Trump attends pageantry-filled World Cup final draw designed with him in mind

By Jeff Mason

WASHINGTON, Dec 5 (Reuters) – U.S. President Donald Trump will preside over the soccer World Cup draw on Friday in a ceremony filled with pomp, pageantry and lavish performances fit for a showman.

The event is being held in Washington at the Kennedy Center, which Trump took over earlier this year, installing a new president and board. 

Trump’s attendance at the World Cup event puts him front and center at a major moment in the world of sport, and the planners clearly had him in mind when putting it together.

The popular disco band Village People will perform a version of “Y.M.C.A.,” a staple on Trump’s political rally playlist, while FIFA, the global governing body for soccer, plans to unveil its own peace prize. 

The expected recipient? Trump himself.

The president has openly campaigned for the Nobel Peace Prize, citing his involvement in ending multiple conflicts abroad. Those efforts have brought mixed results.

Classical singer Andrea Bocelli is also scheduled to perform on Friday, as are British pop star Robbie Williams and American singer and Broadway star Nicole Scherzinger.

Trump has made frequent use of the trappings of the presidency to be part of major sporting and cultural events this year. He attended the Super Bowl in February, to a mix of cheers and boos from the crowd, and on Sunday plans to attend the Kennedy Center Honors, which he eschewed during his first term.

Geopolitics will make its presence felt at the World Cup event. An Iranian delegation will attend the draw after initially saying it would boycott the ceremony because of visa issues, according to media reports. The United States bombed Iranian nuclear sites in June.  

(Reporting by Jeff Mason, editing by Ross Colvin and Stephen Coates)

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