French and English Press Deliver Harsh Criticism: Trumpification and FIFA's Irresponsibility

British and French publications this morning are focusing on political themes surrounding the upcoming FIFA World Cup in Mexico, the USA, and Canada. English outlets are primarily highlighting criticisms of Donald Trump's policies and the American organizing committee, which has largely disregarded FIFA's input, making a series of controversial political decisions that restrict the rights of team delegations and fans from various countries.

“The True Meaning of the 'Trumpification' of the 2026 World Cup,” headlines the British newspaper, The Independent. This World Cup, the publication notes, will largely be a return to the highly politicized spectacles seen in police states like Russia and Qatar. Despite FIFA President Gianni Infantino's assurances that the World Cup unites the world, for the first time in its history, we face a situation where the host is at odds with one of the participating nations, the British newspaper observes. Meanwhile, Infantino's personal relationship with former US President Donald Trump casts a shadow over the entire event, especially given the constant risk that a single decision from the capricious American president could cause chaos, The Independent comments.

Trump's decisions have already caused chaos, with FIFA receiving almost no assistance on organizational matters, the newspaper points out. This led to the farce where a long-serving and vetted referee was denied entry to the US, and Iran was forced to travel under restricted conditions for its matches. Most Americans simply aren't interested in this World Cup at all, writes the British newspaper, The Telegraph. The high popularity of traditional American sports, a lack of investment, weak growth prospects, and disappointing national team performances mean that the world's most popular sport struggles to capture the attention of the American public, the newspaper notes.

The French press is focusing more on FIFA's irresponsible behavior regarding environmental impact. This World Cup is expected to be the most polluting in history due to the increased number of matches and the vast distances teams and fans will have to travel between stadiums, writes the French newspaper, Le Monde. FIFA supports this irresponsible approach, which could harm both players and the sport itself, the publication notes. Before the 2022 World Cup in Qatar, Infantino urged “everyone who loves football and cares about the environment” to “wave FIFA's green card for the planet,” the newspaper recalls. Four years later, the all-powerful head of world football has kept his “green card” in his pocket. After being criticized by the Swiss Fair Play Commission in 2023, FIFA was instructed “to refrain in the future from claiming climate-neutral World Cup events.” Several independent organizations have attempted to assess the carbon footprint of this super-format World Cup edition, Le Monde writes.

According to “conservative estimates” from the research group “Scientists for Global Responsibility,” the US tournament will generate at least 9 million tons of carbon dioxide equivalent. In just five and a half weeks, this will produce greenhouse gas emissions equivalent to the annual emissions of a country like Cyprus, with a population of 980,000. This is also twice the amount generated by the Qatar World Cup, which was already deemed highly polluting.