Both finalists have formally requested clarification from FIFA on whether the World Cup trophy will reach the winning captain after the organisation confirmed that the object must pass through the hands of both Gianni Infantino and Donald Trump before arriving at its intended destination.
“Our concern is not political,” a source within the Argentine delegation said. “Our concern is physical. The trophy must travel from a podium, through two men who have spent this entire tournament making everything about themselves, and arrive in the hands of a footballer. We are not confident in the chain of custody.”
FIFA published a handover protocol on Friday evening. The document, fourteen steps long, allocates specific holding durations for each participant. Infantino receives the trophy first and holds it for four minutes, during which he will, according to the protocol, “address the stadium briefly.” Trump receives it second and holds it for seven minutes, during which he will “acknowledge the crowd and deliver brief remarks.” The winning captain receives it third and holds it for the remainder of the ceremony, estimated at thirty seconds before fireworks begin and the podium is cleared.
The Argentine federation has asked why the two non-footballers have been allocated eleven minutes of combined trophy contact and the person who won it has been allocated thirty seconds. FIFA responded that the durations “reflect the ceremonial significance of each participant's role.”
“Ceremonial significance” was not defined.
Spain's delegation raised a separate concern. “We have studied both men's public behaviour during this tournament,” a Spanish FA source said. “One invented a prize to give the other. The other telephoned FIFA to reverse a red card. Neither has at any point demonstrated an ability to make something not about himself. We would like assurances that the trophy will, at some point, leave their hands.”
The protocol includes a contingency section titled “Non-Release Scenarios.” In the event that either presenter does not transfer the trophy within the allocated window, a FIFA official positioned behind the podium will “initiate a guided handover,” described elsewhere in the document as “gently but firmly removing the object.” The official has been selected for upper body strength.
A rehearsal was conducted Friday afternoon using a replica trophy. Sources say it went “mostly well,” though one participant held the replica for nine minutes instead of the allocated seven and delivered remarks to an empty stadium that were described as “not brief.”
The winning captain has not been informed of the protocol. FIFA says this is deliberate, to “preserve the spontaneity of the moment,” a phrase the Argentine delegation interpreted as “he'll find out when it happens, like the rest of us.”
Kick-off is at 16:00 ET on Sunday. The trophy is expected to arrive at approximately 18:11.