President Donald Trump would look to move matches for the 2026 World Cup if he deems any of the US cities planning to serve as hosts to be unsafe.
Speaking Thursday about the event, which will be co-hosted by the US, Canada and Mexico from June 11 to July 19, Trump was asked by reporters in the Oval Office specifically about games in Seattle and San Francisco.
“Well, that’s an interesting question ... but we’re going to make sure they’re safe,” he said. “ run by radical left lunatics who don’t know what they’re doing.”
Six matches are scheduled to be played at Seattle’s Lumen Field and six are set for Levi’s Stadium in Santa Clara, California, about an hour’s drive from San Francisco.
World Cup matters are overseen by FIFA, which determined the game sites and would figure to be in charge of any changes. However, Trump has a close working relationship with FIFA president Gianni Infantino.
Trump cited his policies as helping make the country safer ahead of the World Cup. He sent the National Guard into Washington, D.C., last month to deal with what he called a “crime emergency,” and he subsequently said that the move resulted in the city having “no crime.”
He said Thursday, “As you probably know, we’re going into Memphis and we’re going into some other cities. Very soon we’re going into Chicago. It will be safe for the World Cup. If I think it isn’t safe, we’ll move into a different city, absolutely. It’s actually a very fair question.
“If I think it’s not safe, we’re going to move it out of that city. So if any city we think is going to be even a little bit dangerous for the World Cup, or for the Olympics, you know where they have Olympic overthrow right, but for the World Cup in particular, because they’re playing in so many cities, we won’t allow it. We’ll move it around a little bit. But I hope that’s not going to happen.”
The draw for the World Cup, which will feature 48 teams, is scheduled for Dec. 5 in Washington, D.C.
Trump: World Cup games will be moved if host cities aren’t ‘safe’
https://arab.news/g9s8r
Trump: World Cup games will be moved if host cities aren’t ‘safe’
Riyadh derby ends in 5-3 thriller as Al-Hilal return to winning ways
- Al-Hilal remain unbeaten after 24 games but sit third on 58 points — one behind leaders Al-Ahli
RIYADH: It was a night to forget for Ali Al-Bulayhi. Loaned to Al-Shabab this winter after nine years at Al-Hilal, his first game against his parent club turned into a nightmare.
Matchday 24 of the Saudi Pro League resumed at the SHG Arena with one of Riyadh’s most entertaining derbies — Al-Hilal vs Al-Shabab. While clashes with Al-Nassr attract greater anticipation, the history between Al-Hilal and Al-Shabab runs deep.
In the inaugural 2008/09 Saudi Pro League season, Al-Shabab held Al-Hilal to a dramatic 1-1 draw, with both sides scoring in stoppage time before chaos erupted. The result handed Al-Ittihad the edge in the title race, which they converted into the league crown. Al-Shabab later thrashed Al-Hilal in the King’s Cup semi-finals en route to lifting the trophy.
The landscape today looks very different. Al-Shabab have flirted with relegation for much of the season, while Al-Hilal, despite remaining in the title race, slipped to third after a poor run of form.
Yet form often counts for little in derby matches. Al-Shabab pushed Al-Nassr close in a 3-2 defeat in January before falling 5-2 to Al-Ahli a month later. For all their defensive frailties, the pairing of Yannick Carrasco and Abderrazzaq Hamed-allah remains dangerous.
It was no surprise, then, when Al-Shabab took the lead after 13 minutes. Al-Hilal’s defensive vulnerabilities were exposed as Carrasco and Saad Yaslam combined down the left, allowing Josh Brownhill a free strike inside the box that he drilled past Yassine Bounou.
With Malcom and Salem Al-Dawsari rested by Simone Inzaghi in favour of Saimon Bouabré and Sultan Mandash — and Karim Benzema absent — belief briefly grew that this could be Al-Shabab’s night.
The momentum shifted quickly. In the 19th minute, Al-Bulayhi misjudged a header from a long throw, and Mohammed Kanno pounced to volley home the equalizer past Marcelo Grohe.
More misfortune followed for the defender in the 31st minute. A cross from Sergej Milinkovic-Savic appeared routine for Grohe but was inadvertently turned into his own net by Al-Bulayhi.
Al-Shabab responded before the break. On the stroke of half-time, Carrasco released Hamed-allah into the same channel Brownhill had exploited, and the Moroccan forward turned past Kalidou Koulibaly before finishing to level the match.
The parallels continued. Both of Al-Shabab’s goals came from near-identical positions, while Al-Hilal’s third arrived in equally chaotic fashion. Another long throw caused havoc in first-half stoppage time, and Koulibaly redeemed his earlier error by forcing the ball home after a poor goal-line clearance from Al-Bulayhi.
From there, Al-Hilal took control. Winter signing Sultan Mandash made his mark three minutes into the second half, meeting Kanno’s cross with a superb first-time trivela finish to make it 4-2. Minutes later, he turned provider, setting up Marcos Leonardo for a composed fifth.
Still, Al-Shabab refused to fade. In the 75th minute, Yacine Adli’s driven cross evaded everyone and crept past Bounou to reduce the deficit to 5-3.
The visitors pushed for an unlikely comeback, but Al-Hilal held firm to secure victory, much to the relief of their supporters after dropping points in their previous two matches.
Elsewhere, Al-Ittihad continued their revival in a turbulent campaign with a 1-0 win over Al-Khaleej. Danilo Pereira scored the decisive goal, tapping in from a Mahamadou Doumbia corner.
In Qassim, Al-Ettifaq travelled to face Al-Hazem as favourites and took an early lead through Koka. However, Abdulbasit Hindi handled on the line in the 17th minute — echoing Luis Suarez’s infamous intervention against Ghana at the 2010 FIFA World Cup — and was sent off.
Yousef Al-Shammari converted the resulting penalty before Fabio Martins produced a stunning long-range header that could contend for the Puskas Award. Martins later assisted Aboubacar Bah for Al-Hazem’s third in a memorable victory.
Saudi Pro League action resumes on Saturday with four matches kicking off at 10pm: Al-Fayha host Al-Nassr, Al-Najma face Al-Okhdood, Al-Qadsiah take on Al-Taawoun, and NEOM meet Al-Kholood.
