the.com/political football

means An issue or proposal that gets tossed between politicians or factions for advantage rather than resolved on its merits.

from A 19th-century figurative extension of football as team sport — the earliest known uses appear in American and British political writing describing contentious issues (like tariffs or school funding) being 'kicked around' between parties. The image is straightforward: a ball passed back and forth, never allowed to rest, because actually scoring (solving the issue) would end the game each side prefers to keep playing.