Washington, Oct 6: The plan started coming together inside a luxury box at MetLife Stadium.
As the Premier League’s Chelsea was on its way to a shutout victory at the Club World Cup final in July, President Donald Trump and FIFA President Gianni Infantino were deep in discussion at the New Jersey sports complex outside New York City on another matter: where the draw for next year’s World Cup would be held.The high-drama spectacle decides which teams will face each other in the group stage of soccer’s most prestigious tournament, along with the schedule for competition. It was widely expected to unfold in Las Vegas, home to the 1994 draw when the US last hosted the World Cup and a natural backdrop for glitz. But since at least March, officials had privately discussed bringing the draw to Washington, home to a showman president who regularly hugs the spotlight associated with sports.So during that July match in the stadium that will also host the final game of next year’s World Cup, Trump and Infantino agreed to get going on holding the draw in the U.S. capital – namely, the Kennedy Center, another institution.“During that Club World Cup final, there was a real seriousness to well, look, if we’re going to do this, we’ve got to do it now,” Andrew Giuliani, executive director of the White House FIFA task force, told The Associated Press. “That’s when talks heated up between the president and Mr. Infantino in terms of getting this done.”
The collaboration over the draw, slated for Dec. 5, illustrates the bond that has formed between Trump and Infantino, described by the US president as “probably the most respected man in sports.” (AP)
