Infantino’s special gift for Trump . . . a red card for him to show the media
WASHINGTON: United States President Donald Trump, true to form, waved a red card at the media after a White House audience with FIFA supremo Gianni Infantino.
The meeting was a courtesy call in the wake of the world football federation’s decision in June to award host rights for the 2026 World Cup fimals to the US and subsidiary partners Canada and Mexico.
Infantino presented Trump with a shirt plus the red and yellow cards and suggested that he could use the cards during future meetings with the media.
Trump replied: “That’s very good. I like that! I like that” as he pretended to throw a red card at the gathered contingent in DC.
On the subject of the World Cup, Trump said: “Soccer has come such a long way, I guess you call it football, but over here we call it soccer. Maybe someday they’ll change the name? I’m not sure, we’ll see. It’s working very well either way.
“I want to thank Gianni Infantino for being here – he’s the president of FIFA and a highly respected man.”
Trump continued: “Soccer has to be one of the fastest growing sports in the world and the job you’ve done is really fantastic, Gianni.
“I have to also thank Bob Kraft. He originally called me and said, ‘what do you think about trying to get the World Cup to the United States?’ I said I’d really like it and we got Canada and Mexico involved.
“We’re going to have a great partnership and it’s going to be very special, I look forward to it.
“Let’s see, in 2026 I won’t be here [as president]. Maybe they’ll extend the term? If they don’t extend it the media is going to be very boring, they’ll all be out of business I guess.”
