PARIS (AP) — France’s sports minister says her country is not currently thinking about boycotting the soccer World Cup in the United States amid growing tensions related to Donald Trump’s quest to control Greenland.
“At the moment we are speaking, there is no desire from the ministry to boycott this major, much-anticipated competition,” sports minister Marina Ferrari told reporters on Tuesday evening. “That said, I am not prejudging what might happen.”
Ferrari added that she wants to keep sports separate from politics.
“The 2026 World Cup is an extremely important moment for all sports lovers,” she said.
With the tournament kicking off in June in the United States, Canada and Mexico, the U.S. president’s ambitions to wrest control of Greenland from NATO ally Denmark has the potential to tear relations with European allies.
In France, leftist lawmaker Eric Coquerel said the opportunity of a boycott by France, a two-time winner of the men’s World Cup, should be considered.
“Seriously, can we really imagine going to play the footie World Cup in a country that attacks its ‘neighbors,’ threatens to invade Greenland, undermines international law, wants to torpedo the UN,” he asked in a message posted on social media.
“The question seriously arises, especially since it is still possible to refocus the event on Mexico and Canada,” he wrote.
France lost to Argentina in the final of the World Cup in 2022.
No boycott by Scotland after 28-year wait
In the U.K., the Scottish National Party’s Westminster leader, Stephen Flynn, said boycotting the World Cup was not the right option for Scotland, which will feature at the World Cup for the first time since 1998.
“Without being flippant, we have boycotted the World Cup proactively since 1998 and I’m not entirely sure that’s a route that we want to go down again,” Flynn said.
“Instead I think we need serious and committed international dialogue with our allies on the European continent.”
On Tuesday a number of MPs called for the home nations to boycott the World Cup. England and Scotland have qualified for the showcase event, while Wales and Northern Ireland are in the playoffs.
