Conflict clouds soccer stage

With U.S. at war with Iran, upcoming World Cup set to be the most political in history.

- BY KEVIN BAXTER

FIFA PRESIDENT Gianni Infantino giving President Trump a Peace Prize looked "grotesque," a scholar said.

Twelve days ago the U.S., a World Cup host country, launched a full-scale bombing campaign against Iran, a country that has qualified to play in the tournament.

That's never happened before.

Five days later, that same World Cup host began military operations inside the borders of Ecuador, another World Cup qualifier, half a world away. That's never happened before, either.

With the tournament scheduled to kick off in three months, those events have soccer scholar Jonathan Wilson questioning whether it's wise for the World Cup to go on at all.

"It seems to me, for each passing day, it's less and less likely that the World Cup can happen," he said.

That take seems unduly alarmist said David Goldblatt, a British sportswriter and sociologist who is a visiting professor at Pitzer College in Claremont. Anything short of a full-scale war inside the U.S. would not be enough to pull the plug on the tournament now, he said. Especially with FIFA expecting revenues of as much as $11 billion.

"I mean, it's not a good look," Goldblatt conceded.

"And certainly when set against FIFA's official pronouncements on its role in encouraging world peace and cosmopolitan celebrations of a universal humanity, none of that sits terribly easily.

"But in terms of actually running the World Cup, I don't think it's going to make very much difference at all."

However, with the Trump administration open to engaging in more international conflicts, there's little doubt this World Cup, the largest and most complex in history, will also be the most political in history as well.