Donald Trump known as for renaming American soccer so soccer might reclaim the “football” title throughout a FIFA occasion.

Donald Trump used his second on the FIFA World Cup attract Washington, D.C. on Friday to drift a wild concept: rebranding American soccer so soccer can formally be known as “football” within the United States.

“We seem to never call it that because we have a little bit of a conflict with another thing that’s called football,” Trump mentioned whereas accepting FIFA’s first-ever Peace Prize. “But when you think about it, shouldn’t it really be called, I mean, this is football, there’s no question about it. We need to come up with another name for the NFL stuff.”

The FIFA Peace Prize was awarded to Trump for his “unwavering commitment to advancing peace and unity,” in accordance with FIFA officers. The determination drew criticism from soccer insiders who questioned the timing and relevance of the award.

Earlier this 12 months, Trump created a World Cup activity power for the 2026 event, appointing himself as chairman and naming Vice President JD Vance as vice chair.

Andrew Giuliani, Rudy Giuliani’s son, was tapped as govt director and is now managing each day operations for the occasion.

The president’s remarks got here throughout what many described as an off-topic interlude throughout the official draw ceremony. The San Francisco Chronicle labeled the speech a “10-minute infomercial,” accusing Trump of hijacking the occasion for private promotion.

His suggestion would imply rewriting greater than a century of American sports activities tradition.

The time period “football” within the U.S. dates again to the 1870s when Yale coach Walter Camp tailored rugby guidelines to create a brand new sport. It was dubbed “football” due to its rugby roots, not due to how a lot the ball is kicked.

Meanwhile, “soccer” comes from “Association Football,” a time period coined in England within the nineteenth century. While the British ultimately dropped the phrase, Americans saved it.

The 2026 FIFA World Cup will likely be co-hosted by the United States, Canada and Mexico, with the ultimate match scheduled for July 19 at MetLife Stadium in New Jersey.

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