US President Donald Trump has at last voiced his support for Gianni Infantino, amid mounting pressure on the embattled FIFA boss.
Infantino has a close relationship with the controversial leader of the free world.
He awarded the 80-year old with the inaugural FIFA Peace Prize in late 2025, while Trump publicly boasted of personally calling Infantino to defer Team USA star Folarin Balogun’s red card suspension midway through the 2026 World Cup.
That relationship is among a long list of black marks against the 56-year old’s name in the eyes of his long list of critics.
But it has taken until now for Trump to weigh in on Infantino’s behalf, weeks after a football civil war erupted following FIFA’s hastily aborted plan to sell off a stake in its organisation and major events, including World Cups, to private equity.
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The proposal, which would have seen the creation of the FIFA Forward Enterprise (FFE), would have sold around 20 per cent of FIFA tournaments to investors, was scrapped after an avalanche of backlash from around the football world.
The staunchest opposition has come from Europe’s UEFA, who announced they will boycott FIFA tournaments while the FFE plan remained in place, and will not been satisfied by the backtrack until the governing body vows it will not be repeated.
Posting to Truth Social, the President urged FIFA to stick fat with Infantino, citing the financial success of the 2026 World Cup, co-hosted by the United States, Canada and Mexico, as proof he remains the right man for the job.
“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!”
While the 2026 World Cup did shatter attendance records and set a new financial record for FIFA, it is closer to double the previous benchmark on both counts, in contrast to the President’s claimed quadruple.
According to reports, Infantino has been urging Trump to release a statement of support since the scandal broke in July.
He has previously denied all knowledge of the ill-fated sell-off plan, among whose investors included Joshua Kushner, the brother of Trump’s son-in-law Jared.
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The President’s message comes after the USA’s own football administration, US Soccer, stood alongside governing body CONCACAF in an open letter signed jointly with the presidents of UEFA and Asia’s AFC to demand an overhaul of FIFA’s governance.
The letter accused Infantino of “deception” and claimed that trust had been “broken” over the sell-off plan.
“There remains no recognition that attempting to sell an interest in the FIFA World Cup was a profound failure of judgment – not just a procedural misstep, but a fundamental breach of trust with the very institutions FIFA exists to serve,” it reads.
According to reports, the three federations are in discussions about staging a breakaway competition outside FIFA’s jurisdiction should their demands, which include – but have not been stated outright – Infantino’s resignation, are not met.
However, South America’s CONMEBOL and the Confederation of African Football are both staunchly in Infantino’s camp, with the former receiving strong support from FIFA over their proposal to expand future World Cups from 2026’s 48 teams – itself a jump from 32 in previous tournaments – to 64 in 2030.
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That would allow an increase in the six South American nations able to participate in the World Cup finals, which has resulted in several of the world’s biggest footballing nations miss the cut.
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It would also allow for a greater share of games at the 2030 World Cup, which will be held primarily across Morocco, Portugal and Spain but with three matches reserved for Uruguay, Argentina and Paraguay to commemorate the tournament’s 100-year anniversary.
According to The Times, Infantino has informed South American football administrators that he will support their proposal.
Mexico’s FMF, aligned with the North and Central American and Caribbean-based CONCACAF, is also backing Infantino, with the hope that FIFA will grant a request to switch federations to CONMEBOL.