 "Will Europe boycott the FIFA World Cup over Trump’s Greenland takeover plans? How federations are reacting")
Concerns are rising in Europe over United States’ President Donald Trump’s plan of taking over Greenland and the most popular sports on the continent is not unaffected as tensions rise. Federations across the continent are worried as to how to respond if the situation continues to escalate.
Trump has repeatedly showed interest in taking over Greenland, which is a self-governing territory of Denmark. The American president has not ruled out the use of force if it comes to that in his bid to take control of what is the largest island on the planet.
UEFA members discuss Greenland concerns
On Monday, the Hungarian football federation completed its 125 years and an event was organised to celebrate that. As per a report in the Guardian, talks about the emerging crisis over Greenland were held informally on the sidelines of the event in Budapest where representatives from 20 UEFA members were present.
How the crisis will affect this year’s FIFA World Cup was also a key point of these informal discussions.
The United States is hosting the 2026 FIFA World Cup alongside Mexico and Canada. 78 out of the 104 matches for the June-July event will be taking place in the United States and if the tensions continue to escalate, UEFA will have to take a stand.
Discussions on Monday could not lead to any serious definitive outline of what needs to be done as the federations have adopted a wait-and-watch strategy.
Calls emerge for UEFA members to boycott World Cup
As Trump increases pressure on Europe in his bid to acquire Greenland, some want European countries to use the World Cup as a leverage. The continent is a footballing powerhouse with one-third of the 48 teams qualified for the tournament coming from Europe.
Calls have emerged in countries like England and Germany to boycott the World Cup if Trump’s stance does not change. Fans from other European nations too want their federations to take a stand on the matter.
However, the federations have chosen silence for now as things unfold at diplomatic level. Most federations will be following their government’s stance but all of them are reportedly united in their concern regarding the situation.
The report states that if a bigger association will take a tough stand, other federations will follow the same. As of now, though, things are moving slowly. However, if Trump attempts any military adventure in his bid, things could rapidly escalate.
Trump’s proximity to FIFA chief Gianni Infantino is also creating uneasiness among some members of the global footballing body. This could also emerge out as an issue.
Apart from boycotting the tournament, there is another radical idea that could help UEFA take a confrontational stand against the Trump administration. And that is of the inclusion of Greenland into UEFA.
UEFA’s executive committee will next meet formally in Brussels on 11 February, the day before the governing body’s annual congress. However, the report suggests that the Greenland’s UEFA inclusion is unlikely to be on the agenda at the meeting.
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