Kamal Ghorui
France’s sports minister on Tuesday said the country’s government is not considering, as of now, a boycott of the 2026 football World Cup in the United States, despite rising political tensions linked to US President Donald Trump’s remarks on Greenland.“At the moment we are speaking, there is no desire from the ministry to boycott this major, much-anticipated competition,” sports minister Marina Ferrari told reporters, as cited by news agency Associated Press.“That said, I am not prejudging what might happen.”Ferrari said she wants sport to remain separate from politics.“The 2026 World Cup is an extremely important moment for all sports lovers,” she said.The men’s World Cup is scheduled to begin in June and will be jointly hosted by the United States, Canada and Mexico. However, tensions have grown after Trump expressed interest in taking control of Greenland, a territory linked to Denmark, which is a Nato ally. The remarks have raised concerns about relations between the US and European countries.In France, left-wing lawmaker Eric Coquerel said the idea of a boycott should be discussed.“Seriously, can we really imagine going to play the footie World Cup in a country that attacks its neighbors,’ threatens to invade Greenland, undermines international law, wants to torpedo the UN,” he wrote in a social media post.“The question seriously arises, especially since it is still possible to refocus the event on Mexico and Canada,” he added.France, who won the men’s World Cup in 1998 and 2018, finished runners-up in the 2022 tournament after losing the final to Argentina.
