President Donald Trump has suggested Chelsea will not receive the original Club World Cup trophy after winning the tournament in New Jersey on Sunday.
Enzo Maresca’s side beat PSG in the final of the inaugural expanded Club World Cup at the MetLife Stadium.
Cole Palmer slotted home for a brace while new signing Joao Pedro added a third in a 3-0 win over the Champions League winners.
Fifa state that Chelsea will be able to call themselves world champions for four years, and emboss their kits with a specialist badge. The Blues racked up over £80m in prize money.
But the trophy – a gold structure that moves and twists after a key is inserted in its rear – is likely to stay Stateside, according to President Trump, who was in attendance on Sunday.
‘Have Club World Cup in Oval Office forever’
Speaking to Dazn, the White House resident joked how he could sign an executive order changing the name of the sport from soccer to football in the United States.
He then revealed that he has the original Club World Cup trophy, on the orders of Fifa president Gianni Infantino.
“[Fifa] is doing fantastically well for [football in America], it’s a growing sport, it is a great sport,” President Trump told Dazn.
“They said: ‘Could you hold this trophy for a little while?’. We put it in the Oval Office and then I said: ‘When are you going to pick up the trophy’, and [Infantino] said: ‘We’re never going to pick it up, you can have it forever in the Oval Office’”.
“And they actually made a new one [for Chelsea] but right now [the original] is in the Oval.”
The cosy relationship between Fifa and Trump intensified last week with football’s governing body opening an office in New York’s Trump Tower ahead of the 2026 World Cup, which will be co-hosted by the United States, Canada and Mexico.
Uk.finance.yahoo.com
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