Donald Trump misses the point spectacularly with one-word revelation about FIFA President Gianni Infantino
Trump claims it would be a ‘terrible mistake’ to replace him Infantino as FIFA President as the Swiss comes under increasing pressure to resign.
However, the Commander-in-Chief’s defence has inadvertently exposed the exact reason for the rift threatening to tear at the fabric of world football.
Infantino is currently experiencing the greatest challenge to his presidency. For millions of supporters globally, the Swiss administrator has long been perceived as a symbol of corporate greed.
Stay in your lane, Donald
Dubbed a ‘megalomaniac’ by leading newspaper columnists and a man obsessed with endlessly expanding tournaments, diluting competition, and chasing commercial yields, Infantino is far from a popular figure.
All of the above has come at the expense of match-going fans and footballing tradition, too.
Fan hostility has now permeated executive corridors following the publication of a joint open letter co-signed by the presidents of UEFA, the Asian Football Confederation (AFC), and Concacaf.
The respective confederations have accused FIFA leadership of a ‘failure of judgment’ and a ‘fundamental breach of trust’ after Infantino attempted to push through a plan to sell off commercial stakes in the World Cup, and other FIFA competitions, to investors on a truncated timeline, which many believed was to limit scrutiny.
With three of football’s six continental bodies demanding an independent investigation and refusing to back Infantino, Trump took to social media to defend the FIFA chief.
“Fifa would be making a terrible mistake if, for any reason, they even considered replacing president Gianni Infantino,” Trump said.
“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.”
Trump’s mention of a ‘profitable’ World Cup misses the point spectacularly. To politicians and boardrooms, the tournament may be little more than a corporate asset. However, to the billions of people who watched this summer’s competition, profit margins are of little importance.
The World Cup is cherished because it is a festival of football belonging to the collective. It is a global celebration of passion, national identity, emotion, and sporting endeavour.
When leaders reduce the world’s greatest spectacle to dollars and cents, they highlight their blindness to the soul of the sport.
