Donald Trump says replacing Gianni Infantino would be a ‘terrible mistake’
US president’s comments are the first time he has spoken in defence of FIFA boss Infantino since World Cup partial privatisation plans were leaked on July 28.
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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 FIFA boss 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 FIFA tournaments, including the World Cup, 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 judgement”.
After the furore, Infantino received the “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.
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“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.”