full-scale invasion rages on. A representative for Sabalenka did not respond to POLITICO’s request for comment about the nature of her relationship with authorities in Minsk. At a press conference following a previous match with Svitolina at the French Open in 2023, Sabalenka told POLITICO that she did not support Lukashenko “right now” or Russia’s war in Ukraine. “To those who argue otherwise or repeat the mantra that ‘sport is outside politics,’ I would like to remind them: sport may be outside politics, but it is certainly not outside the war being waged in Europe today,” Tykhyi, the Ukrainian foreign ministry spokesperson, said. “A war that has already killed or injured more than 600 Ukrainian athletes or coaches. Hundreds of Ukrainian sports facilities have been destroyed or damaged, forcing athletes to train under constant threat and in conditions of severe infrastructural deprivation.” “And yet, despite all of this, Ukrainian athletes continue to demonstrate extraordinary resilience and strength of spirit, preparing for and competing in international events even under these circumstances,” the spokesperson added. Sabalenka, who was born in Minsk and now resides in Miami, has links to the Belarusian authorities that date back years.   She met Lukashenko in 2017, shortly after beginning her rise to the top of world tennis. In 2020, during massive anti-government protests over a rigged national election, she signed a pro-Lukashenko letter and — unlike other athletes who later retracted their endorsement — never withdrew her signature. That year, with thousands of protesters jailed and many facing torture at the hands of Belarusian authorities, she celebrated the New Year with Lukashenko, drawing howls of protest from Belarusian dissidents. After Sabalenka’s victory over Ukraine’s Marta Kostyuk in Brisbane earlier this month, Lukashenko’s official website congratulated her on the win, as it did after she won in Miami and New York last year. Lukashenko also mentioned her in his address to the Belarusian People and the National Assembly in 2023. She has even become a tangential character in the U.S. government’s ongoing diplomatic overtures to Minsk. In 2025, U.S. envoy John Coale handed Lukashenko a letter from President Donald Trump acknowledging Sabalenka’s “tremendous win at the US Open” and that she “represents the very best of your country.” Coupled with her new role as an ambassador for iconic fashion house Gucci — which posted “Welcome to the Gucci family, Aryna” in its promotional material on social media — and worldwide popularity with tennis fans, Sabalenka is giving heartburn to Ukraine’s sports establishment. Earlier this month, Ukrainian player Oleksandra Oliynykova criticized the global community for celebrating Sabalenka. “A supporter of a bloody dictator becomes an ambassador for a top brand. What is wrong with this world?” she asked.

Italian Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni’s government scrambled to contain the fallout Tuesday after U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) confirmed its agents would assist with security at next month’s Winter Olympics in Italy. Opposition parties reacted with fury after it emerged that the agency, which has been engulfed in controversy after deportation agents killed two U.S. citizens in Minneapolis in recent weeks, would be involved in security operations for the Games, due to begin on Feb. 6. Foreign Minister Antonio Tajani said Tuesday that it was “not going to be those that are on the street in Minneapolis.” He added: “I have been harder than anyone else in Italy on [the ICE raids] … but it’s not like the SS are coming,” in reference to the notorious Nazi paramilitary outfit. U.S. ambassador Tilman Fertitta was scheduled to meet Interior Minister Matteo Piantedosi later Tuesday to clarify Olympics plans, Tajani said. The controversy erupted Monday, when Attilio Fontana, president of Lombardy, one of the northern regions hosting the Games, wrongly suggested that ICE agents would merely assist with the security of U.S. Vice President JD Vance and Secretary of State Marco Rubio, who are scheduled to attend the opening ceremony at Milan’s San Siro stadium on Feb. 6. ICE later sought to clarify its role, saying in a statement: “At the Olympics, ICE’s Homeland Security Investigations (HSI) is supporting the US Department of State’s Diplomatic Security Service and the host nation to vet and mitigate risks from transnational criminal organizations. All security operations remain under Italian authority.” HSI, which maintains a presence in Italy and many other nations, is part of ICE but separate from the subagency that handles deportations domestically in the U.S. Like other parts of the U.S. federal government, HSI has played a bigger role in supporting the deportations-focused Enforcement and Removal Operations arm of ICE as the Trump administration has ramped up its immigration crackdown, but the agency typically investigates criminal wrongdoing, including child exploitation, human-trafficking and cybercrimes cases. DHS did not respond to a question clarifying whether new agents would be sent to Milan or Cortina d’Ampezzo, or whether it would only involve agents at the Rome field office. ‘NOT WELCOME’ Meloni has already faced criticism for her defense of U.S. President Donald Trump following his threats to annex Greenland. “This government is a joke and completely subservient to those like Trump who every day insult us, threaten world peace and justify inhuman and heinous acts such as those committed by ICE,” said Riccardo Ricciardi, an MP for the opposition 5Star Movement. Alessandro Zan, a member of the European Parliament for the centre-left Democratic Party, condemned it as “unacceptable.” “In Italy, we don’t want those who trample on human rights and act outside of any democratic control,” he wrote on X. “If the Italian government needs ICE’s help, it means not only that it has failed on security but that it has embraced a dangerous drift,” said Maria Chiara Gadda, an MP from the centrist Italia Viva party. Local leaders also joined in. Giuseppe Sala, the left-wing mayor of Milan, which is hosting several Olympic events, told RTL 102.5 radio that ICE was “not welcome.” “This is a militia that kills… They are not welcome in Milan, there’s no doubt about it,” he said, adding: “Can’t we just say no to Trump for once?” Public pressure has also grown. Two petitions Tuesday had gathered more than 50,000 signatures calling on the government to block ICE’s entry and operations in Italy. Eric Bazail-Eimil contributed to this report.

A senior German football executive has urged Europe to consider boycotting the 2026 FIFA World Cup, as U.S. President Donald Trump’s escalating rhetoric over Greenland and broader foreign policy moves spark unease across the continent. Oke Göttlich, president of Bundesliga club St. Pauli and a vice president of the German Football Association, said in an interview with German media that the time had come to “seriously consider and discuss” a boycott, comparing the current moment to the Cold War-era Olympic boycotts of the 1980s. “What were the justifications for the boycotts of the Olympic Games in the 1980s?” Göttlich told the Hamburger Morgenpost. “By my reckoning, the potential threat is greater now than it was then. We need to have this discussion.” Göttlich also took aim at FIFA President Gianni Infantino — widely seen as a close ally of Trump — accusing football’s leadership of applying double standards. “Qatar was too political for everyone, and now we’re completely apolitical?” he said. “That really, really bothers me.” His comments add momentum to a growing debate in Europe over whether global sport can remain insulated from politics as Trump ramps up pressure on allies — from threats surrounding Greenland to U.S. military action in Venezuela — while treating the World Cup as a major soft-power trophy of his second term. Not all governments are receptive. France’s sports minister said this week there was “no desire” in Paris to boycott the tournament, which will be co-hosted by the U.S., Canada and Mexico, arguing that sport should remain separate from politics. Still, several European football leaders have already shown a willingness to wade into political disputes. The president of Norway’s football federation, Lise Klaveness, has repeatedly criticized human rights issues tied to major tournaments, while Ireland’s football association pushed to exclude Israel from international competition before the Gaza peace agreement last year. Göttlich also dismissed concerns that a boycott would unfairly punish players, including St. Pauli’s international stars. “The life of a professional player is not worth more than the lives of countless people in various regions who are being directly or indirectly attacked or threatened by the World Cup host,” he said.

urope has spent the last week rummaging around for leverage that would force U.S. President Donald Trump to back off his threats to seize Greenland from Denmark. While Trump now says he will not be imposing planned tariffs on European allies, some politicians think they’ve found the answer if he changes his mind again: boycott the 2026 FIFA World Cup. The quadrennial soccer jamboree, which will be hosted in the U.S., Mexico and Canada this summer, is a major soft-power asset for Trump — and an unprecedented European boycott would diminish the tournament beyond repair. “Leverage is currency with Trump, and he clearly covets the World Cup,” said Adam Hodge, a former National Security Council official during the Biden administration. “Europe’s participation is a piece of leverage Trump would respect and something they could consider using if the transatlantic relationship continues to swirl down the drain.” With Trump’s Greenland ambitions putting the world on edge, key political figures who’ve raised the idea say that any decision on a boycott would — for now, at least — rest with national sport authorities rather than governments. “Decisions on participation in or boycott of major sport events are the sole responsibility of the relevant sports associations, not politicians,” Christiane Schenderlein, Germany’s state secretary for sport, told AFP on Tuesday. The French sport ministry said there are “currently” no government plans for France to boycott. That means, for the moment, a dozen soccer bureaucrats around Europe — representing the countries that have so far qualified for the tournament — have the power to torpedo Trump’s World Cup, a pillar of his second term in office like the 2028 Olympics in Los Angeles. (Another four European countries will be added in spring after the European playoffs are completed.) While they may not be household names, people like Spain’s Rafael Louzán, England’s Debbie Hewitt and the Netherlands’ Frank Paauw may now have more leverage over Trump than the European Commission with its so-called trade bazooka. “I think it is obvious that a World Cup without the European teams would be irrelevant in sports terms — with the exceptions of Brazil and Argentina all the other candidates in a virtual top 10 will be European — and, as a consequence, it would also be a major financial blow to FIFA,” said Miguel Maduro, former chair of FIFA’s Governance Committee. Several of the European soccer chiefs have already shown their willingness to enter the political fray. Norwegian Football Federation president Lise Klaveness has been outspoken on LGBTQ+ issues and the use of migrant labor in preparations for the 2022 World Cup. The Football Association of Ireland pushed to exclude Israel from international competition before the country signed the Gaza peace plan in October. “Football has always been far more than a sport,” Turkish Football Federation President Ibrahim Haciosmanoglu, whose team is still competing for one of the four remaining spots, wrote in an open letter to his fellow federation presidents in September calling for Israel’s removal. Trump attempted Wednesday in Davos to cool tensions over Greenland by denying he would use military force to capture the massive, mineral-rich Arctic island. But during the same speech he firmly reiterated his desire to obtain it and demanded “immediate negotiations” with relevant European leaders toward that goal. Later in the day, in a social media post, Trump said he reached an agreement with NATO on a Greenland framework. His Davos remarks are unlikely to pacify European politicians across the political spectrum who want to see a tougher stance against the White House. “Seriously, can we imagine going to play the World Cup in a country that attacks its ‘neighbors,’ threatens to invade Greenland, destroys international law, wants to torpedo the UN, establishes a fascist and racist militia in its country, attacks the opposition, bans supporters from about 15 countries from attending the tournament, plans to ban all LGBT symbols from stadiums, etc.?” wondered left-wing French lawmaker Eric Coquerel on social media. Influential German conservative Roderich Kiesewetter also told the Augsburger Allgemeine news outlet: “If Donald Trump carries out his threats regarding Greenland and starts a trade war with the EU, I find it hard to imagine European countries participating in the World Cup.” Russia’s World Cup in 2018 faced similar calls for a boycott over the Kremlin’s illegal annexation of Ukraine’s Crimean peninsula, as did Qatar’s 2022 tournament over the Gulf petromonarchy’s dismal human rights record. While neither mooted boycott came to pass — indeed, the World Cup and the Olympics haven’t faced a major diplomatic cold shoulder since retaliatory snubs by countries for the Moscow 1980 and Los Angeles 1984 Summer Olympics — Trump’s seizure of Greenland would put Europe in a position with no recent historical parallel. Neither FIFA, the world governing body that organizes the tournament, nor four national associations contacted by POLITICO immediately responded to requests for comment. Tom Schmidtgen and Ferdinand Knapp contributed to this report.