Italy rejects Trump envoy's suggestion to replace Iran at World Cup

Washington: Donald Trump previously said that Iran would be welcome at the World Cup.  One of Donald ‌Trump’s top envoys is lobbying Fifa to replace Iran with Italy at the upcoming World Cup.

The swap is being mooted to ease tensions between Trump and Giorgia Meloni, Italy’s Prime Minister, after the US president’s attacks on Pope Leo XIV.

Paolo Zampolli, a US special envoy and old friend of Trump’s, confirmed he had floated the plan to Gianni Infantino, the Fifa president.

Italy’s four World Cup titles justify awarding it the slot while the US wages war on Iran, he explained. “I confirm I have suggested to Trump and Infantino that Italy replace Iran at the World Cup,” Zampolli told the Financial Times. “I’m an Italian native and it would be a dream to see the Azzurri at a US-hosted tournament. With four titles, they have the pedigree to justify inclusion.”

Fifa declined to comment when contacted by Telegraph Sport but pointed to assurances made by Infantino in recent days that Iran will be at the World Cup despite the current war with the US and Israel.

There is some scepticism behind the scenes at Zampolli’s remarks, given he previously suggested the same swap in 2022 before the Qatar World Cup. In a letter to Infantino sent four years ago, he wrote: “We cannot tolerate the Tehran government’s violence against its own people. You have the opportunity to improve the situation.”

Zampolli has raised the idea again after Trump and Meloni fell out over tensions with the Pope about the Iran war. Meloni has previously been one of Trump’s closest European allies.

Both Infantino and Iran have attempted to remove doubt about the nation’s participation at the World Cup in recent days, however.

Iran issued a statement on Wednesday saying it is prepared for the tournament, while Infantino last week told CNBC Invest in America Forum: “The Iranian team is coming, for sure.”

Infantino added. “We hope that by then the situation will be a peaceful [one]. That would definitely help. But Iran has to come if they are to represent their people. They have qualified, and they’re actually quite a good team as well. They really want to play, and they should play. Sports should be outside of politics.”

Trump ally Zampolli is an Italian-American socialite who founded a modelling agency. He claims to have introduced Trump to his future wife, Melania Knauss, in 1998.

The Trumps have not commented on the suggestion that Zampolli introduced them to each other. Zampolli had already faced headlines in recent days after his ex-wife accused him of instigating her deportation to Brazil.

Amanda Ungaro, a Brazilian model who was brought to the United States on Jeffrey Epstein’s plane when she was 16, had been a diplomat in the first Trump administration.

However, she came to the attention of police in April 2024 after authorities received an anonymous tip that she and her husband, Joao Araujo, a Brazilian plastic surgeon, were conducting cosmetic procedures without a licence.

Ungaro denies the allegations that led to her deportation.

She subsequently accused Zampolli of using his influence to pressure the US Department of Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) to deport her to gain custody of their 16-year-old son.

Zampolli’s move to replace Iran with Italy comes after the Azzurri failed to qualify. Some political figures in Iran previously said it would not participate, but the nation appears to be now planning to compete. An idea floated by Iran’s football federation to move its games to Canada or Mexico was rejected. Trump has said that Iran’s footballers are “welcome” to come to the US, but also that it would be inappropriate and potentially dangerous for them.

Iran qualified for a fourth successive World Cup last year. “We are preparing and making arrangements for the World Cup, but we are obedient to the decisions of the authorities,” Iranian football federation (FFIRI) President ‌Mehdi Taj told reporters at a ⁠pro-government rally in Tehran on Wednesday. “For now, the decision is for the national team to be fully prepared for the World Cup.”

The decision on which country would come in if the ⁠Iranian government withdrew the team lies in the hands of Fifa, which under Article Six of the World Cup regulations is at liberty to call up any nation it chooses to fill the vacancy.

The AFC would be expected to lobby hard for the replacement to come from ‌Asia, with the United Arab Emirates, who lost a qualifying play-off to Iraq last November, the obvious choice.

The UAE has nowhere near the footballing pedigree ⁠of the Italians, ⁠however, having appeared at only one edition of the World Cup finals in 1990 when they lost all three matches.

The World Cup, which is also being co-hosted by Mexico and Canada, gets underway on June 11, with Iran scheduled to kick off their campaign against New Zealand in Los Angeles four days later.