Staged just a mile from the White House, this is a World Cup draw with a distinctly political feel.
The glittering ceremony is at the Kennedy Center, the famous Washington arts venue now chaired by US President Donald Trump after he overhauled its board this year.
Alongside stars from football, US sports and show business, Trump was in attendance, as will the leaders of the other two co-hosts – Mexico’s President Claudia Sheinbaum and Canada’s Prime Minister Mark Carney.
Proceedings, however, seem to have been planned with the US president very much in mind.
Seventies group Village People were booked to play YMCA, a Trump favourite that is regularly heard at his campaign rallies. And, in a break with tradition, the draw ceremony featured the awarding of a new Fifa Peace Prize.
Such gestures will only underline the alliance forged between the US president and Fifa’s Infantino, who announced the award last month, saying that Trump deserved to win the Nobel Peace Prize for his contribution to the Israel-Gaza ceasefire, and enthusiastically praising his policies.
For critics, such moves are a threat to Fifa’s commitment to political neutrality, one enshrined in its statutes, and risk turning the draw – and the tournament itself – into propaganda tools.
Those critics believe Infantino and Trump are effectively too close for comfort, and that it sends a message that world football’s governing body is aligning with the Make America Great Again (Maga) movement, and endorsing what many feel is a divisive administration.
Asked about the new peace award, amid reports that the Fifa Council was not consulted about it, one senior official at the governing body told BBC Sport: “Why can’t this be bigger than the Nobel Peace Prize? Football has huge global support, so it’s right that it recognises extraordinary efforts to bring about peace every year.”
They pointed to the fact that in 2019 there was no such controversy when Fifa gave the president of Argentina an award to honour his contribution to football, and said the organisation deserves praise for endorsing peace in a divided world.
You can read the full piece from Dan Roan here.
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