Boston Mayor Michelle Wu responded to Donald Trump after he suggested Tuesday that he could pull 2026 World Cup games from Gillette Stadium over “unsafe conditions” in Massachusetts, citing recent street takeovers.Wu appeared on a podcast on Wednesday and said it would be unlikely that the games could change venues so late in the process. “Many, many months of planning now, much of it is locked down by contract, so no single person, even if they live in the White House currently, can undo it,” Wu said.On Wednesday, Trump doubled down on his suggestion to pull the games and on his attacks on Wu.”Boston has a bad mayor who at least is a reasonable IQ person,” Trump said. “She’s got four areas that are wrong. Somebody said, would we think about taking the World Cup away from Boston if they don’t straighten it out? The answer is yes, we have the right to do that with FIFA.”Boston was named a host city in 2022, with seven matches set to be played at Gillette Stadium in Foxborough. New England has been planning for the games since, estimating an $8 billion economic boost. “Just ongoing threats that are issued to individuals and communities who refuse to back down,” Wu said.Experts say the relocation of matches could invite legal issues. “Are they going to be able to recoup their losses that they already have, the contracts they’ve already put into place, that they already have guarantees in them?” Sports Event Management Expert Lee Esckilsen said.World Cup host sites aren’t up to Trump. The 11 U.S. cities — plus three in Mexico and two in Canada — are contracted with FIFA, which would face significant logistical and legal issues to make changes in the eight months before the June 11 kickoff.“It’s FIFA’s tournament, FIFA’s jurisdiction, FIFA makes those decisions,” the soccer body’s vice president Victor Montagliani said earlier this month at a sports business conference in London.Massachusetts Rep. Stephen Lynch says he is confident that the games will go on as scheduled at Gillette Stadium.”It’ll go well. I’m hoping the president won’t do something silly or vengeful just to create more harm,” Lynch said. In a meeting with Argentina’s president Tuesday, Trump referred to his contentious relationship with Wu and alluded to violent car meets, including one in Boston’s South End that left a marked police cruiser destroyed by fire — an incident that was part of several other similar attacks in Massachusetts over one weekend.”I think she is hurting Boston. The answer is yes. If somebody is doing a bad job, and if I feel there’s unsafe conditions, I would call Gianni, the head of FIFA, who’s phenomenal, and I would say, let’s move it to another location, if I thought Boston was going to cause safety conditions for the World Cup,” Trump said. “I could say the same thing for the Olympics.”The first phase of World Cup ticket lotteries went on sale in September. The Associated Press contributed to this report.
Boston Mayor Michelle Wu responded to Donald Trump after he suggested Tuesday that he could pull 2026 World Cup games from Gillette Stadium over “unsafe conditions” in Massachusetts, citing recent street takeovers.
Wu appeared on a podcast on Wednesday and said it would be unlikely that the games could change venues so late in the process.
“Many, many months of planning now, much of it is locked down by contract, so no single person, even if they live in the White House currently, can undo it,” Wu said.
On Wednesday, Trump doubled down on his suggestion to pull the games and on his attacks on Wu.
“Boston has a bad mayor who at least is a reasonable IQ person,” Trump said. “She’s got four areas that are wrong. Somebody said, would we think about taking the World Cup away from Boston if they don’t straighten it out? The answer is yes, we have the right to do that with FIFA.”
Boston was named a host city in 2022, with seven matches set to be played at Gillette Stadium in Foxborough. New England has been planning for the games since, estimating an $8 billion economic boost.
“Just ongoing threats that are issued to individuals and communities who refuse to back down,” Wu said.
Experts say the relocation of matches could invite legal issues.
“Are they going to be able to recoup their losses that they already have, the contracts they’ve already put into place, that they already have guarantees in them?” Sports Event Management Expert Lee Esckilsen said.
World Cup host sites aren’t up to Trump. The 11 U.S. cities — plus three in Mexico and two in Canada — are contracted with FIFA, which would face significant logistical and legal issues to make changes in the eight months before the June 11 kickoff.
“It’s FIFA’s tournament, FIFA’s jurisdiction, FIFA makes those decisions,” the soccer body’s vice president Victor Montagliani said earlier this month at a sports business conference in London.
Massachusetts Rep. Stephen Lynch says he is confident that the games will go on as scheduled at Gillette Stadium.
“It’ll go well. I’m hoping the president won’t do something silly or vengeful just to create more harm,” Lynch said.
In a meeting with Argentina’s president Tuesday, Trump referred to his contentious relationship with Wu and alluded to violent car meets, including one in Boston’s South End that left a marked police cruiser destroyed by fire — an incident that was part of several other similar attacks in Massachusetts over one weekend.
“I think she is hurting Boston. The answer is yes. If somebody is doing a bad job, and if I feel there’s unsafe conditions, I would call Gianni, the head of FIFA, who’s phenomenal, and I would say, let’s move it to another location, if I thought Boston was going to cause safety conditions for the World Cup,” Trump said. “I could say the same thing for the Olympics.”
The first phase of World Cup ticket lotteries went on sale in September.
The Associated Press contributed to this report.
