Trump Backs Infantino as Rift Between FIFA and Confederations Deepens

Washington DC: US President Donald Trump has intervened in the escalating crisis surrounding FIFA president Gianni Infantino, cautioning Monday that ousting him would be "a terrible mistake" — a stance that puts him directly at odds with three of football's most powerful confederations.

UEFA, CONCACAF and the AFC, representing Europe, North and Central America, and Asia, issued a joint open letter accusing Infantino of undermining the trust placed in him through deceptive conduct, intensifying pressure on the FIFA chief.

Trump, who received a "FIFA Peace Prize" from Infantino at last year's World Cup draw, came out strongly in his defence on Truth Social, describing any move by FIFA to replace him as a grave misstep. He called Infantino "fantastic," crediting him with delivering what he termed the most successful World Cup ever staged — four times more successful, in his words — and warned that the tournament's success and profitability would suffer permanently without Infantino at the helm.

Trump's show of support notably contrasts with the position taken by US Soccer, which has aligned itself with the growing opposition to Infantino. At the centre of the controversy is a now-abandoned proposal from Infantino to introduce private investment into FIFA-run competitions, including the World Cup, which he shelved only after facing fierce backlash. FIFA itself pushed back Saturday against what it called attempts to destabilise the federation and its leadership, but the three confederations countered in Monday's letter that football leadership isn't something to be personally claimed or clung to, framing broken trust as an abdication of duty.

CONCACAF chief Victor Montagliani is seen as a likely contender against Infantino, who is set to seek a fourth and final term at FIFA's Congress in March 2027, with the November 18 deadline looming for candidates to declare. Prior to the investment plan's exposure, Infantino had seemed poised to run unchallenged, buoyed by the success of the expanded World Cup jointly hosted by the United States, Mexico and Canada.

Now a decade into his tenure, the 56-year-old Swiss official continues to enjoy support from the Confederation of African Football, along with broad backing from CONMEBOL in South America. Because FIFA's election is decided by individual member federations rather than confederation blocs, Infantino has also picked up support from Mexico within CONCACAF, and from Kuwait and Qatar within the AFC.

It was UEFA's threat to withdraw from future World Cups that proved decisive in pushing Infantino to scrap his investment scheme. The European confederation had previously dismissed the plan as an opaque, backroom deal, and used Monday's statement to renew its criticism, calling the episode a serious failure of judgment on Infantino's part.

Even so, Infantino walked away from an emergency meeting of senior FIFA directors in Morocco last week with what was described as their "full support" — a gesture the three confederations dismissed as carrying little weight. They characterised the closed meeting, attended by only select members of FIFA's Management Committee, as a continuation of the same troubling pattern that sparked the current controversy, arguing it reflected the conduct of someone who sees the game as beholden to him rather than the reverse.

The letter further rejected any suggestion that football's recent growth — including the unprecedented 48-team World Cup — was the work of one man, insisting it was instead a shared accomplishment built collectively by FIFA, its confederations, member associations and the many people devoted to the sport.