FIFA Club World Cup 2025 extravaganza set to get underway
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The Hill
35 minutes ago
- The Hill
Trump mixes sports and politics with Commanders name fight
President Trump has reignited the debate over the Washington Commanders team name, the latest example of the president using sports in his second term to expand his influence and impact on culture. Trump upended what appeared to be a settled issue when he threatened to use the power of the presidency to hold up the Commanders' plans to build a new stadium in Washington, D.C., if the team did not revert to the Redskins name it retired in 2020. While it came as a surprise to local leaders and team officials, it was yet another instance of Trump wading into sports for political purposes. 'Sports is one of the many passions of this president, and he wants to see the name of that team changed,' White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt said Monday. 'I think you've seen the president gets involved in a lot of things that most presidents have not. He's a nontraditional president.' The president has hosted championship hockey and baseball teams at the White House in his first six months in office. He has attended the Daytona 500, the Super Bowl, college wrestling championships, Ultimate Fighting Championship events and the FIFA Club World Cup championship. Trump met in the Oval Office with members of Italian soccer club Juventus and the Boston Red Sox, taking credit when the latter team went on a winning streak after the meeting. The president also was at the center of an announcement that Washington will host the NFL draft in 2027. He was joined by D.C. Mayor Muriel Bowser, NFL Commissioner Roger Goodell and Commanders owner Josh Harris. One source close to the White House noted Trump is a longtime sports fan and a former owner of the New Jersey Generals of the United States Football League, which folded after three seasons. Trump's interest in sports helps broaden his political appeal, the source argued, pointing to his 2023 stop at an Iowa State University fraternity where he threw footballs into the crowd, and his game of catch with baseball legend Mariano Rivera to mark the start of the season amid the coronavirus pandemic in 2020. But Trump's focus on sports has expanded into the policy arena during his second term. Blocking transgender women from competing in men's sports was a defining campaign promise for Trump in 2024. Within weeks of taking office, Trump signed an executive order following through on that pledge. The president has spoken frequently about the United States's role as a host for next year's FIFA World Cup, convening a task force to help plan for the logistically complex event that will put a spotlight on transportation infrastructure and the visa system to allow visiting fans and players into the country. Trump's latest sports-related focus is on the Washington Commanders team name, an issue he has shared his opinion on dating back to 2013, when he scolded then-President Obama for weighing in on the controversial Redskins name. It is also in line with Trump's broader war against what he deems to be 'woke' or politically correct culture, something that has been a major focus of his first six months in office. Trump has in recent days demanded in comments to reporters and in posts on social media that the Commanders change their name back to the Redskins. If the team does not act — and ownership has repeatedly said the issue is settled — Trump has threatened to get in the way of a deal to build a new stadium in Washington. 'Times are different now than they were three or four years ago. We are a Country of passion and common sense,' Trump posted late Sunday on Truth Social. It's not clear what authority Trump might have to thwart the stadium deal. The stadium agreement still needs the approval of the D.C. Council, which is set to hold hearings on the issue next week. Bowser, the mayor of D.C., downplayed the suggestion that Trump's most recent fixation would ultimately derail a plan that has been bandied about for years. 'I've had the opportunity to speak on a couple of different occasions with the president about this site and about our team,' Bowser told ESPN. 'And I can say this without equivocation: He is a [quarterback] Jayden Daniels fan, and he said himself, and the presser we were at, that this is probably the best site of any site he's seen for a stadium. I have to think that that's what I've heard him say, and that's what we'll stick with.' Trump-DeSantis feud simmers Has the most bitter rivalry of the 2024 Republican presidential primary been put to rest? It depends on whom you ask. Trump and Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis (R) traded barbs for much of 2023 and early 2024 after the governor launched his bid for the GOP nomination, a move Trump and his team saw as a slight. Trump spent months burying DeSantis with personal insults and accusing him of being ungrateful for the endorsement that helped him secure the gubernatorial nomination in Florida in 2018. DeSantis ignored the attacks for a time, but eventually he returned fire by arguing Trump had 'lost his fastball' and calling on him to debate. Adding fuel to the feud, DeSantis had cast out Susie Wiles, who was Trump's 2024 co-campaign manager and is now his chief of staff. The two men seem to have put their differences aside in recent months. Trump met with DeSantis during a trip to Florida to tout ' Alligator Alcatraz,' a facility that is housing migrants awaiting deportation. 'I think we get along great,' DeSantis told Fox News on Sunday. 'We're working very constructively. No state has done more to support their agenda on illegal immigration than we have.' Even Wiles has seemingly moved on from her animus toward Team DeSantis. 'He's a good governor, and whatever personal differences he had or whatever deficiencies he thought I had are long past my thinking about them,' Wiles told New York Post columnist Miranda Devine in a recent interview. But the goodwill does not extend throughout Trump World. Some who worked on Trump's 2024 bid have indicated they will neither forget nor forgive DeSantis for what they see as the grave offense of his presidential bid. Tony Fabrizio, who served as Trump's pollster in 2016 and 2024, responded harshly to a social media post suggesting DeSantis was positioning himself for another presidential run in 2028. 'Old Pudding Fingers @GovRonDeSantis better hope @ChrisLaCivita and I are both dead to have any minute chance in '28,' Fabrizio posted on the social platform X, invoking a rumor about DeSantis from 2023 eating pudding with his fingers.
USA Today
an hour ago
- USA Today
MLS All-Stars 30 years later: How the league moved the ball forward
From new teams to an expanding fan base, see Major League Soccer's impressive three decades of growth. It's a rare all-star game that reflects a league's evolution, but that's what this year's MLS showcase offers. On July 23 at 9 p.m. ET, two dozen MLS players will step onto the field at Q2 Stadium in Austin, Texas, and offer a snapshot of the league's progress. Though the MLS All-Stars may not defeat their counterparts from Mexico's Liga MX – broadcast live on MLS Season Pass via Apple TV – the league's upward trajectory is clear. Since its inaugural season in 1996, just two years after the United States hosted the 1994 World Cup, MLS has steadily grown alongside the nation's rising interest in soccer. Over the past three decades, global icons such as Carlos Valderrama, David Beckham, Thierry Henry and Zlatan Ibrahimović have brought star power and credibility to the league, helping shape its identity and elevate its global standing. But none has been as transformational as Lionel Messi, who is on this year's all-star roster. In July 2023, he joined Inter Miami, a club that played its first game in 2020. The Argentine World Cup champion not only quickly improved the team's profile and record, but he also elevated global awareness of the MLS because of his worldwide celebrity. How much has the MLS grown since its debut in 1996? Even before Messi's arrival, MLS had been on the upswing. With 12.2 million fans attending games last year, MLS was the second-highest-attended global soccer league in the world, behind only the English Premier League. MLS has a far reach with teams across the U.S. Since 1996, the league has tripled in size. San Diego FC became the 30th MLS club before the 2025 season, compared with just 10 clubs when the league debuted. The number of soccer-specific MLS stadiums is growing All 30 MLS clubs have their own facility, and 26 are soccer-specific. Three franchises will open new stadiums in the next three years (Inter Miami 2026, New York City FC 2027 and Chicago Fire 2028). It's a far cry from 1996, when there were no stadiums and no club training facilities. Some MLS franchises crack $1 billion mark Another significant area of growth has been franchise value: Five MLS teams are valued at more than $1 billion, and 14 others are among the top 50 most valuable soccer clubs in the world, according to Sportico. Los Angeles FC ($1.28 billion), Inter Miami ($1.19 billion), LA Galaxy ($1.11 billion), Atlanta United ($1.08 billion) and New York City FC ($1 billion) are the most valuable MLS franchises. MLS has succeeded in drawing international talent When the league made its debuted 1996, most of the 239 active players were American. The majority today are still American, but the league is drawing more international talent. MLS Cup championships by team D.C. United won the MLS Cup in the first season; since then, 15 teams have won the title: 'I think our league is going to continue to grow,' Major League Soccer commissioner Don Garber told USA TODAY Sports before the season. 'Every time I'm asked that question, and I say, 'Here's what it will look like five years from now.' I underestimate where we're going to be. "At some point we're going to be celebrating just generations of Major League Soccer for fans here in the United States, Canada and around the world that love our league."
Business Upturn
8 hours ago
- Business Upturn
Verbal agreement reached for Rodrigo de Paul; set to sign for Inter Miami
Rodrigo de Paul is now all set to join Inter Miami as the verbal agreement between the clubs have been reached. By Ravi Kumar Jha Published on July 23, 2025, 08:38 IST Rodrigo de Paul is now all set to join Inter Miami as the verbal agreement between the clubs have been reached. Atlético Madrid and Miami were negotiating for this deal for a long time and it has finally happened. de Paul will join Messi at Miami. Atlético will receive around €15 million for the midfielder and the final details are fully sorted out. Rodrigo De Paul is now on the verge of joining Major League Soccer side Inter Miami after a verbal agreement was reached between the clubs. Atlético Madrid and Inter Miami had been locked in negotiations for weeks, but the deal is finally done. The 30-year-old Argentine midfielder will now reunite with his national team captain and close friend Lionel Messi in Florida. Atlético Madrid are set to receive around €15 million for De Paul, with all final details now fully sorted out. De Paul joined Atlético from Udinese in 2021 and played a key role in Diego Simeone's midfield during his stint in La Liga. His move to Inter Miami marks another big-name addition for the MLS club, who continue to build a star-studded squad around Messi. Ahmedabad Plane Crash Ravi kumar jha is an undergraduate student in Bachelor of Arts in Multimedia and Mass Communication. A media enthusiast who has a strong hold on communication and he also has a genuine interest in sports. Ravi is currently working as a journalist at
