{"id":186347,"date":"2026-08-12T13:56:10","date_gmt":"2026-08-12T13:56:10","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/people\/186347\/"},"modified":"2026-08-12T13:56:10","modified_gmt":"2026-08-12T13:56:10","slug":"billionaire-bezos-has-a-new-goal-ruin-soccer","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/people\/186347\/","title":{"rendered":"Billionaire Bezos has a new goal: Ruin soccer"},"content":{"rendered":"<p>Wouldn\u2019t it be cool if Jeff Bezos bought a soccer team and it was just like Amazon: a gross, predatory monopoly that routinely <a href=\"https:\/\/www.theguardian.com\/technology\/2026\/apr\/22\/amazon-workplace-safety-record\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\">harms<\/a> its workers?<\/p>\n<p>Or what about The Washington Post, where Bezos <a href=\"https:\/\/www.dailykos.com\/stories\/2026\/1\/15\/2363629\/news\/bezos-infuriates-washington-post-staff-with-silence-after-fbi-raid\/\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\">took<\/a> one of the most well-respected news outlets and <a href=\"https:\/\/www.dailykos.com\/stories\/2025\/3\/17\/2310760\/news\/Trump-praises-Jeff-Bezos-for-turning-Washington-Post-into-MAGA-media\/\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\">turned it into<\/a> MAGA garbage? Or maybe Blue Origin, where Bezos <a href=\"https:\/\/www.fool.com\/investing\/2026\/07\/25\/jeff-bezos-puts-2-billion-into-blue-origin\/\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\">pumped<\/a> in $2 billion of his own money, which was not nearly enough, and, uh, <a href=\"https:\/\/www.bbc.com\/news\/videos\/cvgz0pdg32mo\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\">things exploded<\/a>?<\/p>\n<p><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" height=\"683\" width=\"1024\" src=\"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/people\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/08\/AP26183150829664.jpg\" alt=\"Soccer fans, including Caleb Triana, wearing a cowboy hat, celebrate the U.S. scoring its second goal as they watch a live broadcast of the World Cup round of 32 soccer match between the United States and Bosnia, Wednesday, July 1, 2026, at an official fan fest in downtown Miami. (AP Photo\/Rebecca Blackwell)\" class=\"wp-image-800067844\"  \/>Soccer fans celebrate the U.S. scoring its second goal as they watch a live broadcast of the World Cup on July 1.AP<\/p>\n<p>Well get ready, because Bezos seems <a href=\"https:\/\/news.sky.com\/story\/amazon-founder-bezos-nears-deal-to-buy-stake-in-liverpool-football-club-13571586\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\">ready to buy<\/a> a roughly one-third stake in the Liverpool Football Club.\u00a0<\/p>\n<p>Yes, this is a celebrated club in England and one of the <a href=\"https:\/\/www.liverpoolfc.com\/history\/honours\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\">most successful<\/a> of all time, but what could go wrong by selling it to a bunch of billionaires?\u00a0<\/p>\n<p>Bezos is partnering with Amit Bhatia, the son of some steel billionaire, and Eduardo Saverin, who co-founded Facebook and\u2014after getting super rich\u2014<a href=\"https:\/\/www.nbcnews.com\/business\/business-news\/facebook-co-founder-renounces-u-s-citizenship-flna766802\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\">renounced<\/a> his U.S. citizenship so he wouldn\u2019t have to pay taxes on his massive wealth. Real great guys.\u00a0<\/p>\n<p>Spirit of Shankly, the Liverpool supporters\u2019 union, is worried\u2014and why shouldn\u2019t they be? Bezos <a href=\"https:\/\/www.espn.com\/soccer\/story\/_\/id\/49581314\/liverpool-supporter-group-seek-clarity-amid-consortium-linked-jeff-bezos-premier-league\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\">has no background<\/a> in operating a soccer club or any other sports team, but like all billionaires, he\u2019s convinced he can do it all.<\/p>\n<p>Billionaires are gobbling up soccer teams left and right. Saudi Arabia used its sovereign wealth fund <a href=\"https:\/\/www.nbcnews.com\/news\/world\/saudi-led-consortium-buys-english-premier-league-club-newcastle-rcna2760\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\">to eat<\/a> Newcastle United five years ago, and Qatar Sports Investment <a href=\"https:\/\/www.sportspro.com\/news\/finance-investment\/qsi_completes_psg_buyout\/\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\">bought<\/a> Paris Saint-Germain in 2012.<\/p>\n<p>And, of course, sucking up to billionaires is the priority for FIFA President Gianni Infantino, who was recently <a href=\"https:\/\/www.nytimes.com\/2026\/08\/06\/business\/fifa-world-cup-privatization.html\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\">thwarted<\/a> in his secret <a href=\"https:\/\/www.dailykos.com\/stories\/2026\/7\/28\/800076341\/news\/fifa-privatize-gianni-infantino-kushner\/\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\">plans to sell off<\/a> the World Cup to, among others, Joshua Kushner. Yes, that\u2019s President Donald Trump\u2019s son-in-law Jared\u2019s brother.<\/p>\n<p>Unsurprisingly, Infantino has sucked up the most to Trump. From the invention of a <a href=\"https:\/\/www.dailykos.com\/stories\/2025\/12\/5\/2357065\/news\/The-World-Cup-sucks-up-to-Trump-and-it-sucks\/\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\">FIFA peace prize<\/a> to make Trump feel like a big, special guy to the <a href=\"https:\/\/www.dailykos.com\/stories\/2026\/7\/6\/800065856\/culture\/trump-makes-the-world-cup-even-more-corrupt\/\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\">reversal<\/a> of U.S. player Folarin Balogun\u2019s red card, pleasing Trump is what matters most to Infantino.\u00a0<\/p>\n<p>He even made sure to check in with Trump about his plans to privatize FIFA\u2014because why wouldn\u2019t he? Like finds like. Corruption finds corruption.\u00a0<\/p>\n<p><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" height=\"683\" width=\"1024\" src=\"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/people\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/08\/AP26200849601058.jpg\" alt=\"President Donald Trump, left, and FIFA President Gianni Infantino watch confetti fall at the conclusion of the World Cup championship final soccer match between Spain and Argentina in East Rutherford, N.J., Sunday, July 19, 2026. (AP Photo\/Jacquelyn Martin)\" class=\"wp-image-800072478\"  \/>President Donald Trump and FIFA President Gianni Infantino attend the World Cup championship between Spain and Argentina on July 19.AP<\/p>\n<p>Now Trump seems to be returning the favor, <a href=\"https:\/\/truthsocial.com\/@realDonaldTrump\/posts\/117074289164806815\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\">yelling at FIFA<\/a> about replacing Infantino on his <a href=\"https:\/\/www.dailykos.com\/stories\/2026\/8\/11\/800082690\/business-and-economy\/truth-social-continues-to-tank\/\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\">failing<\/a> Truth Social platform.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cFIFA would be making a terrible mistake if, for any reason, they even considered replacing President Gianni Infantino,\u201d Trump wrote. \u201cHe is fantastic, having just presided over the most successful World Cup, by four times, ever presented. If he is gone, it will never be as successful or profitable again!\u201d<\/p>\n<p>But the thing is, FIFA might be much more profitable without Infantino draining its coffers.\u00a0<\/p>\n<p>Trump seems not to understand that to normal, non-corrupt people, he\u2019s toxic and gross. Backing Infantino just rubs the Trump stink all over him, sending a signal to the rest of the world that they should stay away.\u00a0<\/p>\n<p>Helluva job, Donny.<\/p>\n<p>\tWe&#8217;ll get straight to the point: The financial hardships that Daily Kos is facing this year are tough.<\/p>\n<p>We continue to be paywall-free. We continue to be supported by our readers, not billionaires or corporations. But we need to bring in more revenue. We are leaning on our community more than ever to help make ends meet.<\/p>\n<p>\t\tPower matters.<\/p>\n<p class=\"newsletter-cta__text\">Sign up for our daily top stories newsletter so you don&#8217;t miss how it&#8217;s being used\u2014and what comes next.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Wouldn\u2019t it be cool if Jeff Bezos bought a soccer team and it was just like Amazon: a&hellip;\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":85698,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":"","_share_on_mastodon":"0"},"categories":[161],"tags":[205,765,6404,6937,83917,734,39232,6927,113,1022],"class_list":["post-186347","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-jeff-bezos","tag-amazon","tag-billionaires","tag-donaldtrump","tag-fifa","tag-gianniinfantino","tag-jeff-bezos","tag-jeffbezos","tag-soccer","tag-sports","tag-world"],"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"https:\/\/pubeurope.com\/@people\/117082887877994431","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/people\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/186347","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/people\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/people\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/people\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/people\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=186347"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/people\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/186347\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/people\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/85698"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/people\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=186347"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/people\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=186347"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/people\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=186347"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}