President Donald Trump said on Aug. 10 that it would be a “terrible mistake” to replace FIFA President Gianni Infantino, who has come under pressure after trying to push through a plan to sell a stake in the World Cup to private investors.
UEFA, together with North American football’s governing body, CONCACAF, and the Asian Football Confederation (AFC), wrote an open letter on Aug. 10 that made veiled criticisms of Infantino.
But Trump posted a message of support for Infantino on Truth Social.
Trump Says Infantino ‘Fantastic’
“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!”
The United States, Canada, and Mexico co-hosted this year’s World Cup, which ran from June 11 to July 19—when Spain beat Argentina in the final—and featured 48 teams for the first time in the tournament’s history.
Total attendance at this year’s World Cup exceeded 6.6 million, surpassing the combined attendance of the 2018 and 2022 editions, which totaled more than 6.4 million, according to FIFA.
After the World Cup, FIFA announced plans to set up FFE and said Thrive Eternal, a permanent capital holding company, would lead the proposed investor group.
Thrive Eternal was set up in April by Joshua Kushner, whose brother, Jared Kushner, is Trump’s son-in-law.
It later emerged that football federations around the world had been offered $40 million if they agreed to the FFE proposal by a deadline of Sept. 19.
In their open letter, UEFA, CONCACAF, and AFC said the FFE controversy was not about money.
“When trust is broken through deception, when an individual places himself above the collective that entrusted him with authority, that duty has been abandoned,” they said.
In the open letter, they said FIFA had written to 211 member associations and admitted errors had been made during the FFE process.
‘Failure of Judgment’
“It treats this as a failure of communication, when what football witnessed was a failure of judgment,” said the joint letter.
“A proposal advanced on a compressed timeline, without meaningful consultation, and pushed towards a deadline before Member Associations could properly review its terms is not the product of an oversight—it is the product of a design intended to limit scrutiny.”
UEFA, CONCACAF and AFC also said FIFA had not acknowledged “that the proposal itself was inherently wrong.”
Infantino’s support remains strong within the African and South American football associations, CAF and CONMEBOL, which have benefited from FIFA’s increased profitability and largesse.
On Aug. 8, FIFA posted a statement on X defending Infantino against what it called a “concerted and ongoing effort” to undermine his leadership.
The statement was released after a British newspaper, The Daily Telegraph, raised questions about Infantino’s conduct as UEFA general secretary, prior to his election as FIFA president in 2016.
In FIFA’s statement at the weekend, they backed Infantino emphatically.
“The FIFA President has dedicated more than 30 years of his professional life to European and world football, contributing to significant change in the game and, in particular, to broadening access, resources and opportunity across world football,” FIFA said.
“Where reporting is inaccurate or misleading, FIFA will challenge it directly and vigorously.”
