It was probably fitting that the first call from someone with genuine power should emanate from Germany, long one of soccer's moral centers. The time has definitely come, German soccer federation vice-president Oke Gottlich told the Hamburger Morgenpost, to seriously consider and discuss a boycott of the 2026 World Cup. What were the justifications for the boycotts of the Olympic Games in the 1980s?
The most watched sporting event on earth is due to be played this year in the United States, Canada, and Mexico, and Göttlich said in a Friday interview, before a federal agent murdered Minneapolis VA nurse Alex Pretti, that "the time has come" to "seriously consider and discuss this." Göttlich was responding not only to state agents marauding US streets but also to Trump's military threats against Greenland and the people of Europe, which have shattered old alliances.