President Donald Trump’s World Cup victory lap could be thrown off course as protesters prepare to crash his trophy moment.
A coalition of artists, community organizers, and advocacy groups is planning a dramatic show of opposition during Sunday’s Argentina-Spain final, handing out referee-style “red cards” to fans arriving at MetLife Stadium.
The cards direct attendees to a website urging them to raise them during the trophy presentation, when Trump, 80, and FIFA President Gianni Infantino, 56, are expected to take the stage to present the World Cup trophy to the winning team.
“After review, for political corruption and abuse of the presidency—the decision is RED CARD!” the website states.
The cards carry the message “Unitas Mundi”—Latin for “unity of the world”—while delivering a pointed rebuke of Infantino, accusing him of “appeasing” Trump and turning a blind eye to what organizers call the president’s “corrupt” policies.
“I’m protesting because we need to maintain some freedoms and democracy in this nation, and they are being eroded every single day,” Marianne Downes, a member of the grassroots Northeast Queens Indivisible Group who was handing out cards at Penn Station to fans heading to the stadium, told the Daily Beast.
Downes added that “thousands” of cards are being distributed, saying she personally handed out around 250 in about 40 minutes, with some people “coming back” to collect more for their families.
The close relationship between Trump and Infantino has drawn global attention, with questions intensifying during this year’s World Cup after Trump contacted the FIFA president to discuss a red card shown to a U.S. player.
Earlier this month, Trump acknowledged he pushed Infantino to revisit a red card decision that threatened to keep U.S. star Folarin Balogun out of the knockout clash with Belgium, ultimately leading to the suspension being overturned.
“He gave him a red card,” Trump said of referee Raphael Claus’ decision to send off the 25-year-old striker, before making a surprising admission that he did not know what a red card in soccer meant. Trump said that once he learned the decision could prevent Balogun from playing in the next match, he “asked for a review by FIFA.”
The move ultimately failed to change the outcome, as the U.S. suffered a 4-1 defeat, with Balogun later admitting he “knew it was going to cause a lot of controversy.”
Infantino had previously campaigned for Trump to receive the Nobel Peace Prize, but after the president was overlooked, he quickly created an alternative award that was presented to Trump in December—an apparent effort to strengthen ties ahead of the World Cup in the United States, according to The New York Times
Trump later described the trophy, featuring golden hands holding up a globe, as “one of the great honors” of his life.
On Friday, the two pals appeared side by side at a FIFA reception, posing alongside the golden trophy they will present to the winners. During the event, Infantino praised the president, while Trump offered his own glowing assessment of the FIFA chief: “There’s nobody like him, actually.”
The final is expected to be as much a celebrity spectacle as a soccer match, with around 80,000 fans set to fill the stadium.
The Daily Beast has reached out to the White House for comment.
