Milei Absent from Trump’s World Cup Event Over Football Row

Argentine President Javier Milei had planned to go to Washington this week for his friend Donald Trump’s big World Cup event.

Milei and the federation chief, Claudio Tapia, are at odds over the president’s attempt to allow private ownership of teams in the soccer-obsessed nation. (Photo: Javier Milei Facebook)

Then he abruptly canceled, Bloomberg News reported.

Why? An increasingly public spat with the head of the Argentine Football Association and slow progress on a long-sought U.S. trade deal provided another reason, Bloomberg News reported.

Milei and the federation chief, Claudio Tapia, are at odds over the president’s attempt to allow private ownership of teams in the soccer-obsessed nation. Tapia is set to attend Friday’s ceremony, which divides the 48 competing countries into 12 groups for the first round, so sharing the stage would have been awkward.