The term “sportswashing” refers to politicians and governments trying to use athletic events to improve their tarnished reputations. Although the term emerged during the 2010s, the idea existed long before that: When Italy hosted the 1934 FIFA World Cup, fascist dictator Benito Mussolini, a.k.a. Il Duce, tried to use the event for his own political gain.
In a biting article published by the London-based iPaper on July 31, sports reporter James Gray stresses that U.S. President Donald Trump could face a backlash if he tries to use either the 2026 FIFA World Cup in Philadelphia or the 2028 Olympics in Los Angeles to promote himself and engage in “sportswashing.”
“Before the next election,” Gray explains, “Trump’s America will host the two biggest sport events in the world: the World Cup in 2026 and the Los Angeles Olympics in 2028. And those will not be the first time Trump has waded into sporting matters for political capital…. The U.S. will not win the World Cup. No one, not even Trump, believes that. But Trump will hope he can win the World Cup. And with his approval rating in the U.S. reaching its lowest ever ebb, he needs a win.”
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Dr. Jules Boykoff, a political science professor and former professional soccer player, told the iPaper that if Trump tries to use the World Cup or the Olympics for his own political purposes, that “fits squarely within the definition of sportswashing.”
Boykoff argued, “If sportswashing is when leaders use sports and sports mega-events to try to deflect attention from domestic social problems while trying to burnish their reputation on the world stage and thereby legitimizing themselves in the public eye, then yeah, sure. It looks like it to me. In fact, I would say that’s one of the blind spots of a lot of the discussions around sportswashing, is that it is easy to waggle a finger at them (other countries) and not point a finger back at ourselves.”
Gray notes fears that Trump will use “the World Cup and the Olympics to overthrow the (U.S.) Constitution and run for an unprecedented third term.”
Dr. Andrei Markovits, a political science professor at the University of Michigan, told iPaper, “Trump is a guy — and this is an immense advantage — who has no shame. Ignorance is not shameful. Incompetence is not shameful. Saying outrageous things is not shameful. He’s not worried about missteps that are not costly to him. The World Cup, there’s zero downside to it. Shy of punching Lionel Messi or something, there is nothing that he can do that really would harm him.”
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Markovits noted, however, that some MAGA Republicans might be offended if Trump loudly promotes the World Cup.
Although soccer is the most popular sport in the world — from Argentina to Scotland to France to the Netherlands — some far-right pundits attack it as an expression of identity politics. Author Ann Coulter and Fox News’ Sean Hannity are known for their anti-soccer statements.
Markovits told the iPaper, “Trump identifies with Joe Six Pack, who hates soccer and sees it as a completely sissy sport. Soccer’s existence in the United States is bifurcated. Yes, it’s Latino, which, of course, Trump hates. But it’s also upper middle-class white.”
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Read the full iPaper article at this link.