A possible replacement of Gianni Infantino, the current president of the world’s governing body of football, FIFA, would be a "terrible mistake", U.S. President Donald Trump said.
"FIFA would be making a terrible mistake if, for any reason, they even considered replacing President Gianni Infantino. 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 said.
The New York Post reported late last month that Trump wanted to see Infantino holding the post of the next UN secretary general. The publication noted that Infantino became close to the American leader during the most recent FIFA World Cup.
Infantino announced a proposal on July 30 to sell a share of the FIFA World Cup commercial rights to private investors under a scheme that could potentially bring it tens of millions of dollars.
The UEFA responded that 55 member-states of the organization voted to boycott all football tournaments sponsored by FIFA. The Confederation of North, Central America and Caribbean Association Football (CONCACAF) also rejected Infantino’s proposal.
Infantino was elected the president of the world’s governing body in February 2016 at the FIFA Extraordinary Congress in Paris. In June 2019, he was re-elected for another four-year presidential term.
