Zohran Mamdani in New York, USA, 4/11. Photo: Reuters

In 2012, facing the brink of dissolution, Real Oviedo, then a Spanish third division club, launched a vital capital increase. They needed approximately 2.3 million USD to survive. A global "rescue" campaign erupted, with 36,962 individuals from 86 countries purchasing shares, each valued at around 12.5 USD. This effort helped the club continue its existence, returning to La Liga this season after 24 years.

Aside from Real Madrid President Florentino Perez, the thousands who saved Oviedo back then remained anonymous for many years. However, one of them, over a decade later, became New York's new mayor: Zohran Mamdani.

Thirteen years ago, he responded to a call from renowned football journalist Sid Lowe of the British newspaper The Guardian, buying shares in Oviedo. In a post at 5:47 PM on 9/11/2012 on the social media platform Twitter (now X), Mamdani, then 21 years old, wrote: "Hi Sid Lowe, I just bought one share, am I the first Oviedo shareholder living in Maine, USA? #SOSRealOviedo".

Beyond being a shareholder of the Asturian club, Mamdani has a strong connection to football, especially Arsenal, having publicly declared himself a fan of the Emirates Stadium home team. Before entering politics, he also played amateur football. Mamdani wrote on social media in 2020: "My best performances on the field were in high school, when I scored as much as possible for the Wolverines (the team of Bronx High School of Science in New York)".

Born in Kampala, Uganda, New York's new mayor, the youngest since 1892, launched the "Game over Greed" campaign this September, less than one year before the World Cup arrives in the United States. This campaign demands that the Federation Internationale de Football Association (FIFA) allocate a portion of tickets to New York residents and offer them a 15% discount on ticket prices at the counter.

Additionally, the American Democratic politician called on FIFA to control and limit ticket resales, an activity that, despite crackdowns, is increasingly common before major sporting events.

"The World Cup is coming to New York in less than one year, and as a true football fan, I am excited", Mamdani said at the beginning of a video promoting the campaign, posted one day before FIFA opened early ticket sales for the 2026 World Cup. "But will any working-class New Yorker be able to afford to attend? For the first time, FIFA is implementing what it calls dynamic pricing, meaning tickets can be resold without limits on their platform. This means someone could buy a ticket for 60 USD and immediately resell it for 6,000 USD. Also, unlike the three most recent World Cups, there are no reserved tickets for local residents. The world's biggest sporting event takes place in your city, but you cannot enjoy it due to ticket price inflation".

While awaiting his demands to be met before the 2026 World Cup, Mamdani at least had reason to celebrate after his victory in the New York mayoral election on 5/11. This was accompanied by a special congratulatory message from Oviedo itself. After confirming Mamdani's connection to the club's history, the X social media account of Carlos Tartiere Stadium's home team posted: "Congratulations on your victory! From now on, New York carries a little more of Real Oviedo's blue".

By Ha Phuong