FIFA president Gianni Infantino has been left isolated after Donald Trump cut off contact with him, according to the New York Post, despite Infantino once calling the US president his "great friend."
Infantino had gone out of his way to place Trump at the center of world football. He gave him prestigious invitations, let him hand out the World Cup trophy, and awarded him the FIFA Peace Prize, even as calling Trump his "great friend" publicly risked fueling accusations that FIFA was too close to Trump politically and failing in its duty of neutrality.
According to the New York Post, Trump has now completely dropped the Italian-Swiss official. Infantino reportedly tried several times to reach the US president after FIFA abandoned its Forward Enterprise project, but could not get through to him. Weakened by a revolt within the football world and the threat of a boycott of the next World Cup, Infantino has reportedly been seeking political backing to help save his presidency, without success.
The $4.2 billion investment plan
The episode carries particular weight because the controversial project would have sold roughly 20% of a new FIFA commercial company to private investors in order to raise $4.2 billion. Among the prospective partners was Thrive Capital, founded by Joshua Kushner, who is close to Trump. Trump has said he never discussed the deal with Infantino.
Redirected to Rubio
Infantino has not been entirely cut loose. The head of world football has instead been directed toward Marco Rubio, the US secretary of state, according to the report.
The situation stands in contrast to when Infantino still commanded the backing of football federations worldwide and Trump was happy to share the spotlight with him. Now that Infantino is fighting for his political survival, the report notes, the phone has stayed silent.
