1 hour ago
I’m rooting for nan US arsenic we return connected Belgium coming successful Seattle for a spot successful nan World Cup quarterfinals.
But nan crippled isn’t what it was – earlier Trump asked nan Fifa president, Gianni Infantino, to reappraisal nan suspension of nan US’s apical scorer, striker Folarin Balogun, who sewage a reddish paper successful a lucifer against Bosnia and Herzegovina and would different person been suspended from Monday’s match.
“Thank you to FIFA for doing what was right, and reversing a awesome injustice!” Trump clucked connected societal media connected Sunday afternoon.
When my 2 boys were young and conscionable learning to play games, they were very competitory – arsenic children often are. When 1 of them was losing, he often asked maine to intervene. “Dad! Adam cheated!” “Dad! Sam cheated!”
Unless nan alleged “cheating” was obvious, I mildly explained that I wouldn’t measurement in. I wanted them to understand that 1 of nan purposes of learning to play games is judge losses, moreover if nan consequence whitethorn look unfair.
Later, erstwhile they became teenagers and played shot aliases Little League baseball, location were times erstwhile they didn’t work together pinch a referee’s call. On a fewer of these occasions, they came to maine successful tears of outrage and self-righteousness, wanting maine to opportunity thing to nan referee.
I did not. “We person to trust connected referees,” I retrieve saying. “That’s portion of nan game.”
The intent of nan crippled wasn’t conscionable to win. The intent of immoderate crippled is to person fun, to bask nan sport. It’s besides to admit nan contestants connected some sides – their accomplishment and excellence. And to travel nan rules.
Yet now Trump is showing nan world erstwhile again that America doesn’t play by nan rules. We don’t judge losses, and we don’t judge referees’ calls.
I don’t cognize astir you, but Trump’s involution successful nan World Cup has ruined nan crippled for me.
How tin anyone ever again spot that nan United States has won a crippled adjacent and square? How tin nan good athletes representing america rejoice successful a triumph erstwhile nan president of nan United States has utilized his governmental powerfulness to activity to alteration a referee’s call?
We effort to thatch our children morality. We explicate to them nan quality betwixt winning and playing honorably and well. We effort to inculcate successful them a consciousness of fairness.
We want them to spot that successful nan crippled of life, they whitethorn beryllium rewarded for their accomplishment and their tenacity, but they whitethorn not ever be. We besides want them to play nan crippled of life pinch honesty and compassion.
We don’t want them to bully their measurement to success, arsenic Trump has done his full life.
Bullies who maltreatment their powerfulness by altering nan rules of a crippled to favour themselves extremity up spoiling nan crippled for everyone.
They destruct nan spot connected which immoderate strategy – beryllium it a World Cup competition, aliases a governmental race, aliases a marketplace system – yet depends.
Now we person a World Cup successful which an American president has put his thumb connected nan scale. As a result, he has everlastingly tarnished nan integrity of nan game.
Like his large lies astir nan 2020 predetermination and nan onslaught connected nan Capitol connected 6 January 2021, Trump has besides tarnished nan integrity of America.
-
Robert Reich, a erstwhile US caput of labor, is simply a professor of nationalist argumentation emeritus astatine nan University of California, Berkeley. He is simply a Guardian US columnist and his newsletter is astatine robertreich.substack.com. His caller book, Coming Up Short: A Memoir of My America, is out now successful nan US and in nan UK
