By Amy Tennery and Trevor Hunnicutt
NEW YORK, July 17 (Reuters) – U.S. President Donald Trump will be back in the World Cup spotlight at Sunday’s final, after taking a starring role in one of the tournament’s defining dramas and with his eye on another hosting gig for America in 2038.
FIFA President Gianni Infantino said Trump will sit with him during the final between Argentina and Spain at New York/New Jersey Stadium and will be on hand to present the trophy to the winners, as he did at the Club World Cup last year.
Trump’s appearance will come days after he confirmed that he had asked Infantino to review a red card issued to U.S. striker Folarin Balogun, plunging the tournament into a firestorm of controversy over fairness and officiating.
Trump and Infantino lavished praise on each other Friday at a reception inside Trump Tower in Manhattan, where FIFA opened an office last year, on the back of the tournament that has enjoyed record-breaking attendances in its biggest-ever edition.
“This World Cup would not have been such a success without you,” Infantino told Trump in front of a crowd of about 300 attendees, including Brazilian soccer great Ronaldo, FIFA officials and other dignitaries.
“It turned out we were a soccer country,” said Trump, who has regularly hosted Infantino in the White House’s Oval Office.
The pair have stood steadfastly by one another through a range of controversies before and during the tournament also co-hosted by Canada and Mexico, with FIFA insisting Trump played no role in Balogun’s red-card ban being suspended.
A year out from the tournament, U.S. cities faced serious questions about how they would reassure international fans concerned by Trump’s immigration crackdown and travel ban on several countries.
Months later, Trump threatened to move matches from Democratic-controlled cities. FIFA countered that relocations would not be up to his discretion.
On Friday, Trump suggested the U.S. get another crack at hosting the tournament but, “This time we’ll leave Mexico and Canada out.”
‘NO NEUTRAL OPINIONS’
Trump has frequently sought the megawatt spotlight of sports over the last 18 months, as his approval rating during his second term continues to slide.
He reached his target audience at last year’s Ryder Cup, where he was greeted with a chorus of cheers from the American fans on New York’s Long Island.
Trump’s reception has been mixed elsewhere.
He was booed loudly at Game 3 of the NBA Finals last month, and enraged fans who were stuck outside last year’s U.S. Open men’s tennis final at Flushing Meadows well after the start of the match due to presidential security measures.
Trump’s appearance creates unique challenges for U.S. broadcaster Fox Sports, which uses a world feed for match coverage, as it anticipates an appearance by one of the most polarising figures in U.S. political history.
“We do take this world feed. So we’re not in control of the pictures. And so whether or not there’s a cutaway during the match to President Trump sitting next to Gianni Infantino, sitting next to whoever else, that’s not our choice one way or the other,” said play-by-play announcer John Strong.
“We also don’t know when it’s coming.”
FIFA officially awarded the tournament to co-hosts Canada, Mexico and the U.S. during Trump’s first term in 2018, a point of pride for the Republican who has frequently boasted about bringing in the global showpiece.
“When it comes to President Trump, there are no neutral opinions,” said Strong. “There’s a lot of people in the audience who are super excited to see him at the game. And there’s going to be a lot of people in the audience who maybe are less thrilled to have him on their TV screen.”
(Reporting by Amy Tennery and Trevor Hunnicutt in New York, additional reporting by Bo Erickson, Nandita Bose, Doina Chiacu and Ismail Shakil in Washington, D.C.; editing by Ken Ferris)
