Politics and the beautiful game

Money and politics mix in choosing the host of the World Cup [View in browser]( [Bloomberg]( Welcome to Balance of Power, bringing you the latest in global politics. If you haven’t yet, sign up [here](. When England hosted the Euro 1996 championship, fans sang “football’s coming home” in reference to the game’s origins. Today, the World Cup, the pinnacle of football — known as soccer in the US — is less a demonstration of national sporting pride for the host nation than a projection of money and soft power. Take yesterday’s announcement by governing body FIFA that it would [grant the 2030 World Cup]( to Spain, Portugal and Morocco. By also allowing three matches to take place in Uruguay, Paraguay and Argentina, the current champion, FIFA will mark the centenary of the competition with the first tournament to be played in three continents and six countries. The complexity suggests that FIFA is trying to keep its most influential members happy while maximizing profits. Yet the decision also confirms that the days when individual countries in Europe and Latin America took turns to host the World Cup are long gone, despite the reality on the field that the only eight countries to have won the trophy still hail from those two regions. The next edition — the US-Mexico-Canada tournament in 2026 — will be the first to have three host nations: Sharing the role reduces the individual cost of organizing the event. Money talks in football, especially the World Cup, the world’s most-watched sporting event. Gas-rich Qatar — a nation with little prior footballing tradition — last year became the first Middle Eastern state to host the finals. Saudi Arabia, which is splurging money on the game, [is taking an early lead]( in the race to host the 2034 tournament. There is speculation over potential bids by Australia-New Zealand and by China, whose president, Xi Jinping, is a known fan. Spreading football’s appeal is hard to challenge. But the danger is that money and politics are allowed to trump the passion of the beautiful game. — [Juan Pablo Spinetto]( Fans of Argentina celebrate winning the Qatar 2022 World Cup in Buenos Aires on Dec. 18.  Photographer: Emiliano Lasalvia/AFP/Getty Images Global Must Reads The US is deepening intelligence cooperation with countries across Asia — from India and Japan to Australia and South Korea — as it looks to [counter Beijing’s sophisticated spying apparatus]( and blunt its cyber attacks. A US government shutdown in mid-November is increasingly likely following the toppling of House Speaker Kevin McCarthy. The move by eight ultra-conservative dissidents has unleashed fury among the broad swath of Republicans who supported McCarthy and [worsened an intra-party conflict]( in the chamber. Regular phone calls might encourage Vladimir Putin to think better of invading Ukraine, French President Emmanuel Macron used to think. These days [he’s wielding greater influence]( across Europe through a series of quieter partnerships, and as European Union leaders gather in Granada, Spain, today, he’ll be advancing the heavyweight position he’s long believed he should have. Macron during the Bastille Day military parade in Paris on July 14. Photographer: Gonzalo Fuentes/AFP Getty Images Ripping up the UK’s flagship rail project yesterday wasn’t enough for Prime Minister Rishi Sunak. Desperate to be seen as an agent of change after 13 years that have made his Conservative Party deeply unpopular, and with an election due by January 2025, he [took aim at the records]( of predecessors dating back almost to Margaret Thatcher. Turkey is working to build support for a [peace summit Ukraine wants to hold]( later this year, sources say. The third international gathering of national security advisers is tentatively scheduled in Istanbul, following similar gatherings in Denmark in June and in Saudi Arabia in August. Germany plans to supply additional air defenses for Ukraine to help [protect grain shipments]( from potential Russian attacks, sources say. Labour leader Keir Starmer faces a critical test of [his chances of becoming UK prime minister](today, when a vote in Scotland will give an indication of his party’s ability to win key districts. Former US President Donald Trump raised $45.5 million in the third quarter [as he capitalized on publicity]( from four indictments and a Georgia jail mugshot as major fundraising moments. Washington Dispatch President Joe Biden’s national security team will give him a briefing on Ukraine today as his determination to continue providing support for the country’s war effort faces new complications on Capitol Hill. Representative Jim Jordan, a candidate to replace McCarthy as House speaker, says he opposes further assistance to Kyiv. Even if McCarthy’s successor can forge an agreement with Biden and Senate Republicans and Democrats on a new aid measure, the selection of a new speaker, the paralysis in the House until that process is completed and the growing prospect of a government shutdown could well put off any funds being approved for some time. Biden said the impasse and the disarray in the House “does worry me,” and that he’s planning a “major speech” to make the case with the American people to renew the US commitment to Ukraine. One thing to watch today: The Democratic National Committee begins its fall meetings in St. Louis. [Sign up for the Washington Edition newsletter]( for more from the US capital and watch Balance of Power at 5pm ET weekdays on Bloomberg Television. Chart of the Day “Absolutely gobsmackingly bananas” was the way climate scientist Zeke Hausfather, a researcher with Berkeley Earth, described the news that the global average temperature for September broke records [by a huge margin]( — roughly 1.7C above pre-industrial levels. And Finally Beginning in 1968, the people of Britain’s last remaining African colony, the Chagos Archipelago in the Indian Ocean, [were forcibly removed from their homes]( and scattered around the world to make way for a US military base. As Olivia Konotey-Ahulu and Mohsis Andam write, they’re looking for a proper reckoning, including reparations, for a situation rooted in the last gasps of British imperialism. A protest outside the High Court in London in 2007. 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