Embattled FIFA leader Gianni Infantino has a powerful and vocal supporter — President Donald J. Trump.
As soccer organizations around the world continue to call for the resignation of the FIFA president, post-World Cup, Trump blasted that idea in a message he posted to Truth Social on Monday night.
“FIFA would be making a terrible mistake if, for any reason, they even considered replacing President Gianni Infantino,” Trump wrote.
“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!”
UEFA (Europe), Concacaf (North America, Central America and the Caribbean) and the AFC (Asia) joined together earlier Monday to release an open letter, signed by the president and general secretary of each organization, urging Infantino’s resignation.
Infantino has been under fire since last month’s failed plan to launch the FIFA Forward Enterprise, which would have sold part of the World Cup’s commercial rights to private investors to raise billions of dollars.
He apparently caused further damage by holding a crisis meeting last week in Morocco with some members of FIFA’s management team.
“This recent meeting, where a select number of members of the FIFA Management Committee — not the full Committee — were summoned abroad, rather than leadership going to Zurich to address the heart of FIFA, its staff, only reinforces these concerns and represents a continuation of the very pattern of conduct that brought us to this moment,” reads the letter from UEFA, Concacaf and AFC.
“It is not the conduct of a custodian of the game, but of one who believes the game is answerable to him. There is silence where there should be accountability, distance where there should be openness.
“These are not the qualities football deserves in its leadership. That is why we have taken this stance: not lightly and not alone, but together, and out of duty to the game we serve.”
Also Monday, U.S. Soccer and others issued their own statement backing Concacaf.
“U.S. Soccer, Canada Soccer, CFU (Caribbean Football Union) and UNCAF (Central American Football Union) stand together, along with our colleagues around the world, in calling for meaningful change that strengthens FIFA’s governance, transparency and accountability,” the statement read.
Infantino, 56, has served as FIFA president since his initial election on Feb. 26, 2016. His current term runs through 2027, and he has announced his bid for reelection to extend his tenure to 2031.
–Field Level Media
