Trump Wades Into FIFA Power Struggle, Warns Against Replacing Infantino
US president Donald Trump has publicly warned FIFA against replacing its president, Gianni Infantino, calling it a "terrible mistake" in a Truth Social post early on Tuesday The Guardian.
Trump wrote: "Fifa would be making a terrible mistake if, for any reason, they even considered replacing president Gianni Infantino." He called Infantino "fantastic," credited him with presiding over "the most successful World Cup, by four times, ever presented," and added: "If he is gone, it will never be as successful or profitable again!" The Guardian.
The intervention lands at a moment when Infantino's grip on the FIFA presidency — the top job in world football's governing body — is under genuine threat. The trouble stems from a plan Infantino hatched to create a company called FIFA Forward Enterprise, which would have taken over the commercial and operational side of FIFA's tournaments. The idea was to sell roughly 20% to private investors, a group reportedly led by Joshua Kushner, giving them a slice of future profits from World Cups and all FIFA events Associated Press. FIFA ultimately abandoned the stake sale after resistance from stakeholders Reuters.
Infantino apologised for the proposal. That was not enough to calm three of the six regional confederations that help run the global game: UEFA (Europe), the Asian Football Confederation (AFC), and Concacaf (North and Central America and the Caribbean). Their leaders signed an open letter urging FIFA to hold an independent review into the scheme, without naming Infantino directly. The letter stated: "Leadership in football is not a possession... When trust is broken through deception, when an individual places himself above the collective that entrusted him with authority, that duty has been abandoned" The Guardian.
The three confederations have reportedly discussed giving Infantino the chance to resign with dignity rather than face a fight for re-election in March. They have also held preliminary talks about organising competitions themselves, and UEFA has previously threatened a boycott of FIFA competitions — a nuclear option in football politics, where the World Cup and the European Championship are the sport's two crown jewels The Guardian.
The relationship between Trump and Infantino has drawn scrutiny before. A complaint was filed alleging that Infantino breached FIFA's rules on political neutrality after he awarded Trump a peace prize New York Times. Trump also publicly said he had called Infantino to ask that a red-card suspension for US forward Folarin Balogun be overturned during the World Cup Reuters. FIFA separately denied a report that Infantino had sought Trump's backing after the sell-off plan collapsed Reuters.
For football fans, the stakes are straightforward. The man who runs the World Cup — the tournament that stops the planet every four years — is fighting to keep his job, and the President of the United States has just picked a side. Whether FIFA's member associations listen to Trump or to the confederations demanding change will shape who controls the world's most watched sporting event for years to come.
