Corruption makes sport worse, too

The OAFPOTUS's unprecedented corruption has self-evidently made life worse for almost everyone in the world (except, notably, the Chinese), and his neck-deep involvement with the Fédération Internationale de Football Association (FIFA) president Gianni Infantino, a man almost as corrupt as he, has made the upcoming World Cup worse, too:

Trump and Infantino are two peas in a rotten pod: They’re both greedy, corrupt international leaders who lie to get what they want, flout the rules, and gouge everyday people. It’s no surprise, then, that their respective domains have come to resemble each other, too. Ostensibly a celebration of global diversity, harmony, and sport, the 2026 World Cup under Infantino has become a lot like the U.S. under Trump: chaotic, divisive, and increasingly derailed by scandal and conflict. What deeper level of hell awaits us when these two forces converge in June?

Infantino is fond of describing the World Cup in messianic terms. The tournament, he said in 2024, “is a unique catalyst ... for positive social change and unity.” In New Jersey, at least, the tournament is proving to be exactly the opposite. The state reportedly is going to charge World Cup fans close to $150 for the 15-minute train ride from Penn Station in Manhattan to MetLife Stadium in East Rutherford, New Jersey—a trip usually costs $12.90. But this is not a case of a blue state trying to get rich off of World Cup fans. Rather, New Jersey is just trying to cover the onerous cost of hosting eight of the tournament’s matches.

For Infantino and FIFA, it is a once-in-a-lifetime chance to rake in a fortune, as the tournament may never be held in such an unrestrained cesspool of capitalism again. But what does everyone else get out of it?

Americans are increasingly asking that question—but not Infantino and Trump. That question simply never has occurred to them.

Here's an imponderable for you: which is more corrupt, FIFA, or the International Olympic Committee?