Donald Trump is prepared to do everything he can to keep Gianni Infantino as FIFA president, according to sources who say the US president remains a strong ally of football’s most powerful official.
Infantino is facing growing calls to resign after the collapse of a controversial $15bn plan to privatise commercial assets connected to the World Cup and sell stakes to private investors. The failure has triggered an international backlash and prompted a number of continental and national associations to reconsider their support for the FIFA president.
Sources told The Telegraph that international alliances are forming around an attempt to remove Infantino, while Trump is determined to help his close associate remain in office.
Reports on Monday claimed Infantino was preparing to hold talks with members of the Trump administration, including US Secretary of State Marco Rubio, in an effort to strengthen his position within FIFA. FIFA and the US State Department both moved quickly to deny those reports.
However, a senior US official close to both Trump and Infantino told The Telegraph that the president had developed “great admiration” for the FIFA president because of his role in helping the United States stage what the official described as “the best World Cup ever”.
“Infantino has helped us so much in delivering the best World Cup ever. The president is very fond of him and I am sure he will do everything he can to help him,” the source said.
“I don’t think the president will change his view of him. He is a very loyal person. Gianni helped the United States secure the World Cup and we appreciate that a lot.”
Trump’s relationship with Infantino came under unusual scrutiny during the tournament when the US president revealed he had asked the FIFA president to intervene over the suspension of Folarin Balogun before the United States played Belgium in the last 16.
Before the current crisis, there had also been reports that Trump wanted to nominate Infantino as the next secretary-general of the United Nations, despite the president’s repeated criticism of the international organisation and his view that it no longer fulfils the purpose for which it was created.
The pair first met in August 2018. During that meeting, Infantino gave Trump two yellow cards and a red card as a joke, saying they might help the US president deal with the media.
Their relationship has strengthened since then. At the draw for the 2026 World Cup in December last year, Infantino presented Trump with a gold trophy bearing his name and placed a medal around his neck.
Trump also received the FIFA Peace Award in December, shortly after failing to win the Nobel Peace Prize, an award he has openly said he wanted.
The New York Post has reported that Infantino attempted to contact Trump after the World Cup commercial-asset plan collapsed but was unable to reach him. Asked about the proposal on Friday, Trump said he had not discussed it with the FIFA president.
Paolo Zampolli, the special envoy for global partnerships, defended Infantino’s record. He said it did not suggest an attempt to protect a “closed club” of football’s richest organisations, but rather a genuine effort to expand the sport and give more countries, communities and children the chance to benefit from it.
“He listened to the concerns and withdrew the proposal, and that is what true leaders do. The discussion now should focus on how football’s wealth and opportunities can be distributed among all 211 member associations, rather than remaining in the hands of a few,” Zampolli said.
European opposition gathers
The Football Association is playing a central role in a new international coalition seeking to remove Infantino. UEFA has increased its contact with football associations in Africa and Asia in an attempt to build support against the FIFA president.
The Telegraph understands that the Football Association has already withdrawn its support for Infantino and was preparing to inform him formally. Its opposition is linked to the plan to sell stakes in World Cup assets, which involved investors with links to Trump.
Africa and Asia together have 100 national associations with voting rights, almost half of FIFA’s full membership, making their position crucial to any attempt to remove Infantino. No association from either continent has publicly called for his departure, however. Associations from Morocco, Qatar, Sri Lanka and Lebanon have instead declared their support for the FIFA president.
The Confederation of African Football did not object to the proposal, saying only that it would study the plan. The Asian Football Confederation rejected the project but stopped short of calling for Infantino to be dismissed.
Time is an important factor for Infantino’s opponents. Any formal motion of no confidence requires advance notice of up to three months, giving the FIFA president an opportunity to rebuild support among the organisation’s member associations.
At an emergency UEFA meeting on Thursday, Debbie Hewitt, chair of the Football Association and a FIFA vice-president, said she and several other members of the FIFA Council had not known about the plan to sell stakes in the World Cup.
Less than 24 hours later, Infantino withdrew the proposal in full after an unprecedented wave of opposition.
UEFA led the revolt against the plan and said all 55 European associations had been prepared to boycott global competitions if Infantino proceeded. Laura McAllister, a former Wales captain and UEFA vice-president, was the first to raise the possibility of a boycott at the emergency meeting.
The Football Association of Wales has since announced that it is withdrawing its support for Infantino’s candidacy for a further term, which would run from 2027 to 2031.
In a statement, the Welsh association said recent failures in governance, working methods, leadership, values, stakeholder relations, communication and judgement had caused it to lose confidence in Infantino’s ability to continue leading world football.
It added that failing to put the interests of the game above all other considerations was unacceptable.
UEFA criticised what it called “hastily prepared secret schemes, devised by unknown people, offering questionable benefits to football” on Saturday. It said it was working on a plan to prevent similar events from happening in the future.
The Football Association responded by expressing its full support for UEFA’s position. It called for a thorough and robust review of FIFA’s leadership and governance system to ensure world football was run transparently, in the interests of all member associations, and according to principles of good governance in the long term.
The associations of the Netherlands, Germany, Norway and Sweden have also joined the Football Association in opposing Infantino’s continued leadership of FIFA.
