Trump backs Infantino, warns FIFA against ouster
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- Donald Trump posted on Truth Social that "FIFA would be making a terrible mistake" if it replaced Infantino, calling him "fantastic" and crediting him with "the most successful World Cup, by four times, ever presented."
- Infantino apologized for his FIFA Forward Enterprise (FFE) proposal to sell around 20% of the men's World Cup's commercial and operational aspects to private investors, a plan that was ultimately scrapped after confederation opposition.
- UEFA, CONCACAF and AFC released a three-page joint open letter accusing Infantino's leadership of "deception" and a "fundamental breach of trust," rejecting FIFA's characterization of the sale plan as a mere "mistake" or "procedural misstep."
- UEFA confirmed a six-figure "departure payment" plus MBA course fees for a former female employee alleged to have been in a relationship with Infantino during his 2009–2016 tenure as UEFA general secretary, and is maintaining its boycott of FIFA competitions while Infantino remains president.
- US Soccer and Canada Soccer, two of the three federations that hosted the 2026 World Cup, joined calls for "meaningful change that strengthens FIFA's governance, transparency and accountability."
- FIFA hit back at critics, accusing them of running "a concerted and ongoing effort" to undermine the organization without going through "FIFA's established democratic processes" and defending Infantino's "more than 30 years" of service.
Why it matters: Trump is publicly intervening in a private sports-governance dispute, aligning himself with a FIFA leader facing a coordinated revolt from three of the six continental confederations plus two World Cup host federations. Infantino's hold on his role now depends on whether that political backing outweighs the open UEFA boycott and the confirmed six-figure payment to a former employee, with the FIFA management committee's Morocco statement of support offering only a partial shield.
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