Trump tweet wasn’t just some random tweet last week, much to the chagrin of us soccer journalist
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Insider: USA's Joint World Cup Bid Likes Trump's Backing; Real Madrid Not Convinced by Salah
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GRANT WAHLWednesday May 2nd, 2018
President Donald Trump issued a tweet last week supporting the North American World Cup 2026 bid and threatening countries that don't vote for it. But if you think the unified bid had to do damage control afterward, a high-ranking bid official says that is not the case.
Officials from all the North American bid countries are traveling internationally this week, and they say the response to Trump's tweet from voting countries has been positive, because it shows that the White House wants to host the World Cup and will work with FIFA's requirements on allowing visas to foreigners coming to the U.S. for the tournament. While the official said they would prefer Trump not threaten other countries, they like the fact that he’s engaged and that he brought up the World Cup bid in Monday's press conference with the Nigerian head of state.
Trump’s tweet came after U.S. Soccer president Carlos Cordeiro and other bid officials met last week at the White House with officials, including Jared Kushner. FIFA also issued a warning regarding the use of political influence in the bidding process, though did not mention Trump by name.
Elsewhere around the soccer world:
Real Madrid not entirely convinced by Salah
I recently reported that a top Real Madrid source said Mohamed Salah would not be going to Madrid this summer. Part of the reasoning, I'm now told, is that while Madrid is intrigued by Salah, there are still some questions being asked at the club on whether Salah is having a career year that might not be repeatable—and whether Salah might be less like Lionel Messi and more like Riyad Mahrez during his career season for Leicester City when it won the title.
The sense inside Real Madrid right now is that it would like to see Salah do this again next year if if the club is going to commit in the range of $200 million on a transfer for him.
