Donald Trump speaks out for the first time about his role in Gianni Infantino’s controversial World Cup plan.
Donald Trump has finally shared his thoughts on Gianni Infantino’s controversial idea to sell shares in a company that could run the World Cup.
Infantino has faced a lot of criticism for wanting to create FIFA Forward Enterprise (FFE) to handle FIFA competitions. The most talked-about idea is to sell a 20% stake in this company to private investors. One of the main investors picked is US-based Thrive Capital, started by Joshua Kushner, who is the brother of Trump’s son-in-law.
Infantino tried to win support from all 211 member associations by offering them £30 million each if they backed him by September 19. However, this offer was not well-received. UEFA was very angry and its 55 member associations promised to boycott the World Cup at an emergency meeting. Many other federations, including Concacaf and the AFC, also opposed the plan, bringing the total number against it to over 100.
Even some of Infantino’s own staff don’t agree with him. His chief advisor, Carlos Cordeiro, quit after releasing a strong statement against the plan, and FIFA’s chief operating officer, Kevin Lamour, might quit too. Lamour said FIFA staff felt “deceived” by Infantino’s plan and said he’s willing to lose his job over it, so that he can sleep peacefully at night.
While many have openly shared their negative views about this risky plan, Trump stayed quiet when asked what he thinks. “No, I never spoke to him,” Trump told reporters during a cabinet meeting at Camp David on Friday.
Trump, now 80, had become friends with Infantino while preparing for the 2026 World Cup. At the World Cup draw in December, Infantino gave Trump the first-ever FIFA Peace Prize, an award created to honor people who have done great work for peace. This prize caused a lot of controversy, especially after the US launched strikes on Iran three months later.
Their friendship has been questioned before. For example, Trump publicly confirmed he called Infantino about Florian Balogun’s red card being suspended so Balogun could play in a key match. More recently, news came out that Trump wanted to nominate Infantino as the next UN secretary-general.
So, it’s no surprise that Trump chose not to comment on Infantino’s latest plans.