June 18 – In the most surreal moments of the Club World Cup to date (and there have been a few), FIFA president Gianni Infantino paraded players and management from the Juventus team at the White House while president US Donald Trump was in the midst of a press briefing where he was answering questions about whether the US would be engaging militarily in the Israel/Iran conflict.
Club World Cup, Juventus, FIFA’s big boss and a front row seat at a conflict that could reshape the world and destroy the lives of millions of people – why wouldn’t football be front and centre? Have the Israelis and Iranians now reached the heinous point of the conflict that they are now dropping adidas branded balls on each other? Only Gianni can stop this.
When Trump opened the floor to journalists asking them if they had any questions of the Juve personnel lined up behind him, one of the first questions he received was about Gaza.
A perfect question for the FIFA president who knows a thing or two about how to kick the Palestinian plight out the Middle East and into the Middle Ages.
Eventually when no questions from the assembled journalists – who must have been wondering if they were having an outer body experience – were directed towards the Juve and FIFA global policy making team, Trump turned attention to one of his favourite topics of transgender athletes, prompting an awkward exchange.
“Could a woman make your team, fellas?” he asked. Are they fellas, has anyone checked? Was this a trick question? In response, the players, including American internationals Timothy Weah and Weston McKennie, offered nervous smiles.
In February, Trump signed an executive order to ban transgender girls and women from competing on sports teams that match their gender identity. In his second term, the US president has targeted transgender rights as well as the rights of other minorities.
Trump repeated the question and Juventus’s general manager, Damien Comolli attempted to deflect the query. “We have a very good women’s team,” said Comolli of Juventus Women, the reigning Serie A champions.
“But they should be playing with women,” said Trump. Well, he said they were a women’s team but perhaps Mr Trump would like to try out for the Juve deaf team.
Comolli looked at the floor and chose not to answer. “He’s being very diplomatic,” said Trump. In the current political environment in the US this is a clear warning to make sure your documents are correct or you will get a visit from an ICE team and they won’t be delivering frozen water but will be mandating an all-expenses paid one-way trip to an El Salvadorean resort.
Trump then went back to fielded questions on the ‘Maybe I will, maybe I won’t issue of Iran’.
Tonight Juventus (assuming they are turned out to be fellas) are playing Al Ain of the United Arab Emirates in their tournament opener. The UAE fellas know a thing about transgender sports folk, it is just a load of haram as far as they are concerned. At press time they were 5-0 down to the politically pawned god ol boys of Juventus.
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