WASHINGTON: US President Donald Trump said on Monday it would be “a terrible mistake” to replace Gianni Infantino, the embattled Fifa president who tried, and failed, to sell off part of the World Cup to private investors.
Infantino came under renewed fire in an open letter signed by three confederations — Europe’s Uefa, North and Central America’s Concacaf and Asia’s AFC — accusing the world football boss of breaking trust “through deception”.
But Trump backed Infantino, who awarded the US president a ‘Fifa Peace Prize’ at the World Cup draw ceremony last year.
“Fifa would be making a terrible mistake if, for any reason, they even considered replacing President Gianni Infantino,” Trump posted on Truth Social.
Trump called Infantino “fantastic” and said he “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!” added Trump, who attended the World Cup final with Infantino last month.
Trump’s backing of Infantino is at odds with US Soccer, who joined the voices lining up against the Fifa president.
Infantino launched, and then withdrew in the face of scathing criticism, a plan to bring private investment into Fifa competitions, including World Cups.
Fifa hit back on Saturday at efforts “to undermine” football’s governing body and Infantino.
However, Monday’s joint letter from Uefa, Concacaf and the AFC retorted: “Leadership in football is not a possession. It is not about holding — or demanding — power to be held.
“When trust is broken through deception, when an individual places himself above the collective that entrusted him with authority, that duty has been abandoned.”
UEFA BOYCOTT THREAT
Concacaf president Victor Montagliani is viewed as a potential challenger to Infantino, who will be up for re-election for a fourth and final term at the Fifa Congress in March, 2027. Candidates have to be declared by November 18.
Infantino had looked certain to be unopposed for a fourth term after overseeing a successful World Cup in the United States, Mexico and Canada until his plans were revealed.
The 56-year-old Swiss, who has been in the seat for 10 years, has received the backing of the Confederation of African Football (CAF) while South American governing body Conmebol is largely supportive.
Individual member associations, not confederations, vote in the Fifa election, Infantino has received support from Concacaf’s Mexico and two AFC members — Kuwait and 2022 World Cup hosts Qatar, where he has a house.
‘SHABBY, BACKROOM DEAL’
Uefa’s threat to boycott World Cups if the private investment plan went ahead proved pivotal in Infantino withdrawing his sell-off plan.
Uefa had called it “a shabby, opaque, backroom deal” and lashed out at Infantino again on Monday for a “failure of judgment”.
After the furore, Infantino received “full support” of senior Fifa directors in an emergency meeting in Morocco last week, but the three confederations said that was meaningless.
The recent meeting, where “a select number of members of the Fifa Management Committee” were present, they said, “represents a continuation of the very pattern of conduct that brought us to this moment”.
“It is not the conduct of a custodian of the game, but of one who believes the game is answerable to him.”
Infantino had been basking in the afterglow of the largest ever World Cup involving 48 teams until his plans divided the sport.
“The growth over the past decade has been real. But that progress was never the work of one individual,” declared the letter.
“It was the product of Fifa, the Confederations, the Member Associations, and the thousands of people who dedicate their lives to the game.
“The expanded tournaments… were shared achievements, agreed together, delivered together.”
Under Infantino’s leadership “there is silence where there should be accountability, distance where there should be openness”, they said.
“That is why we have taken this stance: not lightly and not alone, but together, and out of duty to the game we serve.
“Football’s strength has always been its unity.” — AFP
