The Unholy Alliance: Football Meets Power Politics
This week witnessed one of the most bizarre intersections of sport and politics in recent memory, as Donald Trump hosted a state dinner at the White House featuring football superstar Cristiano Ronaldo and Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman. The event, which also included FIFA president Gianni Infantino, represented a stark fusion of sporting celebrity and geopolitical power brokering that has left many observers deeply concerned about football's increasing politicisation.
A Gallery of Bizarre Imagery
The photographs from the event circulated rapidly across social media, each more surreal than the last. One showed Ronaldo, dressed entirely in black, laughing uproariously while walking with Trump through the halls of power, creating an image reminiscent of a genuinely cheerful ninja. Another captured Ronaldo and his partner Georgina Rodríguez flanking a broadly smiling Trump in the Oval Office, holding what appeared to be a large heraldic key as if receiving some peculiar honour.
The dinner itself presented even stranger visuals, with footage revealing an atmosphere so thick and unusual that one journalist described it as the kind of room where you might discover your chair is made of human fingernails. Trump's hair attracted particular attention, having evolved from its previous flat orange hat appearance into a full 1980s newsreader bouffant, so heavily sprayed it resembled gauze more than human hair.
The Significance Behind the Spectacle
This was far more than just a celebrity photo opportunity. The event marked a significant reset of US-Saudi relations and provided executive benediction for two controversial figures returning to American favour. For Ronaldo, this represented his first high-profile appearance in the United States since 2017 allegations of sexual assault emerged - claims he denies and which have never been proven. His absence from the American market has reportedly cost his brand millions, making this rehabilitation particularly valuable with a pension-pot World Cup looming in 2026.
For Mohammed bin Salman, the visit constituted his first to the US since American intelligence services accused him of complicity in the murder of journalist Jamal Khashoggi. Trump casually exonerated the Crown Prince during the event, telling journalists He knew nothing about it in an offhand remark. The timing proved fortuitous, as Trump also announced that Saudi Arabia would be investing $1 trillion in the United States.
The gathering represented a remarkable convergence of controversial figures: a man previously accused of complicity in murder, another previously accused of sexual assault, and the most indicted president in American history, all discussing love and peace while being legitimised by football's presence.
Football's Compromised Position
FIFA president Gianni Infantino's repeated appearances throughout the event raised serious questions about football administration's proper role. Described as looking like a vampire who does card tricks, Infantino seemed to display hints of impostor syndrome - perhaps appropriately, given he was essentially pretending to be a disinterested administrator while facilitating this political spectacle.
The implications for next year's World Cup are particularly concerning. The day before the Ronaldo dinner, Infantino sat nodding along while Trump discussed moving World Cup matches from cities governed by his political opponents and even threatened to bomb FIFA's co-host Mexico. This suggests the 2026 tournament risks becoming a projector screen for Trump's divisive politics and power plays with fellow autocrats.
Many commentators now argue that the US World Cup represents a level of political cynicism matching or exceeding that of tournaments in Qatar and Russia, with the added complication that the United States continues to present itself as the world's leading liberal democracy.
The Moral Cost of Sporting Celebrity
For Ronaldo, this event represents a convincing nadir, confirming the moral emptiness of his carefully constructed persona. Despite his alpha-dog styling and claims of physical perfection, his behaviour appears fundamentally invertebrate - perfecting his form and fame primarily to polish the boots of power.
His role as hype man for Mohammed bin Salman's travelling court represents perhaps the greatest one-man act of multiple regime-washing yet devised. The footballer's enormous influence among young men online is being entirely co-opted to sanitise controversial regimes and relationships.
Meanwhile, FIFA's dog-like devotion to Trump constitutes a fundamental breach of its duty of care. As a supposedly non-political organisation tasked with administering football globally, it has no mandate to use the sport's popularity to endorse political movements or be present during discussions of arms sales and nuclear cooperation.
As one journalist noted, while we don't have to abandon the World Cup itself, we can and should reject those who have weaponised it for political purposes. The challenge now is to demand better from the institutions and individuals who control the world's most popular sport.
