Donald Trump: FIFA would ‘very easily’ move World Cup matches if asked

By Jamie Gardner, PA Chief Sports Reporter

United States president Donald Trump says his FIFA counterpart Gianni Infantino would “very easily” move 2026 World Cup matches away from designated host cities if he asked him to.

Trump also indicated he would seek to move the 2028 Olympic Games away from Los Angeles if he felt the city was not safe.

The US president has previously spoken about moving World Cup matches away from “dangerous” cities, previously naming Seattle and San Francisco.

On Thursday he said there had been “street takeovers” in Boston and claimed FIFA would move matches for next summer’s finals if he asked.

“If somebody is doing a bad job, and if I feel there are unsafe conditions, I would call Gianni, the head of FIFA, who’s phenomenal, and I would say, ‘let’s move it to another location’,” he told reporters in the US on Tuesday.

“And he would do that. He wouldn’t love to do it, but he’d do it very easily.

“He’d do it and this is the right time to do it.

“I could say the same thing for the Olympics. If I thought LA was not going to be prepared properly, I would move it to another location.

“If I had to on that one, I’d probably have to get a different kind of a permission, but we would do that.”

FIFA president Infantino has developed a close relationship with Trump and most recently attended a Middle East peace summit alongside him in Egypt earlier this week.

FIFA vice-president Victor Montagliani said “FIFA makes those decisions” when asked earlier this month about Trump’s original threat to move matches.

Montagliani told Leaders Week London: “With all due respect to current world leaders, football is bigger than them and football will survive their regime and their government and their slogans.”

FIFA and the International Olympic Committee (IOC) have been contacted for comment regarding Trump’s latest remarks.