Amid swathes of criticism and calls for him to resign from his role as FIFA president, Gianni Infantino has now received public backing from a familiar friend in US President Donald Trump.
With the walls seemingly closing in on Infantino, Trump posted a message on Truth Social Monday night in support of the beleaguered leader.
“FIFA would be making a terrible mistake if, for any reason, they even considered replacing President Gianni Infantino,” Trump said.
“He is fantastic, having just 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!”
Criticism of Infantino and FIFA stems from the handling of the now-scrapped FIFA Forward Enterprise (FFE) proposal, which planned to sell off a portion of a commercial and operational rights of the World Cup and other FIFA competitions to private investors.
The fallout from that controversial attempt has divided the soccer landscape, with continental confederations and individual national associations all split on whether a change in FIFA leadership is needed.
Despite acknowledging mistakes were made, FIFA is still facing a barrage of obstacles that are preventing it and Infantino from moving on from the saga.
A day after European soccer governing body UEFA, North & Central American and Caribbean governing body CONCACAF and the Asian Football Confederation (AFC) demanded a change in leadership and an independent review, Trump has jumped in with some support for Infantino.
A controversial partnership
The FIFA president and Trump have struck up an all-too-close partnership around this year’s World Cup, one that many believe threatens the integrity of the governing body as a truly independent organisation.
Trump was awarded the inaugural FIFA Peace Prize before the tournament began, a decision which triggered widespread ridicule across the world.
It’s also notable that the FFE proposal initially sparked a lot of criticism due to the involvement of private investors, in particular the main proposed investor group, Thrive Eternal, which is headed up by Joshua Kushner – brother of Jared Kushner, the son-in-law of Trump.
It’s yet to be seen whether the intervention from the US president is enough to stem the tide that the FIFA president is fighting against.
But with Infantino holding onto power by his fingertips, he’ll likely take any support he can get.
