Jules Boykoff, professor of political science at Pacific University in Oregon and former professional soccer player, has published the book Red Card: The 2026 World Cup, Sportswashing, and the FIFA Greed Machine (Red card: The 2026 World Cup, sportswashing and the FIFA greed machine, in Spanish).
It talks about How world leaders use sport to whitewash their own image. The book focuses on the celebration of the , which takes place mainly in the US (although matches are also played in Mexico and Canada).
The political scientist assures that, as happened in the Club World Cup held last summer, the president of the United States, He is going to use the sporting event to try to raise his popularity and divert attention from uncomfortable issues like the Iran war or the Epstein papers.
“If we talk about President Donald Trump trying to use the event to wash his image through sports, we would start with what you are trying to divert attention from. We have your current dismal approval ratings. We have the war against Iran with Israel, which is failing miserably in achieving its objectives. There are the persistent Epstein filesin which he is mentioned thousands of times. “The list is endless.”Jules Boykoff said in an interview in the American magazine .
According to the expert, Trump “needs to take advantage of this opportunity to project an important image on the world stage, especially to the national public ahead of the midterm elections. And let’s face it, “President Donald Trump has used sports for his political benefit more than any other president in the country’s recent history.”
“It should not surprise us that he talks about the importance of this World Cup for his presidency. He will talk about the UFC event that will take place three days after the start of the World Cup on the lawn of the White House. AND “Then he will talk about the 2028 Los Angeles Olympic Games.”Boykoff highlighted.
