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European football’s leaders are increasingly concerned about Donald Trump’s wish to annex Greenland and have held initial discussions about how the sport could respond.
The Guardian understands the implications for this summer’s World Cup were among the topics raised among about 20 football association heads in Budapest on Monday. Talks about the Greenland crisis were held informally on the sidelines of an event organised to celebrate the Hungarian football federation’s 150th anniversary, in the knowledge that a unified European response may be required should Trump seek to escalate the situation.
Football’s authorities have been reluctant to offer public responses to a fast-moving situation that threatens the territory of Denmark, a Uefa member. But the demand for a reaction will intensify if Trump does not back down, particularly as the US will host 78 of the World Cup’s 104 games in June and July.
Some senior figures believe military aggression to take Greenland, which Trump has refused to rule out, would be the tipping point for a Uefa-led boycott or other major steps in protest at the US administration.
Fifa’s leadership, who have forged close ties with Trump’s government, are thought to deem such a development unlikely at this point. Calls for a boycott have reared up in recent days, the German politician Jürgen Hardt recently suggesting it would be a last-resort option and a petition in the Netherlands nearing 90,000 signatories by Tuesday evening.
Those present in Budapest are understood to have been united by deep concern about Trump’s actions, to an extent not previously seen during his presidency. There is a recognition that this is a critical moment for Europe’s security and broader future. The majority of football federations are likely to be guided by their governments’ responses to events around Greenland, although some sources have pondered how a more proactive approach would work. There is a sense that, should one of the continent’s bigger FAs make a stand, others would follow.
Discussions are likely to continue, although no definitive steps emerged from the talks, with the situation fast-moving. Uefa’s executive committee will next meet formally in Brussels on 11 February, the day before the governing body’s annual congress.
One item unlikely to be on the agenda next month is a dramatic acceptance to Uefa of Greenland, which is not a member of any confederation. The territory’s longstanding ambition to join was thwarted by a statute change in 2013 that forbade the acceptance of non-independent regions, but a fresh alteration has not been considered at this point. Greenland remains isolated in football terms after Concacaf, the confederation for North, Central America and the Caribbean, rejected an application to join last year.
The Guardian reported on Sunday that Fifa insiders feel a growing sense of embarrassment over the “peace prize” presented by Gianni Infantino to Trump in December. Fifa said in response that it stood by the award and noted “the 2025 Nobel Peace Prize recipient [the Venezuelan opposition leader, María Corina Machado] has given her medal to President Trump”.
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