Former FIFA president Sepp Blatter has backed growing calls for a boycott of the 2026 World Cup following concerns over Donald Trump’s recent political actions.[Mirror reports]
Discontent has been building in Europe over Trump’s stance on Greenland and proposed trade tariffs, with the tournament in the United States, Canada and Mexico now being drawn into the debate.
The USA is set to co-host the World Cup from June 11 to July 19, but there have been increasing calls for teams and fans to stay away in order to put pressure on the US president.
The idea has been discussed in Germany’s parliament, while Swiss lawyer and anti-corruption expert Mark Pieth has also voiced his support.
Pieth told Swiss newspaper Der Bund:
“If we consider everything we’ve discussed, there’s only one piece of advice for fans: Stay away from the USA! You’ll see it better on TV anyway. And upon arrival, fans should expect that if they don’t please the officials, they’ll be put straight on the next flight home. If they’re lucky.”
Blatter, who led FIFA from 1998 to 2015, echoed those concerns on social media, writing on X:
“I think Mark Pieth is right to question this World Cup.”
Blatter stepped down 11 years ago amid a corruption scandal, with FIFA now led by Gianni Infantino, who has been criticised for his close relationship with Trump.
Opposition has been strongest in Germany, where DFB vice-president and St Pauli president Oke Gottlich compared the situation to the boycott of the 1980 Moscow Olympics.
Gottlich told a German newspaper:
“I really wonder when the time will be to think and talk about this concretely. For me that time has definitely come.”
He added: “What were the justifications for the boycotts of the Olympic Games in the 1980s? By my reckoning the potential threat is greater now than it was then. We need to have this discussion.”
German MP Roderich Kiesewetter also warned that European participation could be in doubt, saying:
“If Trump follows through on his announcements and threats regarding Greenland and starts a trade war with the EU it’s hard for me to imagine European countries participating in the World Cup.”