Among Donald Trump’s gilded additions to the Oval Office, one ornament stands out: symbolising power plays in sport and geopolitics.
The outlandish, elaborate golden discs form football’s newest prize: the Club World Cup that will be handed out in New Jersey on 14 July, after 63 matches across 11 American cities.
The trophy has become part of presidential theatre, prominent for all the major announcements – from nuclear warnings to Iran to celebrating the trade deal with Britain.
It was hand-delivered to Mr Trump three months ago by Gianni Infantino, the FIFA president whose name is etched into it. Twice.
This whole competition – supersizing an old, little-regarded format from seven to 32 clubs – is very much Mr Infantino’s creation to reshape world football and extend FIFA’s reach into the club game.
For a trophy inspired by NASA missions into space – featuring astronomy and maps – it also signals how Mr Infantino has gained influence in Mr Trump’s orbit.
Becoming the commander-in-chief’s closest non-American associate has secured invites to political speeches as well as sporting trips.
The alliance – contentious given Mr Trump’s rhetoric and interventions on topics such as immigration and diversity – is defended as fast-tracking decision-making at the highest level.
This Club World Cup (CWC) is in many ways the test event for the more complex tournament next summer, as the World Cup is contested by 48 men’s national teams across the US, Canada, and Mexico.
“I think it is absolutely crucial for the success of a World Cup to have a close relationship with the president,” Mr Infantino said.
But the CWC begins against the backdrop of immigration raids and violent protests in Los Angeles amid concerns fans could be targeted or denied entry to FIFA events.
Image: The trophy has been prominent during many recent major news moments. Pic: AP
Saudi Arabia’s role
This was a tournament intended to launch in China in 2021 until the pandemic shook the world and interest in football waned in the country once heavily courted by FIFA.
It can appear that Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman has bailed out Mr Infantino, bankrolling his pet project.
There was little interest from FIFA’s usual World Cup broadcasters – BBC and ITV in Britain – until loss-making streamer DAZN stepped in with a $1bn (£736m) deal, just around the time Saudi Arabia was handed the hosting of the 2034 World Cup.
That was followed by DAZN selling a 10% stake to SURJ, an investment firm owned by Saudi’s sovereign wealth fund, chaired by MBS.
And then, completing the circle, the Public Investment Fund signed up as a CWC sponsor less than two weeks before the tournament begins.
PIF also owns Al-Hilal, who qualified as Asian Champions League winners for the CWC in a group featuring Real Madrid.
Image: Gianni Infantino visited President Donald Trump in his last term in office in 2018. Pic: AP
A Super League?
Given Mr Infantino maintains the extravaganza features the 32 best teams in the world, what, for example, are RB Salzburg doing there?
While four of Europe’s slots went to recent Champions League winners, the other eight went to the best-performing teams ranked by European results in recent years.
And while Liverpool should have made the cut by that measure, FIFA imposed a cap on two teams per country unless they had all qualified as competition winners.
So FIFA only has Chelsea and Manchester City, although Lionel Messi’s Inter Miami were handed a place as national champions despite not actually winning the main American soccer title.
To some, this could seem to be the genesis of a Super League – the aborted European breakaway in 2021 – in a different guise.
Champions League organiser UEFA once tried to thwart the CWC, given it could diminish the status of its own competition, before caving-in to FIFA.
And while selling tickets and finding viewers will be challenging, it will be lucrative for the participants.
That Saudi $1bn (£736m) is all going back to clubs, with up to $125m (£92m) for the winners.
Workload concerns
Chelsea and City have already played 57 matches this season – now up to seven more are being bolted on.
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1:37
Infantino: ‘FIFA is a pioneer for women’s football’
And their players could have had up to 10 international matches over the last year, including two in the gap between the end of the domestic season and the CWC trip.
It is why – in plans first revealed by Sky News in 2023 – global players’ union FIFPRO has launched a legal challenge claiming FIFA has abused a dominant position to risk the health of players.
But the European Commission has not officially taken up the case to prevent this launch.
And, given that other FIFA events have already expanded – or are expanding – to 48 finalists, the Club World Cup could be here to stay – and even get even bigger.
There is also still the delayed women’s tournament, which is set to finally launch in 2028.
Israel has resumed airdrops of aid into Gaza, as reports and condemnation of starvation and famine continue to spread.
In a statement, the Israel Defence Forces added that humanitarian corridors would also be established for United Nations convoys to deliver aid into the region, though it did not say when or where.
While the IDF “emphasises that combat operations have not ceased” – and reiterated claims there is “no starvation” in Gaza – it said: “The airdrops will include seven pallets of aid containing flour, sugar and canned food to be provided by international organisations.”
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People in Gaza jump on food trucks
The military added that it is prepared to implement “humanitarian pauses” in densely populated areas.
Reports suggest aid has already been dropped into Gaza, with some injured after fighting broke out.
He told Sky News: “This month, up to now, 1,000 children or 1,000 people have died of starvation. I’m really not interested in what either of these sides are saying.”
More on Gaza
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On Saturday, reports referencing US government data said that there was no evidence Hamashad stolen aid from UN agencies.
The IDF’s international spokesperson, Lieutenant Colonel Nadav Shoshani, described such reports as “fake news” and said Hamas thefts have been “well documented”.
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Malnourished girl: ‘The war changed me’
Airdrops ‘expensive and inefficient’
It comes as the Hamas-run health ministry in Gaza said that, as of Saturday, 127 people have died from malnutrition-related causes, including 85 children.
They include a five-month-old girl who weighed less than when she was born, with a doctor at Nasser Hospital describing it as a case of “severe, severe starvation”.
Health workers have also been weakened by hunger, with some putting themselves on IV drips so they can keep treating badly malnourished patients.
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Aid waiting to be distributed in Gaza
On Friday, Israel said it would allow foreign countries to airdrop aid into Gaza – but the UN Relief and Works Agency has warned this will not reverse “deepening starvation”.
UNRWA head Philippe Lazzarini described the method as “expensive” and “inefficient”, adding: “It is a distraction and screensmoke. A manmade hunger can only be addressed by political will.
“Lift the siege, open the gates and guarantee safe movements and dignified access to people in need.”
He added that UNRWA has the equivalent of 6,000 trucks in Jordan and Egypt waiting for permission to enter Gaza.
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PM says UK will help drop aid to Gaza
MSF, also known as Doctors Without Borders, warned on Friday that 25% of young children and pregnant women in Gaza are now malnourished, and said the lack of food and water on the ground was “unconscionable”.
The UN also estimates that Israeli forces have killed more than 1,000 people seeking food – the majority near the militarised distribution sites of the US-backed aid distribution scheme run by the Gaza Humanitarian Foundation.
In a statement on Friday, the IDF had said it “categorically rejects the claims of intentional harm to civilians”, and reports of incidents at aid distribution sites were “under examination”.
The GHF has also previously disputed that these deaths were connected with its organisation’s operations, with director Johnnie Moore telling Sky News: “We just want to feed Gazans. That’s the only thing that we want to do.”
Bob Geldof has accused the Israeli authorities of “lying” about starvation in Gaza – after Israel’s government spokesperson claimed there was “no famine caused by Israel”.
Earlier this week, David Mencer claimed that Hamas “starves its own people” while on The News Hour with Mark Austin, denying that Israel was responsible for mass hunger in Gaza.
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Israel challenged on starvation in Gaza
Mr Phillips asked the Live Aid organiser: “The Israeli view is that there is no famine caused by Israel, there’s a manmade shortage, but it’s been engineered by Hamas.
“I guess the Israelis would say we don’t see much criticism from your side of Hamas.”
In response, Geldof said “that’s a false equivalence” and “the Israeli authorities are lying”.
The singer then added: “They’re lying. [Benjamin] Netanyahu lies, is a liar. The IDF are lying. They’re dangling food in front of starving, panicked, exhausted mothers.
“And while they arrive to accept the tiny amount of food that this sort of set up pantomime outfit, the Gaza Humanitarian Front, I would call it, as they dangle it, then they’re shot wantonly.
“This month, up to now, a thousand children or a thousand people have died of starvation. I’m really not interested in what either of these sides are saying.”
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Gaza: ‘This is man-made starvation’
In the interview with Mark Austin on 23 July, Mr Mencer added: “This suffering exists because Hamas made it so. Here are the facts. Aid is flowing, through the Gaza Humanitarian Foundation. Millions of meals are being delivered directly to civilians.” He also claimed that since May more than 4,400 aid trucks had entered Gaza carrying supplies.
It comes after MSF, also known as Doctors Without Borders, warned 25% of young children and pregnant women in Gaza are now malnourished.
The charity said Israel’s “deliberate use of starvation as a weapon” has reached unprecedented levels, and said that at one of its clinics in Gaza City, rates of severe malnutrition in children under five have trebled over the past two weeks.
MSF then called the lack of food and water on the ground as “unconscionable”.
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2:10
Aid waiting to be distributed in Gaza
In a statement to Sky News, an Israeli security official said that “despite the false claims that are being spread, the State of Israel does not limit the number of humanitarian aid trucks entering the Gaza Strip”.
It then blamed other groups for issues delivering aid. They said: “Over the past month, we have witnessed a significant decline in the collection of aid from the crossings into the Gaza Strip by international aid organisations.
“The delays in collection by the UN and international organisations harm the situation and the food security of Gaza’s residents.”
The IDF also told Sky News: “The IDF allows the American civilian organisation (GHF) to distribute aid to Gaza residents independently, and operates in proximity to the new distribution zones to enable the distribution alongside the continuation of IDF operational activities in the Gaza Strip.
“Following incidents in which harm to civilians who arrived at distribution facilities was reported, thorough examinations were conducted in the Southern Command and instructions were issued to forces in the field following lessons learned.
“The aforementioned incidents are under review by the competent authorities in the IDF.”
You can watch the full interview on Sunday Morning with Trevor Phillips at 8.30am tomorrow.
A charity has warned 25% of young children and pregnant women in Gaza are now malnourished, with Sir Keir Starmer vowing to evacuate children who need “critical medical assistance” to the UK.
MSF, also known as Doctors Without Borders, said Israel’s “deliberate use of starvation as a weapon” has reached unprecedented levels – with patients and healthcare workers both fighting to survive.
It claimed that, at one of its clinics in Gaza City, rates of severe malnutrition in children under five have trebled over the past two weeks – and described the lack of food and water on the ground as “unconscionable”.
Image: Pic: Reuters
The charity also criticised the high number of fatalities seen at aid distribution sites, with one British surgeon accusing IDF soldiers of shooting civilians “almost like a game of target practice”.
MSF’s deputy medical coordinator in Gaza, Dr Mohammed Abu Mughaisib, said: “Those who go to the Gaza Humanitarian Foundation’s food distributions know that they have the same chance of receiving a sack of flour as they do of leaving with a bullet in their head.”
The UN also estimates that Israeli forces have killed more than 1,000 people seeking food – the majority near the militarised distribution sites of the US-backed aid distribution scheme run by the GHF.
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1:20
‘Many more deaths unless Israelis allow food in’
In a statement on Friday, the IDF had said it “categorically rejects the claims of intentional harm to civilians”, and reports of incidents at aid distribution sites were “under examination”.
The GHF has also previously disputed that these deaths were connected with its organisation’s operations, with director Johnnie Moore telling Sky News: “We just want to feed Gazans. That’s the only thing that we want to do.”
Israel says it has let enough food into Gaza and has accused the UN of failing to distribute it, in what the foreign ministry has labelled as “a deliberate ploy” to defame the country.
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In a video message posted on X late last night, Sir Keir Starmer condemned the scenes in Gaza as “appalling” and “unrelenting” – and said “the images of starvation and desperation are utterly horrifying”.
The prime minister added: “The denial of aid to children and babies is completely unjustifiable, just as the continued captivity of hostages is completely unjustifiable.
“Hundreds of civilians have been killed while seeking aid – children, killed, whilst collecting water. It is a humanitarian catastrophe, and it must end.”
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Israeli military show aid waiting inside Gaza
Sir Keir confirmed that the British government is now “accelerating efforts” to evacuate children from Gaza who need critical medical assistance, so they can be brought to the UK for specialist treatment.
Israel has now said that foreign countries will be able to airdrop aid into Gaza. While the PM says the UK will now “do everything we can” to get supplies in via this route, he said this decision has come “far too late”.
Last year, the RAF dropped aid into Gaza, but humanitarian organisations warned it wasn’t enough and was potentially dangerous. In March 2024, five people were killed when an aid parachute failed and supplies fell on them.
The prime minister is instead demanding a ceasefire and “lasting peace” – and says he will only consider an independent state as part of a negotiated peace deal.