A German Football Association (DFB) official Oke Gottlich has said it is time to consider a boycott of the 2026 World Cup in the wake of United States President Donald Trump’s actions, BBC Sport reports.
The US will host world football’s showpiece event this summer, along with Canada and Mexico.
President Trump caused outrage among European leaders earlier this month by threatening to acquire Greenland, which is controlled by Denmark.
The 79-year-old threatened to impose tariffs on eight European countries – including Germany – who opposed his plan.
Trump has since rowed back on that threat, but tensions between European leaders and the US government remain high.
“I really wonder when the time will be to think and talk about this [a boycott] concretely,” Gottlich, a DFB vice-president, told the Hamburger Morgenpost newspaper.
“For me, that time has definitely come.”
Of the 104 matches at this summer’s World Cup, 78 will be held in the US.
The French government said it is not currently in favour of a boycott, while the Danish Football Association said it is “aware of the current sensitive situation”.
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Denmark will aim to qualify for the tournament via play-offs.
In making his argument, Gottlich referenced a US-led boycott of the 1980 Olympic Games following the Soviet Union’s invasion of Afghanistan.
“What were the justifications for the boycotts of the Olympic Games in the 1980s?” said Gottlich, who is also the president of Bundesliga club St Pauli.
“By my reckoning the potential threat is greater now than it was then. We need to have this discussion.”
