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United States President Donald Trump voiced strong support for FIFA President Gianni Infantino on Monday as the football chief navigates mounting scrutiny surrounding accusations of a workplace relationship and a controversial, aborted private investment proposal.
“FIFA would be making a terrible mistake if, for any reason, they even considered replacing President Gianni Infantino,” Trump stated via a social media post on Truth Social, describing the Italian-Swiss administrator as exceptional while asserting that he managed the most lucrative and triumphant World Cup tournament in history by a wide margin.
“If he is gone, it will never be as successful or profitable again!”
Trump’s vocal endorsement stands in sharp opposition to the position adopted by US Soccer, which released a joint critical statement alongside Canada Soccer and various football federations across Central America and the Caribbean.
Infantino, who prepares to face a leadership contest next March, has rejected all accusations of misconduct, while FIFA leadership has rallied behind the embattled president, characterizing the criticism as a deliberate and continuous campaign by detractors aiming to destabilize the institution.
Additional international football confederations, such as the Confederation of African Football and South American governing body CONMEBOL, have aligned with Trump in backing Infantino.
The controversy stems from a floated FIFA proposal aiming to generate upwards of $4.2 billion derived from a $20 billion valuation for a newly conceived commercial entity titled the FIFA Forward Enterprise (FFE), which was intended to manage premier competitions like the World Cup and Club World Cup.
Infantino encountered escalating hostility, including internal pushback within the organization, regarding his management of the venture, prompting intensified calls for his resignation after he ultimately scrapped the initiative.
Infantino secured the “full support” of FIFA’s senior executive directors during a meeting in Morocco last Wednesday, while the global football authority issued an apology for the turmoil sparked by the abandoned plan to introduce private capital into the World Cup.
Confronting widespread condemnation in the wake of the scrapped initiative, top FIFA officials conceded that mistakes occurred while reaffirming their backing for the beleaguered president following emergency talks.
In an official release on Wednesday, the executive leadership recognized “that errors were also made after the proposal was leaked to media.”
The organization explained that if the initiative had cleared approval, the project could have delivered a one-off payout of $20 million to each of FIFA’s 211 member associations early in 2027, alongside expanding funding allocations for the 2027-2030 period from $8 million to $20 million.
Far from serving as an incentive, the proposal triggered intense outrage, leading European governing body UEFA to threaten a boycott of the sport’s premier showcase, the World Cup.
Two weeks prior, Infantino officially rescinded the controversial strategy.
“Our purpose has always been — and will always be — to unite and improve,” remarked Infantino.
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