U.S. President Donald Trump publicly backed embattled FIFA President Gianni Infantino late Monday evening, warning soccer’s world governing body that replacing him would be a “terrible mistake.” The statement, posted to Truth Social on August 10, 2026, came in response to a growing global revolt led by three major confederations demanding Infantino’s removal over a botched attempt to sell commercial rights to future World Cups.
​The political intervention follows a joint open letter issued earlier on Monday by UEFA (Europe), CONCACAF (North/Central America and Caribbean), and the Asian Football Confederation (AFC).
​The federations accused Infantino of a “fundamental breach of trust” and “deception” regarding the secret “FIFA Forward Enterprise” proposal. The abandoned scheme aimed to carve off 20 percent of commercial rights to the Men’s World Cup to private equity investors for roughly $4.2 billion.
​”When trust is broken through deception, when an individual places himself above the collective that entrusted him with authority, that duty has been abandoned,” the confederations wrote. “A proposal advanced on a compressed timeline, without meaningful consultation… is not the product of an oversight — it is the product of a design intended to limit scrutiny.”
​FIFA General Secretary Mattias Grafström and Infantino subsequently issued apologies acknowledging procedural errors and promising an internal review during the next FIFA Council meeting, though confederation leaders dismissed the response as treating a “failure of judgment” merely as a “failure of communication.”
​Posting from Washington, D.C., President Trump pushed back forcefully against calls for new FIFA leadership, highlighting the financial success of the recently concluded, expanded 2026 FIFA World Cup held across North America.
​”FIFA would be making a terrible mistake if, for any reason, they even considered replacing President Gianni Infantino,” Trump wrote. “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!”
