Recently, a leader of the international soccer federation known as FIFA seemed to make it clear who could decide whether 2026 World Cup matches should be moved from U.S. cities — and it wasn’t President Donald Trump.
But now, after Trump once again raised the possibility of moving one of the world’s biggest sporting events from a U.S. city due to “unsafe conditions,” this time from Boston, the Switzerland-based FIFA appears to have taken a different position.
A new statement from a FIFA spokesman says that’s “obviously” up to governments to determine, according to a translation of a story posted by Italy’s top press agency, Agenzia Nazionale Stampa Associata.
“We hope that each of the 16 cities designated for the tournament will be ready to successfully host and meet all the necessary requirements,” a FIFA spokesperson told the Italian news agency.
“Security is the top priority at all FIFA events worldwide, but it is obviously the responsibility of governments, who decide what is in the best interest of public safety,” the spokesperson said, seeming to contradict a FIFA vice president, Victor Montagliani.
“It’s FIFA’s tournament, FIFA’s jurisdiction, FIFA makes those decisions,” Montagliani said earlier this month at a conference in London in response to Trump suggesting in September he could relocate World Cup matches, The Guardian reported.
“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,” Montagliani said. “That’s the beauty of our game, that it is bigger than any individual and bigger than any country.”
What Trump said about moving 2026 World Cup matches from Boston
Trump’s latest comments came Tuesday, after he was asked by a reporter about the seven FIFA World Cup soccer — called football outside the U.S. — matches being held in Boston amid tensions with the city’s Democratic mayor, Michelle Wu.
“I love the people of Boston. I know the games are sold out, but your mayor is not good,” the president said, adding he would take action “if somebody is doing a bad job and if I feel there’s unsafe conditions.”
Trump said he would “call Gianni (Infantino), the head of FIFA, who’s phenomenal, and I would say, ‘Let’s move it to another location.’ 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.”
Infantino and Trump have “a deep alliance,” The Associated Press reported in a story about how December’s draw for the 2026 World Cup was set to take place at the Kennedy Center in Washington, D.C.
The upcoming event was described in the story as the “MAGA-FIFA World Cup draw,” by Andrew Giuliani, executive director of the White House FIFA task force, who promised, “just like a great opera, there will be high drama” when the matchups are set for the opening rounds.
News outlets interpreted FIFA’s statement as giving the U.S. president the power to move the upcoming matches in the U.S., also set for Atlanta, Dallas, Houston, Kansas City, Los Angeles, Miami, New Jersey, Philadelphia, Seattle and the San Francisco Bay Area.
“FIFA has acknowledged that the United States government has the final say on determining the safety of World Cup host cities,” ESPN reported Thursday. A Sports Illustrated headline read, “FIFA Sides With Trump Over Its Own Vice President on World Cup Host Cities.”
Could the 2028 Summer Games in LA also be moved by the president?
Trump also suggested he might have to move the 2028 Summer Games from Los Angeles, where his administration has sent National Guard troops and clashed with Democratic leaders, including California Gov. Gavin Newsom.
But the International Olympic Committee has expressed confidence that won’t happen.
The LA Games “have the full support of the President of the United States, the Governor of California and the Mayor of Los Angeles,” an IOC spokesperson said in a statement to the Deseret News.
“All of them are being extremely helpful in the preparations for these Games. This is mirrored on the operational level of the administration. There are three years to go, and we are confident that LA28 will be great Olympic Games,” the statement concluded.
Like Utah’s 2034 Winter Games, the IOC has a host contract with LA. Trump said Tuesday that to move the LA 2028 Games, he’d “probably have to get a different kind of a permission, but we would do that.”