Los Angeles will forever be known as a place that blurs fact and fiction. This can only be described as surreal, making him the perfect host for a sports movie that will be released on the big screen tomorrow.
Forget the idea that sports and politics should never mix. Because the World Cup showdown between Iran and New Zealand represents a concept that is difficult for even the most twisted imagination to conceive. Soccer and war come into direct conflict.
Billions of people around the world will be holding their breath in anticipation of a remarkable and historic event. And one of them would be Gianni Infantino.
Because he knows that FIFA’s slogan, “Football unites the world,” faces the greatest threat in history of being thrown into America’s trash can.
Iran will be the first team in history to play on land belonging to the host nation at war.
Let’s calculate this. Never before has a football match been played against a background that completely and thoroughly mocks the stupid message of unity that FIFA President Infantino continues to promote.
Welcome to La La Land.
The fragile ceasefire between Iran and the United States is struggling to hold. Hostilities have escalated since US President Donald Trump declared a conflict with Iran about four months ago. This incident resulted in the innocent deaths of more than 7,000 people, including women and children.
Iran national team begins its World Cup campaign on Tuesday (Image: Anadolu via Getty Images)
In response, Iran has launched attacks on several neighboring countries, some of which are also participating in this World Cup.
But despite all the death and destruction, the Iranian national team finds itself preparing to embark on a World Cup campaign that promises to continue to captivate the planet.
Whatever obstacles Mr. Trump and Mr. Infantino’s despicable duplicity posed in Iran’s path appear to have been overcome.
Iran has switched its training base from the United States to Mexico, with hundreds of armed police and barbed wire on either side of the Tijuana camp.
The team must arrive in Los Angeles for the game and return to Mexico immediately thereafter. The same pattern will be repeated for the other two group games in Los Angeles and Seattle, eliminating the need for an overnight stay in the United States. Backstage staff will not be allowed to travel.
President Trump gave an update on the war on Sunday night (Image: AFP, Getty Images)
President Trump has made it clear that he does not want Iran to participate in the games. He even suggested that Iran is not safe. But the team and coaching staff turned against him, even though Iran’s participation was not confirmed until last week, when a U.S. visa was finally issued.
However, several officials, including Mehdi Taj, the president of Iran’s football governing body, have been refused entry due to their ties to various political groups.
Taj remained defiant, insisting that Iran was in the World Cup because it deserved to be there. “Our host is FIFA, not Trump or America,” he said.
Meanwhile, Iran claims to be ready for kickoff, but that is hard to imagine.
Caught in this crossfire of unfathomable madness and mayhem are the Kiwis, Belgium and Egypt. You can become a pawn in a sports environment like no other.
In summary, this is the first World Cup in which a host country committed a war crime against a participating country, resulting in bombing of another participating country.
And to think that Infantino had a dream of hosting a politically free World Cup.
Instead, he has now tied himself to the most politically incendiary thing ever.
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