The concept of sportswashing was developed to describe the instrumentalisation of sporting megaevents by states to burnish a global reputation in desperate need of repair, usually in light of gross human rights abuses or other unsavoury policies.

Although western liberal critics have employed the term almost exclusively in reference to Arab states, it is a universal practice well worn by both liberal democracies and authoritarian regimes, and is as old as the sporting competitions themselves.

It would be tempting to suggest that, by hosting this summer’s tournament, US President Donald Trump hopes to challenge perceptions of America as a rogue actor and generate goodwill through the global celebration of football.

But rather than sanitising the US image, the World Cup is actually serving as an extension of its war on the world.

It is less sportswashing and what might more accurately be termed “sportsmaxxing” - that is, capitalising on the world’s most cherished cultural event to flaunt perceived American dominance and advance toxic politics.

What better way to showcase your inexorable attitude towards immigration than to disrupt the most-watched sporting competition on the planet by deciding who can play and who cannot?

For its part, Fifa has gone all in on Trump’s sportsmaxxing project. When Trump felt aggrieved at not receiving last year’s Nobel Peace Prize, world football’s governing body intervened to make him the inaugural recipient of the hastily made-up “Fifa Peace Award”, delivered during the World Cup draw last December.