In this episode of the Play the Game Podcast, Stanis Elsborg speaks with investigative journalist Karim Zidan about Donald Trump’s long and increasingly political relationship with sport.

For decades, Trump has used boxing, professional wrestling, golf, mixed martial arts, and football to build his brand, cultivate power, and place himself at the centre of the spectacle.

Since returning to the White House in January 2025, Trump has attended major sporting events, signed executive orders on sport, created White House task forces for the 2026 FIFA World Cup and the 2028 Los Angeles Olympics, and surrounded himself with a network of sports executives, athletes, influencers, and political operators.

Karim Zidan explains how sport has become part of Trump’s political infrastructure - a space where strength, masculinity, nationalism, loyalty, grievance, and entertainment are turned into political power.

The conversation looks at Trump’s relationship with combat sports, from boxing and professional wrestling to the UFC; the role of figures such as Dana White, Joe Rogan, Casey Wasserman, and others.

Karim Zidan is an investigative journalist who writes about the intersection of sport, politics, power, authoritarianism, and human rights. He is also the author of the forthcoming book The Ultimate Strongmen, which examines how mixed martial arts has become a powerful tool for political agendas, propaganda, and control.

Host: Stanis Elsborg, head of Play the Game

Guest: Karim Zidan, investigative journalist and author

This episode is produced by Play the Game.

Music: Lost in the ocean by limujii & Cold Case by Riverside

This story is written by Monika Streule for Play the Game and narrated by Stanis Elsborg.

In this episode, urban anthropologist Monika Streule takes us to Mexico City, Monterrey, and Guadalajara, where 2026 World Cup-related projects, infrastructure upgrades, and urban development are colliding with local struggles over water, land, housing, public space, and environmental protection.

In Mexico City, residents near the Azteca Stadium continue to resist projects they fear will increase water scarcity, displacement, and gentrification.

In Monterrey, the build-up to the World Cup has intersected with long-running conflicts over public land, air pollution, water access, and the protection of rivers.

And in Guadalajara, the Akron Stadium and its surroundings near La Primavera forest raise questions about urban expansion, wildfire risks, pressure on water resources, and the limits of sustainability branding.

The episode looks beyond the global spectacle and asks what happens locally when the world’s biggest football tournament arrives.

Host: Stanis Elsborg, head of Play the Game

Author: Monika Streule, urban anthropologist and professor of social anthropology based in Mexico City

This episode is produced by Play the Game.

Music: Cold Case by Riverside

Jules Boykoff: Sportswashing, the FIFA 2026 World Cup, and the 2028 Olympic Games

As the 2026 FIFA World Cup begins in North America, Jules Boykoff asks us to look beyond the spectacle.

For millions of fans, the tournament will bring football, drama, beauty, and emotion. But behind the spectacle lies another story – one about power, money, political prestige, and who gets to use sport, and for what purpose.

In this episode, you will hear Jules Boykoff speak about sportswashing, the FIFA 2026 World Cup, and the 2028 Olympic Games in Los Angeles.

Boykoff is a political scientist, author, former professional football player, and one of the most critical voices on the politics of sport and mega-events.

His analysis focuses on the concept of sportswashing: how political leaders, states, and powerful institutions use sport to build prestige, stoke nationalism, and deflect attention from chronic problems at home.

In the case of the 2026 World Cup, Boykoff turns his attention to FIFA, Donald Trump, and the political and commercial machinery surrounding the tournament.

But his argument does not stop with football. Two years after the World Cup, the Olympic Games will come to Los Angeles – raising many of the same questions about power, profit, public money, policing, displacement, and political image-making.

The episode also comes as Boykoff releases his new book, Red Card: The 2026 World Cup, Sportswashing, and the FIFA Greed Machine.

Host: Stanis Elsborg, head of Play the Game

Speaker: Jules Boykoff, political scientist, author, and former professional football player

This episode is produced by Play the Game.

Music: I Walk With Ghosts by Scott Buckley.