Analysis
Iran is out of the World Cup, Italy might be in thanks to the Epstein Files
The truth is that, from the point of view of regulations, the matter – although highly unlikely – would be possible. In the event of a team's withdrawal, according to Article 6.7 of the World Cup statutes, FIFA “at its sole discretion” selects the team that will replace it.
Defeated on the field after being humiliated by Bosnia in the playoffs, the Italian national men’s soccer team might end up participating in this year’s World Cup after all, thanks to none other than the Epstein files – immediately turning a (sports) tragedy into a (political) farce.
The Financial Times was the first to report the news that Paolo Zampolli, Donald Trump’s special envoy with a delegation for sports diplomacy, had made a formal request to FIFA for Italy to be given Iran’s spot for the World Cup, which will take place in Canada, Mexico and the United States starting in June.
Zampolli is no ordinary figure. An industrial scion who invested his inheritance into a modeling agency, according to some media outlets he was the person who introduced the former model Melanija Knavs – now Melania Trump – to her future husband. He also allegedly helped her obtain a visa to the United States. According to others’ accounts, he actually introduced her to Jeffrey Epstein first, in whose circle she would later meet Trump.
The request to get Italy a spot, which Zampolli also confirmed to the Corriere della Sera daily – also confirming that he’d had lunch in April with his friend Giuseppe Conte, and also a meeting with Sports Minister Andrea Abodi – goes beyond sports and is overtly political. At stake, according to Zampolli himself, is mending the relationship between “King” Trump and his vassal, Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni: a relationship that was first strained by the Italian government’s decision not to participate in the disastrous war waged by the US and Israel against Iran, and then broken after Trump’s insults directed at Pope Leo XIV, the prime minister’s sharp condemnation and the bile unleashed by the “King” on social media against his former ally.
In Italy, the reactions to Zampolli’s proposal, even from the ruling majority, were all marked by outrage: “Today I read that Trump's envoy wants to get Italy back into the World Cup. I find that shameful. I would be ashamed,” said Economy Minister Giancarlo Giorgetti. “First, it's not possible. Second, it's not appropriate. I don't know what comes first... Qualifications are to be achieved on the pitch,” echoed Sports Minister Abodi.
The truth is that, from the point of view of regulations, the matter – although highly unlikely – would be possible. In the event of a team's withdrawal, according to Article 6.7 of the World Cup statutes, FIFA “at its sole discretion” selects the team that will replace it.
It is also important to note that the participation of Iran, which must be ratified within a month of the start of the competition, is still in doubt. Amid cross-statements and contradictory declarations, the latest one, broadcast on Thursday by a ministerial spokesperson on the Iranian state channel IRIB, is that the team will take part after all, and “proudly.” That being said, and given that Iran has earned the right to take part in the competition, even if it should withdraw, as a matter of balance between the soccer confederations, its spot would in all probability be given to the highest ranking non-qualified team from the Asian confederation, namely the United Arab Emirates – certainly not to a European team.
But it is also true that FIFA President Gianni Infantino, who in recent years has bowed completely to Trumpian politics – from the celebration of his reelection to his participation on the “Board of Peace” for Gaza, and including the awarding of the never-before-seen “FIFA Peace Prize” invented specifically for Trump – would be capable of anything.
And here the Epstein files come back into play: that gigantic network of information and blackmail that holds American financial capitalism in its grip. A system that has been capable of unleashing global wars would certainly have no difficulty bringing, for reasons of self-interest, one country’s team rather than another to the men’s soccer World Cup. Even if this goes against the wishes of that country’s government.
For Italy, after the stinging blow of being eliminated on the field, participating thanks to the Epstein files would be yet another humiliation – but then again, Italy’s relationship with fascism has always been marked by infamy and shame.
Originally published at https://ilmanifesto.it/fuori-gli-iraniani-dentro-gli-azzurri-grazie-agli-epstein-files-2 on 2026-04-24