Infantino | Pakistan

US President Donald Trump said on Monday it would be “a terrible mistake” to replace Gianni Infantino, the embattled FIFA president who tried, and failed, to sell off part of the World Cup to private investors. Infantino came under renewed fire in an open letter signed by three confederations — Europe’s UEFA, North and Central America’s CONCACAF and Asia’s AFC — accusing the world football boss of breaking trust “through deception”. But Trump backed Infantino, who awarded the US president a “FIFA Peace Prize” at the World Cup draw ceremony last year. “FIFA would be making a terrible mistake if, for any reason, they even considered replacing President Gianni Infantino,” Trump posted on Truth Social. Trump called Infantino “fantastic” and said he “presided over the most successful World Cup, by four times, ever presented”. “If he is gone, it will never be as successful or profitable again!” added Trump, who attended the World Cup final with Infantino last month. — Screengrab via Truth Social. Trump’s backing of...

FIFA President Gianni Infantino came under renewed fire on Monday as a joint letter from three confederations — European football’s governing body UEFA, Confederations of North America, Central America and the Caribbean (CONCACAF) and Asia (AFC) — declared football “belongs to no individual”. Infantino has been the butt of scathing criticism ever since launching, and then withdrawing within days, a plan to bring private investment into FIFA competitions, including World Cups. FIFA had hit back on Saturday at “a concerted and ongoing effort by some to undermine” football’s governing body and Infantino. However, Monday’s letter from UEFA, CONCACAF and AFC showed his critics are unbowed. “Leadership in football is not a possession. It is not about holding — or demanding — power to be held,” they wrote. “When trust is broken through deception, when an individual places himself above the collective that entrusted him with authority, that duty has been abandoned,” the confederations added. The three confederations ...

PARIS: FIFA president Gianni Infantino, who has endured a week of scathing criticism revolving around the now shelved private investment plan, has been accused by a British newspaper of paying off an alleged lover while at UEFA. According to The Telegraph, the Italian-Swiss lawyer, who served as secretary general of European football’s governing body from 2009 to 2016, also previously used his influence to secure a promotion for the same UEFA employee with whom he was in an intimate relationship. Infantino has categorically denied the allegations, according to the article which was published late on Friday. When contacted by AFP on Saturday, a FIFA spokesperson had not responded. According to The Telegraph, which did not cite its sources, this employee received a “a six-figure sum” upon her departure — at an unspecified time — in addition to the payment of tuition fees for a business school amounting to around 45,000 ($60,700). When contacted by AFP, UEFA acknowledged that “a departure payment was made to the...