In the midst of the war, a senior envoy from Donald Trump's government is trying to convince FIFA to exclude the Iranian team from the World Cup and replace it with Italy, which was eliminated in the European playoffs. This is Paolo Zampolli, a former modeling agent involved in the Epstein case and accused by his ex-wife of having used his influence to deport her. According to the operator, the move would serve to repair relations between Trump and Giorgia Meloni.

First modification: 04/23/2026 - 05:19

Exclude the Iranian team, which was the third to qualify for the World Cup, to include Italy instead, which lost the European playoff against Bosnia and Herzegovina, and present this substitution as a kind of offering to achieve a rapprochement between Donald Trump and Giorgia Meloni. What could go wrong?

That is the plan of a former modeling agent with no experience in politics, Paolo Zampolli, who boasts of having introduced Trump and the now first lady, Melania Trump, and who now acts as a senior envoy for the Republican president.

Zampolli himself declared it to the 'Financial Times', presenting the plot as a move that he has already begun to promote before FIFA.

"I confirm that I have suggested to Trump and (FIFA president Gianni) Infantino that Italy replace Iran in the World Cup. I am Italian and it would be a dream to see the 'azzurri' in a tournament organized in the United States. With four titles, they have the pedigree to justify their inclusion," Zampolli explained.

Italy is the highest ranked team in the FIFA rankings but does not have a place in the World Cup, with its position in 12th place.

However, unlike Iran, which was the third to join the World Cup party (after Japan and New Zealand), Italy was on the verge of qualifying, with a defeat at home to Bosnia.

The one in North America will be the third consecutive World Cup without the 'azzurri', mired in a prolonged crisis that also left them out of Russia 2018 and Qatar 2022 and that saw them eliminated in the first round of Brazil 2014 and South Africa 2010, where they presented themselves as defending champions.

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Neither the White House nor the Italian and Iranian soccer federations have responded to questions about Zampolli's management.

Despite their ideological affinity and initial sympathy, relations between Trump and Meloni have been strained recently, after the prime minister rejected the American president's pressure to join the war against Iran and then questioned his insults against Pope Leo XIV.

Read also “Under no circumstances can we participate in the World Cup”: Iran's Sports Minister

Iran on the tightrope

The 'Financial Times' assures that Iran issued a statement confirming that it plans to play in the World Cup, where it will be part of group G along with Belgium, Egypt and New Zealand.

However, Iranian authorities have gone back and forth on participation, amid tensions with Donald Trump, who has also changed his rhetoric about 'Team Melli'.

On March 10, the president of the federation, Mehdi Taj, asked himself “who in their right mind would send their team to a place like that?”, referring to the United States.

The next day, Iran's Sports Minister Ahmad Donyamali stated during an interview with state television that "under no circumstances can we participate in the World Cup."

Meanwhile, Trump went from saying he didn't care whether Iran participated or not, to assuring Gianni Infantino that the team was “welcome,” and then stating that “for his own safety” he should not attend.

On March 19, Iran requested the transfer of its parties to Mexico, a proposal that President Claudia Sheinbaum considered “feasible.”

FIFA rejected that idea, due to the logistical disruption that the change would cause for the tournament, and on March 31 its president Gianni Infantino declared that he considered Iranian attendance at the World Cup to be safe.

If the Iranian authorities end up opting for withdrawal, as they have suggested on several occasions, the mechanism for substitution is not established in the tournament regulations, which only stipulate that a decision in this regard will be made by the FIFA Council, the highest body of the entity.

The solution would most likely favor an Asian team, with the United Arab Emirates the best among those not classified, as FIFA would try to avoid the political cost of withdrawing a quota assigned to that confederation and redistributing it to another.

Read alsoIran will "boycott" the US, but not the World Cup, announces the head of the federation

Who is Trump's envoy who wants to replace Iran?

Paolo Zampolli has recently gained a very high profile, for his appearance in the files of sexual predator Jeffrey Epstein and for the complaints of his ex-wife, the Brazilian model Amanda Ungaro, that the man used his connections in the Trump Government to deport her and thus remove her from the game in the custody trial of their teenage son.

An investigation by 'The New York Times' revealed that Zampolli contacted a senior official at Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) to tell him that Ungaro was in the United States illegally.

Ungaro is believed to be the reason why first lady Melania Trump held an unexpected press conference on April 9 denying allegations about her alleged closeness to Epstein.

Shortly before, the former Brazilian model had publicly rebuked her, telling her: "You knew I had been detained by ICE. You were present in my life, every year on my son's birthday," and accusing her of trying to involve her in the Epstein case. “I am not part of any evil mission that involves children,” Ungaro assured.

Records released by the Justice Department suggest a close relationship between Epstein and Zampolli, which Trump's special envoy has denied. Ungaro, for his part, accused him of domestic violence and sexual abuse, in an interview with the Brazilian newspaper 'O Globo'.

Read also “I will go to the end, I am not afraid”: a former Brazilian model confronts the Trumps over the Epstein case

With Reuters

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