Trump kept FIFA Club World Cup trophy for himself – leaving champions Chelsea to lift a replica
President Donald Trump revealed that FIFA officials gave him the Club World Cup trophy ahead of Chelseaโs win in inaugural competitionโs final.
Before the showpiece game at MetLife Stadium, New Jersey, Trump told broadcaster DAZN that he was gifted the trophy, and that it currently sits in the Oval Office.
FIFA President Gianni Infantino visited the White House, along with the trophy, in March.
โThey said, โCould you hold this trophy for a little while?โ We put it in the Oval Office,โ Trump said. โAnd then I said, โWhen are you going to pick up the trophy?โ He says, โWe’re never going to pick it up. You can have it forever in the Oval Office. We’re making a new one.โโ
โAnd they actually made a new one. So that was quite excitingโฆItโs in the Oval right now,โ he added.
This meant that, despite upsetting the odds with their triumph over European champions Paris Saint-Germain, Chelsea had to make do with the replica trophy.
Trump also quipped he โcouldโ write an executive order changing the name of โsoccerโ to โfootball.โ
โThey would call it football, but I guess we call it soccer,โ Trump said, referring to the sportโs name throughout much of the world.
The interviewer asked: โWhat if we make an executive order that we can only say football?โ
โI think we could do that,โ he added. โI think I could do that.โ
Trump grabbed headlines throughout Sundayโs final. He was jeered when he appeared on the stadiumโs screens alongside First Lady Melania Trump, and again when he walked onto the pitch to present medals to the players with Infantino, who confirmed last week that FIFA opened a new office in New York Cityโs Trump Tower.
More confusion was sparked online when the president remained with the Chelsea players on stage as they celebrated, having already handed captain Reece James the trophy.
After the match, players from the English Premier League club admitted they didnโt expect the president to stay with them.
โI knew he was going to be here but I didnโt know he was going to be on the stand when we lifted the trophy. I was a bit confused, yes,โ Cole Palmer, who scored twice in the game, told PA Media.
โThey told me that he was going to present the trophy and then exit the stage, and I thought that he was going to exit the stage, but he wanted to stay,โ captain James added.
