The Cure's frontman Robert Smith has clarified his profanity-laden Instagram outburst criticising the first-ever official FIFA World Cup final halftime show, insisting his objection is to the concept itself rather than to Chris Martin, who is curating the performance. The show, taking place at MetLife Stadium in New Jersey, forms part of a broader row over the growing spectacle surrounding this weekend's final, which will also see US President Donald Trump present the trophy alongside FIFA president Gianni Infantino.

Smith's original post used the hashtags "#Breadandcircuses" and "#pleasejustfuckoff" to describe the 11-minute halftime set, which features Madonna, Justin Bieber, Shakira and BTS and supports the FIFA Global Citizen Education Fund, an initiative aiming to raise $100million for children's education and football access worldwide. In a follow-up post, Smith used mocking nicknames for Infantino and Trump ("Infantosser" and "Trumpton") over Trump's confirmed attendance at Sunday's final between Spain and Argentina, while reiterating that his frustration was with the "mugwank" idea of a World Cup final halftime show generally, not with individual performers.