Donald Trump voices support for FIFA president Gianni Infantino

U.S. President Donald Trump has offered his backing to FIFA president Gianni Infantino, stating that it would be a "terrible mistake" to remove him from his position. Infantino is currently facing significant pressure following a controversial proposal regarding the commercial restructuring of the governing body.

Writing on Truth Social, Trump praised Infantino as "fantastic" and credited him for presiding over the "most successful World Cup ever presented." Trump warned that without Infantino, the organization's tournaments would lose their profitability and success.

The statement follows an open letter from UEFA, Concacaf, and the Asian Football Confederation (AFC), which stated that trust in the FIFA president had been "broken through deception" and expressed their desire for him to step down. The criticism was triggered by the now-scrapped FIFA Forward Enterprise (FFE) plan, which aimed to sell stakes in FIFA’s commercial operations to private investors.

The situation is further complicated by the involvement of Thrive Eternal, an American venture capital firm founded by Joshua Kushner, the brother of Trump’s son-in-law Jared Kushner. Additionally, the recent awarding of the inaugural FIFA Peace Prize to Trump by Infantino had drawn scrutiny, as the award was introduced without prior approval from the FIFA Council.