President Donald Trump showed his support for Gianni Infantino, following the joint letter from UEFA, AFC and CONCACAF criticizing the FIFA president.
Donald Trump has thrown his support behind Gianni Infantino as the FIFA president faces mounting pressure to step down, warning that removing him would be a costly mistake for the organization.
The U.S. president made his position clear in a post on Truth Social, defending Infantino’s leadership amid the growing revolt from some of football’s most powerful governing bodies.
In his post, Trump wrote: “FIFA would be making a terrible mistake if, for any reason, they even considered replacing President Gianni Infantino. 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!”
The backing comes in the middle of a crisis triggered by Infantino’s now-scrapped FIFA Forward Enterprise plan, which would have sold private investors a 20% stake in the World Cup’s commercial rights for a reported $4.2 billion.
FIFA President Gianni Infantino and U.S. President Donald Trump. (Getty Images)
The proposal sparked accusations that Infantino was attempting to privatize a central pillar of the sport, and although FIFA has since abandoned the plan and admitted it mishandled the rollout, the fallout has only deepened divisions within soccer governing structure.
UEFA, the AFC and CONCACAF jointly released a letter in response, stating that “trust” had been “broken through deception” and calling for new leadership at FIFA that serves football rather than commands it.
Argentina, Mexico and Africa’s CAF rally behind embattled Infantino
Not everyone within soccer governing bodies has turned against Infantino. The Argentine Football Association (AFA) issued a letter backing him directly, pointing to FIFA’s work over the past decade as having “centred on the development of soccer worldwide and institutional strength based on a clear, stable, and transparent governance model”.
Mexico’s federation broke ranks with its own regional confederation, CONCACAF, to back Infantino as well, saying it “supports President Infantino’s leadership in continuing to promote the development of football through institutional strengthening”.
That backing was reinforced by the African Football Confederation (CAF), which unanimously endorsed Infantino across its 54 member nations — a significant show of support led by CAF president Patrice Motsepe, long considered a close ally of the FIFA chief.