TRUMP—AND TWO MEANINGS OF THE WORD “PITCH” PART 2

SIMON SKINNER GAVE US AN INFORMATIVE INTRODUCTION to international football with his LRB “ ‘I Wouldn’t Pay It Either’ ” book review of Jonathan Wilson’s The Power and the Glory: A New History of the World Cup. And, wouldn’t you know, things got political. Today in Part 2, Skinner gives us insights of a relationship between two presidents, Trump and Fifa’s Gianni Infantino. I add comments gleaned from Internet sleuthing.

Fifa and Qatar, 2002. Skinner recounts a disturbing tale: “Fifa’s own evaluation acknowledged that since Qatar did not have a single stadium of the required standard, its labour laws would have to be suspended in order to build them. We don’t know exactly how many migrant workers died in Qatar, but Wilson is magnificent in his refusal to put their story below Messi’s [the Argentine star of the event].” 

“ ‘Death was everywhere in Doha,’ Wilson writes. ‘Every building, every apartment block, every hotel, every mall, every stadium was a monument to human suffering.’ In February 2021, it was reported that at least 6500 people from India, Bangladesh, Pakistan, Sri Lanka and Nepal had died in Qatar since 2010, when it was awarded the World Cup, and those figures did not include the many African and Filipino workers.”

Working Conditions. Skinner describes, “In 2013, Anti-Slavery International reported ‘clear proof of the use of systematic forced labour’. When Abdullah Ibhais, a Jordanian media manager for the Supreme Committee for Delivery and Legacy, raised concerns about workers who had no access to drinking water and had not been paid for several months, he was jailed for three years.”

A Foretaste of the 2026 World Cup. Skinner recounts, “Last summer’s Infantino-inflated men’s Club World Cup, held in the U.S., was in some ways a foretaste of the Fifa-MAGA pageant…. Fifa commissioned a blingy 24-carat-gold trophy from Tiffany’s on which his name was engraved as ‘founding president’….”

A POTUS Grab. Skinner describes, “Infantino paraded the CWC trophy at a meeting in the Oval Office before the tournament, but Trump affected to presume that it was a present and kept it—it certainly harmonised with the décor —compelling Fifa hurriedly to commission a copy. On his way to the podium after the final, Trump was caught on camera pocketing one of the winners’ medals he was supposed to hand out; in a moment symbolic of their relationship, Infantino glanced round, smiled awkwardly and gave Trump a thumbs-up.”

A Fifa Peace Prize. “The nadir of his sycophancy,” Skinner observes, “is the Fifa Peace Prize. In October 2025, to Trump’s transparent displeasure, the Nobel Peace Prize was awarded to Venezuela’s María Corina Machado. Three weeks later Fifa announced its own peace prize, plainly so that it could be given to Trump during the World Cup draw in Washington DC in December.”

Skinner continues, “Tom Lehrer commented that when Kissinger was awarded the Nobel Peace Prize, political satire became obsolete. In his instrumentalism and amorality, Infantino was purpose-built to navigate Fifa in a post-satire, post-truth world. But in doing so he has reversed the polarity between the organisation and its political suitors. Havelange and Blatter had a vivid sense of the importance of the fifadom they had built: ‘I can talk to any president, but they will be talking to a president too,’ Havelange said in 1997. ‘They’ve got their power and I’ve got mine: the power of football, which is the greatest power there is.’ ”  

“But,” Skinner contrasts, ‘Infantino, with his Order of Friendship from Putin, children schooled in Qatar and installation as White House poodle, has been lamentably deferential to harder power. Trump has hitherto looked faintly amused during Fifa’s golden showers, but with his poll ratings at an all-time low he may need Infantino.” 

Indeed, the complexities of football gave rise to a know-it-all arrogance on Trump’s part.

A No-Contact Contact Sport. Despite its name, football has plenty of refereed player contact as they tussle for kicking the ball (or booting it with their heads). Levels of infractions include verbal warnings, Yellow Cards, and most serious, Red Cards. Moderating all this chaos makes the referee’s job the hardest on the pitch.

Balogun’s Infraction. In an earlier match, superstar Lionel Messi had a similar encounter—but without carding. This time around, both Balogun and opponent Tarik Muharemovic went down, to an unpracticed eye something that occurs not infrequently on the pitch. The Red Card was subsequently verified by V.A.R. (Video Assistant Referee). Also, both players walked away from the incident.

Hitting the Fan Later. “Congratulations, everyone,” reports Ben Church in “How FIFA Came To Its Controversial Decision on Folarin Balogun,” CNN, July 6, 2026. Church notes, “We made it 24 days without this World Cup having to do much with Donald Trump. Yet this morning, despite all the amazing goals that have been scored and all the dramatic storylines that have been told, the very integrity of the tournament is being questioned because of the apparent actions of one man and his too-close-for-comfort relationship with the FIFA president.”

Trump’s Officiating. In a Live Update, June 6, 2026, The New York Times reports,“President Says He Requested Review That Reinstated U.S. World Player.” The New York Times observes, “On Sunday, FIFA reversed the decision, a remarkable development that has roiled the soccer world and brought renewed scrutiny to the close relationship between Mr. Trump and Mr. Infantino.” 

With considerable irony, Folarin Balogun is a birthright American by virtue of his mother’s pregnancy preventing her flight back home to London in 2001. Today, he’s a professional footballer who plays as a striker for Ligue 1 club Monaco and the United States national team. 

And, to complete the tale, even with Balogun reinstated, Belgium beat the U.S. with an impressive 4-1. As one commentator noted, the U.S. met a better team. Sometimes they rise to beat such a team. Today they didn’t. ds

© Dennis Simanaitis, SimanaitisSays.com, 2026