FIFA president Gianni Infantino has defended his relationship with United States President Donald Trump, calling it ‘critical’, with the 2025 FIFA Club World Cup and 2026 FIFA World Cup looming large.
Infantino also defended his decision to award the Saudi Arabia the 2034 World Cup while talking to the media at the International Football Association Board (Ifab) AGM in Belfast.
“There was a (Fifa) congress decision, uniting the entire world. I think it was a very positive step for football, bringing, in eight years, football all over the world, hosting everyone,” he said. “Football is the game of everyone. Everyone loves football. It’s the No 1 sport in the world. We have to be bringing everyone on the table.”
The FIFA president was at Trump’s inauguration last month with a replica of the World Cup sitting in the Oval office. As the tension rises between the US, and its former allies Canada, and Mexico, the president believes it is necessary to work with the President.
“I think it is absolutely crucial for the success of a World Cup to have a close relationship with the president,” Infantino said. “
We are organising a Club World Cup this year, the first ever Fifa Club World Cup, 32 teams in the United States of America. We’re organising a World Cup next year in the United States, Mexico and Canada. And let’s not forget that when the bidding happened for that World Cup, President Trump was already president of the United States.”
The FIFA is also ready to play a role in the Ukraine war, if a peace deal is agreed.
“We all hope that peace talks will be successful, because I think it is important that we support it for the world, much more than for football, that we have peace.
“If there is a little role that football can play, once peace is there, then of course, we’ll play our role, and we look forward that all countries in the world can play football.”
Infantino said Trump had not asked him to consider readmitting Russian sides to the World Cup, with qualifying for 2026 to begin this spring. “No, I have not been asked,” he said. “I think there are more important topics to discuss when you discuss about peace than football. But we want to have all the countries playing.”
The IFAB met on Saturday to discuss various new roles and the development of a low-cost VAR known as Football Video Support.
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