FIFA president Gianni Infantino's close ties with Donald Trump helped deliver a smooth World Cup, but that strategy also exposed risks that International Olympic Committee (IOC) chief Kirsty Coventry cannot afford to ignore. With the 2028 Los Angeles Olympics approaching, Coventry faces a dilemma: how to engage a volatile U.S. president without compromising the Olympic movement's core values. Main Developments Until now, LA28 organizing committee chairman Casey Wasserman and his team have handled all dealings with the Trump administration. Coventry, a former Zimbabwean swimmer who took over the IOC presidency just over a year ago, has yet to meet Trump. Terrence Burns, a former IOC marketing executive, told AFP that Wasserman's mandate is to deliver the Games and protect revenue, while Coventry's is to protect universality and the integrity of sport. “Those two things run in parallel right up to the moment they don’t,” Burns said, adding that when conflict arises, relationships—not just contracts—become decisive. Read also: Why the World Cup final is a reunion of mentor and protégé Ensuring safe entry for thousands of athletes is Coventry's top priority. The Olympics will involve 11,200 athletes (15,000 including Paralympians), compared with 1,200 for the World Cup. But the U.S. already refused entry to a FIFA-accredited Somali referee and blocked some Iranian officials during the World Cup, signaling potential friction. Background Infantino's strategy of cultivating Trump has produced tangible benefits—including the awarding of a much-ridiculed FIFA peace prize—but also created controversy. Trump personally called Infantino to request that U.S. star Folarin Balogun's red card be reviewed, allowing him to play in the last-16 match against Belgium. FIFA promptly suspended the card. Burns warned that such preferential treatment undermines fairness. “If a similar situation had happened to a Cape Verde player, a call from the President of Cape Verde would not have had a similar result,” he said. He advised Coventry never to mistake proximity for influence, noting that Infantino “just made that mistake in front of the entire world.” Michael Payne, former IOC head of marketing, pointed to historical precedent. In the late 1970s, IOC President Lord Killanin failed to engage political authorities, leading to a decade of boycotts that nearly destroyed the Olympic Movement. His successor, Juan Antonio Samaranch, spent years rebuilding those relationships to end boycott threats. Why It Matters Managing political dynamics ahead of LA 28 is arguably Coventry's biggest challenge, Payne told AFP. “It is naive to think that you can have the whole world turn up without a strong engagement with the political authorities,” he said. Failure to engage properly, he warned, “is a recipe for disaster.” Yet dealing with Trump is unlike dealing with any typical political leader. Burns argued that nobody really “handles” Trump—the key is having a strategy that doesn't depend on personal chemistry. That means maintaining a private channel with a respected relationship where no public statement demands a public response. Coventry, who once said she has been dealing with “difficult men in high positions” since age 20, can also learn from her predecessor Thomas Bach. Payne noted that Tokyo 2020 only happened because Bach built a close relationship with then-Prime Minister Shinzo Abe. “Maybe Bach put too much emphasis on politics, but to go in totally the opposite direction and ignoring the political establishment is not going to work,” Payne said. What's Next Coventry has yet to schedule a meeting with Trump, and the clock is ticking. With LA 28 now less than two years away, she must decide how to engage the U.S. administration without appearing subservient or undermining the IOC's independence. The World Cup experience has provided a clear—and cautionary—roadmap for what works and what backfires.