By Lehlohonolo Lehana.
US President Donald Trump will attend Sunday’s Club World Cup final in East Rutherford, New Jersey, he said at a Cabinet meeting on Tuesday.
I’ll be going to the game,” Trump said.
The news came a day after Fifa, world football’s governing body, announced it has opened an office in New York’s Trump Tower.
The United States is hosting the first edition of an expanded Club World Cup and will be a co-host for next year’s World Cup, along with Canada and Mexico.
Chelsea will face either Paris St-Germain or Real Madrid in the Club World Cup final at MetLife Stadium, which will also host next year’s World Cup final.
Fifa already has an office in Miami and having a presence in Trump Tower will strengthen the organisation’s relationship with the US administration.
“We have received such a big support from the government and from the president with the White House taskforce for the Fifa Club World Cup and for the Fifa World Cup next year,” said Fifa president Gianni Infantino.
“Fifa is a global organisation and to be global you have to be local, you have to be everywhere, so we have to be in New York.”
Trump has not shied away from sport’s super-sized spotlight during his second term, becoming the first sitting president to attend a Super Bowl in February, and in May announcing D.C. as the host for the 2027 NFL Draft from the Oval Office.