Brace yourselves, as details of the World Cup draw will take 48 hours to emerge and US President Donald Trump will be in control.
FIFA described the World Cup draw in Washington DC as a “thrilling milestone” on the road to the finals. But it feels more like a road full of potential potholes and dead ends.
And that was before US President Donald Trump showed up to take over the event. It made me think about him all the same as I did at the Ryder Cup in New York in September.
At least back then, only two teams had to deal with Trump’s overwhelming presence. This time around, 48 teams will be represented, but six countries still have to book their place in the tournament. One of the countries that will not participate in the lottery at the John F. Kennedy Center will be Iran.
U.S. immigration authorities have not issued visas to representatives of some eligible countries, such as Iran. Only four visas have been issued to the delegation, including one for Iranian Football Federation president Mehdi Taj.
Taj appealed to FIFA president Gianni Infantino to intervene, but the result remained unchanged and Iran plans to boycott the tournament, accusing it of being “politicized”.
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Rio Ferdinand will be in charge of the draw, with NFL icon Tom Brady among his “assistants.” Those who do show up will at least know what group they’re in and who they’ll be up against.
But competing countries will have to wait at least another 24 hours before they can begin serious plans. This is because, for the first time in World Cup history, the venues and kickoff times for all 104 games will not be announced on the day of the draw.
The full schedule will be announced at 5pm GMT on Saturday, and Infantino will take the opportunity to share the stage with FIFA legends.
It will be at this point that the likes of England manager Thomas Tuchel will find out when and in which time zone they will be staying. This feels ironic, considering Infantino and FIFA’s merry men appear to be in completely different time zones.
Then there’s the possibility of someone’s favorite team’s route. Something that looks more complicated and contrived than Chancellor Rachel Reeves’ budget.
All we know is that FIFA wants to take the top four teams, including England, to the semi-finals. Good luck for the knockout stage after that. Just don’t install the wall map yet.
FIFA said: “For Pots 2, 3 and 4 (Pot 1 is already allocated to 12 teams), the group position of each team will be determined according to a predefined allocation pattern.”
“This pattern is detailed in the table included in the drawing procedure document. The ranking of teams within a group is determined by the pot drawn and the group drawn.”
It’s as transparent as mud, right?
Once the tournament is over, there is a good chance that the reputation of this tournament will be affected. Because it feels like the perfect sports storm is brewing.
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