Spain star says he will reluctantly shake US President Donald Trump’s hand at World Cup final: ‘I don’t want to go to prison’
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Spanish striker Borja Iglesias admitted he would reluctantly shake Donald Trump’s hand at the World Cup final because he ‘didn’t want to go to jail’.
The president of the United States will be on hand at MetLife Stadium in New Jersey on Sunday to present the Jules Rimet trophy to the winners as Spain faces defending champions Argentina.
But it’s also possible that Trump could meet with players from both sides, which makes Iglesias nervous.
The 33-year-old has regularly made her political views clear and spoke out during the debate over former Royal Spanish Football Federation president Luis Rubiales, who was found guilty of sexual assault after forcibly kissing player Jenni Hermoso following the 2023 Women’s World Cup final.
Iglesias, who plays for Celta Vigo in his home country, has previously supported pro-Palestinian protesters, painted his nails black in support of Black Lives Matter and regularly speaks out against homophobia.
Now she faces the possibility of meeting Trump, something she’s not keen on.
Spaniard Borja Iglesias (pictured) admits he will shake hands with Donald Trump at the World Cup final
Trump (pictured) will be present at the final and will hand the trophy to the winner
“I don’t want to go to jail,” Iglesias told a local magazine. ‘I hope to greet him at a time when we are all so happy, when everything passes so quickly and I can forget.
‘I don’t think this is the time to create controversy. People know very well what I think. I’d love to do a lot of things, but the truth is, even though people think I’m very strong, I don’t have much strength to overcome some things.’
Iglesias, who scored 18 goals with Celta Vigo this season, played a total of 73 minutes as a reserve striker three times in the World Cup.
He is likely to play a similar role on Sunday; Mikel Oyarzabal will once again lead Luis de la Fuente’s team.
Meanwhile, earlier in the tournament another striker hit the headlines when Trump controversially called FIFA president Gianni Infantino as part of his ultimately successful attempt to overturn Folarin Balogun’s one-match suspension.
US striker Balogun was sent off against Bosnia and Herzegovina and would miss the round of 16 clash with Belgium until FIFA succumbed to pressure from Trump and controversially suspended the one-match ban for a year.
The move caused uproar, with UEFA describing the decision as “unprecedented, incomprehensible and unjustifiable”.
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