political football

Meaning: (countable,idiomatic)Acontentiouspoliticalissueorproblemthat is oftendebatedordiscussed, but that remainsunresolved; an issue or problem which isavoidedby authorities and handed off to others.1944September 11, “Foreign News: Free Sicily”, inTime:Last week the most curious sidelight on Winston Churchill's recent trip to Italy was the revelation that Sicily was once again becoming apolitical footballat the toe of the Italian boot.1992August 15,Larry Rohter, “Retrial of a Miami Policeman Could Test Judiciary on Race”, inNew York Times, retrieved12 November 2012:It is a trial that no city in Florida wants to hold, apolitical footballthat has already bounced from Miami to Orlando to Tallahassee, back to Orlando.2020April 8, David Clough, “How the West Coast wiring war was won”, inRail, page58:Obtaining approval for West Coast Main Line electrification south ofCrewebecame apolitical footballin 1960.; (uncountable,idiomatic)Ongoingunproductivewranglingorposturingbetween politicalfactions, resulting in failure to deal with an issue or problem in adecisiveorappropriateway.1936April 13, “The Press: Loudspeaker”, inTime:Throughout the month preceding Bruno Richard Hauptmann's electrocution, Carter had relentlessly goaded New Jersey's Governor Harold Giles Hoffman and his henchmen for playingpolitical footballwith the...2000March 25,Karen Armstrong, “A Pilgrim, Not a Pawn”, inNew York Times, retrieved12 November 2012:The pope's visit to the Holy Land seemed to be a game ofpolitical football, with both the Israelis and the Palestinians claiming he was rooting for their team.

Examples:

EN: Planning to make a political football out of it?
ES: ¿Está planeando explotar políticamente esto?
EN: I don't want to turn the air service into a political football.
ES: No quiero convertir la aviación en un pasatiempo político.
EN: But please don't use this housing development as a political football.
ES: Pero, por favor, no usen este desarrollo urbano como fútbol político.
EN: Another political football?
ES: ¿Otro juego de fútbol político?
EN: Forget that it's a political football.
ES: Se ha olvidado de que es un juego político.
EN: We've got a nuclear test programme that's become somethin' of a political football.
ES: Llevamos un programa de pruebas nucleares... que se ha convertido en algo así como en un balón político.
EN: - Mr. Shore... I told you I will not allow this case to become a political football.
ES: No permitiré que este caso sea un juego de fútbol político.
EN: Is the White House worried the FEC will become a political football?
ES: ¿Le inquieta a la Casa Blanca que la CFE se vuelva fútbol político?
EN: They're using him as a political football!
ES: Quieren usarlo como juguete político.
EN: You know right off there will probably be some folks out there who will try to minimize or negate what we´ve discussed in this program, ... and turn it into some sort of political football. They´ll say we´re left wingers or we´re democrat liberal types and we´re Bush bashing.
ES: Yo puedo hasta apostar que existe gente por ahí queriéndonos menospreciar y negar lo que presentamos en este programa y transformar esto en un choque político diciendo que somos izquierdistas, o demócratas, o de tipo liberal, anti Bush
EN: Mr Shore, I told you I would not allow this case to become a political football.
ES: Sr. Shore! Le dije que no permitiré que este caso se convierta en un fútbol político.
EN: - Unfortunately, the thing has gotten to be a big political football, and it never should have gotten there.
ES: Desafortunadamente, el asunto se ha vuelto un gran juego político y jamás debió llegar a ser tal cosa.
EN: Assure him our spying is just conjecture and doesn't need to become a political football.
ES: Asegúrele que lo de nuestro espionaje es una mera conjetura y que esto no tiene que llegar a ser una batalla política.
EN: 'Mr Speaker, too often the issue of immigration has been used 'as a political football, 'fuelled by inflated statistics in the tabloids 'to appease the anti-immigration prejudice in Britain.'
ES: Sr. Presidente, con demasiada frecuencia el tema de la inmigración ha sido usado como un juego político, impulsado por estadísticas infladas en los tabloides para apaciguar el prejuicio de la lucha contra la inmigración en Gran Bretaña.
EN: She started using my husband as a political football, so I called her to ask her to stop.
ES: Empezó a usar a mi marido como alguien a quien atizar en política, así que la llamé para pedirle que parara.

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