Donald Trump is expected to feature prominently at the next soccer World Cup and Olympics. Both are held in the United States.
Donald Trump returns to the US presidency in January. Trump’s presidency may have its own consequences for the sports world. BBC has gone through the possible effects.
During Trump’s term, the 2026 FIFA World Cup and the 2028 Summer Olympics will be held in the United States. Trump is expected to be prominently featured in both.
Football World Cup
Trump has promised deports undocumented immigrants and continues to build a wall on the Mexico-US border. Such a policy increases tensions with Mexico, which is one of the organizers of the World Cup with the USA and Canada.
It can also cause concern among fans who travel from one country to another, the BBC writes.
Trump has also promised to reintroduce the ban on people from Muslim countries. However, he has promised the International Football Association Fifa that fans of the countries playing in the World Cup would be allowed to enter the country.
Trans athletes and women’s sports
Trump has promised to ban transgender athletes from competing in women’s leagues. He raised the issue strongly during his campaign, also in TV commercials.
Here, he may be on a collision course with the International Olympic Committee during the 2028 Olympics. The IOC allows the sports federations to choose their own approach to the matter.
Trump has also mocked an Algerian boxer Imane Khelifiawho won Olympic gold in Paris. Khelif got into the middle of a huge uproar at the Olympics. She was disqualified from the 2023 World Cup because she did not meet the eligibility requirements for the women’s competition.
According to the International Boxing Association IBA, which organized the World Championships, she had a competitive advantage compared to other women. In other words, her gender was in doubt.
However, Khelif was able to participate in the Olympics, which are organized by the International Olympic Committee. The IOC condemned the criticism of Khelif and said she can compete in the women’s division. Khelif has always said he was born a woman.
Concerns about human rights
The BBC also highlights how sporting events have been organized in Saudi Arabia and Qatar, where human rights are at a low level. Western countries have talked about “sports washing”, where they try to improve the image of the countries with the help of sports.
These countries have accused the West of hypocrisy. Could these claims be confirmed by Trump’s return to power? Trump is accused of several crimes and his opponents have called him a threat to democracy.
Combining golf tours
The merger of golf’s Saudi-funded LIV Tour and the American PGA Tour has already been talked about since the summer of 2023. However, the merger has been frozen.
Now a superstar Rory McIlroy has hoped that Trump would arrange the matter. Trump is known to be an avid golfer. In addition, he has close connections to Saudi Arabia and the LIV tour’s competitions have been played on fields owned by Trump.
McIlroy also appealed to the fact that Trump’s supporter is the richest person in the world Elon Musk.
Russia’s position in sports
Trump’s opponents have accused him of being on good terms with the Russian president Vladimir Putin with. Russia is currently largely banned from sports due to its war of aggression against Ukraine.
The BBC asks if Trump could pressure international sports organizations to include Russia again?
On the other hand, Trump has said he can end the war. If he managed to do that, Russia could also get back to sporting events that way.
The politicization of US sports
In Trump’s first term, sports and politics often collided.
NFL players kneeled during the US national anthem to protest racism and police brutality. The protests were started by the San Francisco 49ers Colin Kaepernick. Trump accused the players of a lack of patriotism.
Many other athletes such as basketball players LeBron James and Stephen Curry and a football player Megan Rapinoe criticized Trump. Some championship teams refused to go to the White House.
However of the Guardian according to 95 percent of the donations made by sports teams and leagues in recent years’ elections have gone to Republicans.