FIFA deny reports Infantino has begged Trump for help amid World Cup scandal: 'It is pure fiction!'

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FT Desk

FIFA have spectacularly denied reports that President Gianni Infantino has reached out to Donald Trump for help as he faces a battle to retain the presidency of football's governing body.

Last week, The Times revealed details of proposals reportedly being explored by Infantino that would see FIFA sell World Cup shares to private equity firms.

According to the report, FIFA was considering establishing a separate commercial company to oversee its flagship tournaments, including the men's World Cup, Women's World Cup and Club World Cup.

Under the reported model, FIFA would have retained majority ownership of the new business, while outside investors would be able to acquire up to a 30% share. The remaining 20% would be divided equally among FIFA's 211 member associations, each of which would have the option of retaining or selling its stake.

One of the private investor firms was set to be the venture-capital fund run by Joshua Kushner, the brother of Trump’s son-in-law, Jared Kushner.

Infantino subsequently wrote to every member association offering them $40 million to accept the new proposals, or $10m should they reject it. That was described as "pure bribery" by one source to The Times.

The overwhelmingly negative response to the plans from fans, pundits, and football organisations around the world led to the plans being scrapped, but Infantino isn't escaping further scrutiny as there are now calls for him to be removed as FIFA President.

Continental associations like UEFA are pushing hardest for his removal and European nations even threatened to boycott the World Cup should the plans go ahead.

The Times then reported that Infantino had contacted Trump for help with the public relations nightmare and has been calling him often since last Friday.

Infantino and the United States President have become close over the last year due to the US acting as one of the hosts of the 2026 World Cup and that relationship led to criticism for the Italian as FIFA is supposed to be a politically neutral organisation.

It was reported that Infantino was hoping to meet US Secretary of State Marco Rubio, for talks on Monday but they were denied by the White House.

“There are no plans for @SecRubio to speak with Infantino and there is no call this morning,” said Dylan Johnson, the assistant secretary of state for global public affairs, on social media.

“He wanted to get online with the secretary and talk about how soccer can be a form of soft power for America,” one insider told the New York Post.

“But we all know that it is about job protection. It is not about anything else at this point.”

FIFA has now denied that Infantino has constantly been trying to contact Trump. Responding to a post on X, a FIFA spokesperson said:

“The FIFA president has not made any call to the US president, or any members of his administration, in recent days. It is pure fiction.”

UEFA are now campaigning for Infantino to be removed as president and are beginning to shortlist candidates to run against him, should he refuse to sign.

On Monday, the English FA formally withdrew its support for him in the next FIFA election.