Politics & Governance
Trump backs FIFA's Infantino amid resignation calls
US President Donald Trump said it would be a “terrible mistake” to replace FIFA president Gianni Infantino, adding high-profile public backing for the football chief during a governance crisis.
Infantino has faced a resignation call from Norwegian Football Federation president Lise Klaveness, who said on August 7 that Norway would ask him to step down. She said the demand concerned governance issues and was not about her own possible candidacy.
FIFA had proposed creating FIFA Forward Enterprise, a commercial subsidiary that would run events including the World Cup and Club World Cup. FIFA said the plan could have raised up to $4.2 billion based on a $20 billion valuation, but the proposal has since been shelved.
The Norwegian federation has also decided to refer three matters to FIFA's ethics committee: the aborted private-investor plan, the lifting of US player Folarin Balogun's suspension at the 2026 World Cup after an intervention by Trump, and FIFA's awarding of a Peace Prize to Trump.
Other support for Infantino has come from football bodies in Africa, South America and Mexico. The Confederation of African Football said its executive committee unanimously reconfirmed support for him. The Mexican Football Federation also backed his leadership, and the federations of Venezuela and Ecuador supported him after backing from Argentina and Paraguay.
UEFA has said it no longer has confidence in Infantino and repeated a threat to boycott World Cups.
Infantino, FIFA president since 2016, is seeking election to a fourth and final term at a FIFA congress in Rabat in March 2027. He is currently the only declared candidate. The nomination deadline is November 18.
Update
US President Donald Trump said it would be a “terrible mistake” to replace FIFA president Gianni Infantino.
Source note: AFP news report published on 11 August 2026 at 01:48:38 UTC.
Update
CONMEBOL president Alejandro Dominguez said one cannot ignore Gianni Infantino's work and called for dialogue.
The Venezuelan and Ecuadorian football federations expressed support for Infantino on Friday.
The Argentine and Paraguayan federations had also expressed support on Thursday.
Infantino appeared in Colombia alongside CONMEBOL president Alejandro Dominguez and Colombian federation president Ramon Jesurun.
Source note: AFP news report published on 7 August 2026 at 22:28:15 UTC.
Update
The Mexican Football Federation said it supports Gianni Infantino's leadership after the private investment proposal was shelved.
The Confederation of African Football said its executive committee unanimously reconfirmed support for Infantino after a Thursday meeting.
UEFA repeated that it no longer has confidence in Infantino and kept up its boycott threat.
AFP reported that CONCACAF and the Asian Football Confederation had not commented after FIFA's latest statement.
The New York Times reported that some FIFA directors present in Morocco had been made aware of the proposal before the World Cup final in July.
Source note: AFP news report published on 7 August 2026 at 13:29:59 UTC.
Update
The Confederation of African Football unanimously reconfirmed its support for Gianni Infantino on Thursday.
UEFA said its position that it has lost confidence in Infantino's presidency still holds.
CONMEBOL said it wanted Infantino's future decided through a straight election contest if a challenger comes forward by November 18.
Norwegian football chief Lise Klaveness was due to hold a press conference on Friday.
Source note: AFP news report published on 6 August 2026 at 20:56:09 UTC.
Uncertainty notes
The item does not give further details of where or when Trump made the statement.
Source
AFP news report published on .