WASHINGTON — Dozens of mayors and other city leaders gathered in the ballroom of a Washington hotel on a snowy January morning this year gripped by anger and anxiety about the federal government’s increasingly aggressive immigration enforcement operation that included the killings of two U.S. citizens in Minneapolis.And then FIFA President Gianni Infantino took the stage.“For the first time in 250 years of history of the United States of America, well, you will not just be invaded but you will be conquered,” he said as the audience at the National Conference of Mayors largely reacted with silence.“You will be conquered by soccer,” he added in an attempt to land the joke and get the crowd energized about the World Cup, which will be hosted jointly by the U.S., Mexico and Canada from Thursday through July 19. Ahead of the tournament, Infantino has successfully cozied up to President Donald Trump, creating a peace prize that was awarded to him and frequently visiting the White House, including a stop last week, when he was photographed alongside the Republican president admiring changes outside the Oval Office. Infantino has struggled with virtually everyone else.In a deeply polarized country, few things unite elected leaders outside the White House quite like skepticism of Infantino and FIFA, the governing body for the world’s most popular sport. It’s a sentiment that cuts across the divide and spans from Washington to state capitals and city halls.There are mayors like Zohran Mamdani of New York and Karen Bass of Los Angeles, Democrats who’ve balked at ticket prices. Mamdani eventually secured 1,000 tickets for New Yorkers at $50 per seat. The attorneys general in New York and New Jersey, also Democrats, started an investigation into ticket prices last month. In New Jersey, Gov. Mikie Sherrill, another Democrat, demanded help from FIFA to cover millions of dollars in transit costs before ultimately turning to new advertising revenue to help cover the gap.Despite his ties to Infantino, even Trump has criticized World Cup ticket prices, telling The New York Post he wouldn’t pay the $1,000 prices to watch the U.S. play its opening game against Paraguay. In an interview, Republican Sen. Todd Young of Indiana, who played Division 1 soccer at the U.S. Naval Academy, s …
