Is Donald Trump now the most influential man in football? Yes, really

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In the hours before the World Cup draw, those with knowledge of the planning were openly wondering whether Donald Trump might arrive with a little extra pageantry. The great question is whether he’ll do or say something typically eye-catching. You only have to consider the last time Trump was so central to a football event – his remarkable appearance on the podium at the Club World Cup final. It’s fair to say the response from those around him was mixed.

Sources say Reece James, Chelsea’s winning captain, was baffled by the whole thing. Marc Cucurella, meanwhile, thought it was hilarious. When one player wanted a selfie, though, a teammate pushed back, saying it would be inappropriate and beginning to point to Trump’s views.

That might be seen as a surprisingly politicised stance for a modern player, but perhaps that’s inevitable when the game itself is so politicised.

You won’t have a more vivid illustration of this political theatre than at the Kennedy Center in Washington DC on Friday.

Trump will also enjoy a much more effusive reception. The current Fifa hierarchy, it seems, wouldn’t have it any other way. Trump is widely expected to be given the body’s inaugural peace prize, in another grand show of the strengthening links between Trump and football “counterpart” Gianni Infantino.

It perhaps says much about the relationship, as well as how Fifa functions, that many of its senior figures – right up to some on its Council – had no idea about the very creation of the prize until its press release. Many still had little idea how any of this would actually work on the night before the draw.

This is how a lot of modern Fifa operates, with much of the preparation for its main event now shaped around Trump.

That perhaps shouldn’t be a surprise – and not just because of how supine Infantino’s approach has been.

There is actually a strong argument that Trump is currently the most influential figure in the modern game...

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