US President Donald Trump said on Monday it would be “a terrible mistake” to replace Gianni Infantino, the embattled FIFA president who tried, and failed, to sell off part of the World Cup to private investors.
Infantino came under renewed fire in an open letter signed by three confederations — Europe’s UEFA, North and Central America’s CONCACAF and Asia’s AFC — accusing the world soccer boss of breaking trust “through deception.”
Trump backed Infantino, who awarded the US president a “FIFA Peace Prize” at the World Cup draw ceremony last year.
Photo: AP
“FIFA would be making a terrible mistake if, for any reason, they even considered replacing President Gianni Infantino,” Trump posted on Truth Social.
Trump said Infantino was “fantastic” and said he “presided over the most successful World Cup, by four times, ever presented.”
“If he is gone, it will never be as successful or profitable again!” added Trump, who attended the World Cup final with Infantino last month.
Trump’s backing of Infantino is at odds with US Soccer, who joined the voices lining up against the FIFA president.
Infantino launched, and then withdrew in the face of blistering criticism, a plan to bring private investment into FIFA competitions, including World Cups.
FIFA hit back on Saturday at efforts “to undermine” soccer’s governing body and Infantino. Monday’s joint letter from UEFA, CONCACAF and the AFC returned that with interest.
“Leadership in football is not a possession. It is not about holding — or demanding — power to be held,” it said. “When trust is broken through deception, when an individual places himself above the collective that entrusted him with authority, that duty has been abandoned.”
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CONCACAF president Victor Montagliani is viewed as a possible challenger to Infantino, who is up for re-election for a fourth and final term at the FIFA Congress in March next year. Candidates have to be declared by November 18.
It seemed likely that Infantino would be unopposed as he ran for a fourth term after overseeing a successful World Cup in the US, Mexico and Canada until his plans were revealed.
The 56-year-old Swiss, who has been in situ for 10 years, has received the backing of the Confederation of African Football while South American governing body CONMEBOL is largely supportive.
Individual member associations, not confederations, vote in the FIFA election,
Infantino has received support from CONCACAF’s Mexico and two AFC members — Kuwait and 2022 World Cup hosts Qatar, where he has a house.
UEFA’s threat to boycott World Cups if the private investment plan went ahead was pivotal in Infantino withdrawing his sell-off plan.
UEFA had called it “a shabby, opaque, backroom deal” and lashed out at Infantino again on Monday for a “failure of judgement.”
After the furor, Infantino received “full support” of senior FIFA directors in an emergency meeting in Morocco last week, but the three confederations said that was meaningless.
The meeting, where “a select number of members of the FIFA Management Committee” were present, they said, “represents a continuation of the very pattern of conduct that brought us to this moment.”
“It is not the conduct of a custodian of the game, but of one who believes the game is answerable to him.” Infantino had been basking in the afterglow of the largest ever World Cup involving 48 teams until his plans divided the sport.
“The growth over the past decade has been real. But that progress was never the work of one individual,” the letter said. “It was the product of FIFA, the Confederations, the Member Associations, and the thousands of people who dedicate their lives to the game.”
“The expanded tournaments... were shared achievements, agreed together, delivered together,” it added.
Under Infantino’s leadership “there is silence where there should be accountability, distance where there should be openness,” they said.
“That is why we have taken this stance: not lightly and not alone, but together, and out of duty to the game we serve. “Football’s strength has always been its unity.”
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