OpinionG20: Donald Trump, Xi Jinping should have used Argentina summit to take Copa Libertadores to China or US
- Authorities opted to move final to Madrid fearing a repeat of the trouble between River Plate and Boca Juniors fans
- The second leg was postponed indefinitely when Boca refused to replay 24 hours later
In the film Starship Troopers, Buenos Aires is destroyed by an asteroid but much smaller rocks have damaged the Argentine capital this week. Those thrown by River Plate fans at the Boca Juniors team bus dragged the city into chaos as it prepared to hold two of the biggest events in the world: the Copa Libertadores final and the G20 summit.
Much like the action in the Copa Libertadores was off the pitch, the real action at the G20 summit will take place on the sidelines. Many are hoping US president Donald Trump and his Chinese counterpart Xi Jinping can clear the air in Buenos Aires – not least the list of US sporting organisations eyeing China that want to see a quick end to the ongoing trade war.
Football and politics are not supposed to meet. They’ve made sure that’s the case in the Argentine capital, where authorities finally confirmed the second leg of the final would not take place in the city but rather at Real Madrid’s Santiago Bernabeu in Madrid. And what a missed opportunity for China and the US that represents.
The Copa Libertadores final that never was almost became the one that never would be when Boca unsuccessfully lodged an appeal to be awarded the second leg without having to kick a ball.
Then it was revealed that several cities were vying to host a relocated showdown. Qatar was somewhere near the top of the list.
The hosts of the next World Cup are keen to cement their soft power push through football, something that Qatari-ownership of Paris Saint-Germain is successfully showing at club level. Game or no game, there needed to be a South American representative at the Club World Cup in the UAE when it kicks off on December 12.