3 min readUpdated: Aug 11, 2026 03:19 PM IST
US President Donald Trump has said that FIFA would be making a “terrible mistake” if Gianni Infantino is ousted as president of football’s global governing body. Infantino has been beleagured with three out of six continental confederations in open revolt against him after his failed bid to sell off stakes in the men’s World Cup to private investors.
“FIFA would be making a terrible mistake if, for any reason, they even considered replacing President Gianni Infantino. He is fantastic, having just 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! Thank you for your attention to this matter. President DJT,” said Trump in a post on X. He had put up the statement on Truth Social social media site as well shortly before the post on X.
FIFA would be making a terrible mistake if, for any reason, they even considered replacing President Gianni Infantino. He is fantastic, having just presided over the most successful World Cup, by four times, ever presented. If he is gone, it will never be as successful or… pic.twitter.com/siI87iuSab
— Commentary Donald J. Trump Truth Social Posts On X (@TrumpTruthOnX) August 11, 2026
Before the doomed World Cup sale bid, Infantino had been widely criticised for the manner in which FIFA accomodated Trump ahead of and during the 2026 World Cup, which was co-hosted by the USA, Mexico and Canada. The biggest round of criticism came after Trump admitted that he had called Infantino and had an influence in FIFA reversing a one-match suspension imposed on USA forward Folarin Balogun after he got a red card in a knockout game.
Since the emergence of Infantino’s secret attempt to essentially privatise the commercial aspects of FIFA’s operations, he has experienced a stunning collapse of fortunes. A private equity firm owned by Joshua Kushner, brother of Trump’s son-in-law Jared Kushner, was to lead the consortium that would own 20 percent of the new private entity, named FIFA Foward Enterprise.
The highly influential European governing body UEFA threatened to boycott all FIFA tournaments including the World Cup and shortly thereafter, the latter announced that it is not going through with its privatisation plan. Since then, UEFA has said that it is considering legal proceedings Infantino. On Monday, the UEFA, Asian Football Confederation and the onfederation of North, Central America and Caribbean Association Football (CONCACAF) issued a joint statement in which they accused Infantino of breaking trust “through deception”.