Move comes amidst recent incidents in Boston involving pro-Palestinian protests and street takeovers
US President Donald Trump has indicated he might push for the relocation of 2026 World Cup matches scheduled for the Boston area, citing “unsafe conditions” and criticising Mayor Michelle Wu’s handling of unrest in the city.
During a media event with Argentina’s president, Trump said “Boston better clean up their act” or football’s biggest event would be taken away from them.
“We could take them away,” said Trump. “I love the people of Boston, and I know the games are sold out. But your mayor is not good.”
He added that parts of Boston were being “taken over”, though he did not elaborate on the exact locations or incidents.
However, the comments come amidst recent incidents in Boston involving pro-Palestinian protests and street takeovers. One such event saw over 100 people gather late at night, resulting in damage and confrontations with police.
World Cup games are due to be held at Gillette Stadium in Foxborough, Massachusetts, about 22 miles southwest of Boston.
“If someone is doing a bad job, and I feel there’s unsafe conditions, I would call Gianni [Infantino], the head of Fifa, who is phenomenal, and say let’s move it to another location,” Trump said.
“And he would do that. He wouldn’t love to do it, but he’d do it. Very easily, he’d do it.”
Trump and Fifa president Gianni Infantino are close allies. Trump has previously suggested he could leverage this relationship to move matches from cities he is unhappy with, those he considers “even a little bit dangerous for the World Cup”.
Seattle and San Francisco were two cities he discussed, describing them as “run by radical left lunatics who don’t know what they’re doing”. Both cities are due to stage six games each.
However, a leading figure in Fifa rejected the US president’s claims that he could have the matches moved, insisting that match locations are not subject to political direction.
Victor Montagliani, Fifa vice-president, said: “It’s Fifa’s tournament, Fifa’s jurisdiction; Fifa makes those decisions.
“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.
“That’s the beauty of our game, is that it is bigger than any individual and bigger than any country.”
