Gianni Infantino has found an outspoken defender in Andrew Giuliani, a Donald Trump ally who served as executive director for the White House Task Force on the 2026 World Cup, as the FIFA president faces mounting opposition ahead of his bid for a fourth term.
Giuliani dismissed criticism of Infantino as driven by envy rather than substance, insisting that those pushing for the FIFA chief's removal were making a serious error in judgment. Speaking to The Athletic, he argued that Infantino had elevated football's governing body to unprecedented heights and suggested that any confederation or federation leader contemplating a vote against him should reconsider.
"It's politics. I've seen this before. I've seen it before when they've targeted President Trump from a political perspective. I've seen it before when they've targeted other people," Giuliani said. "People are jealous when people are very high achievers – and what Gianni Infantino has done for FIFA is he's taken them to a whole new level that probably they didn't think was possible."
Giuliani pointed to the recently concluded World Cup as evidence of Infantino's success, noting it was the first edition organized entirely under his vision rather than one he inherited. "You've got to remember, this is the first World Cup that Gianni Infantino was president for landing, right? He inherited the Russia and Qatar World Cups, and did a good job with those, but this is the first one. It's his vision on this," he said, adding that the tournament generated more than four times the revenue of the previous edition without major incident.
"This guy literally just put on the largest global sporting event ever without any incident, making over four times the revenue of the last World Cup, and you're thinking of ousting him," Giuliani continued. "If Gianni Infantino doesn't get re-elected unanimously, then whoever voted against him needs to get their head examined."
Despite the strong endorsement, Infantino's grip on power appears increasingly precarious. New Zealand's football federation recently became the latest body to pull its support ahead of the FIFA Congress vote scheduled for March, joining a growing list that includes UEFA, Concacaf and the Asian Football Confederation. Several national associations, among them England, Wales and the Republic of Ireland, have also signaled they will not back his re-election.
The opposition stems largely from a controversial proposal, since abandoned, to establish FIFA Forward Enterprise—a commercial entity that would have overseen operational and business aspects of FIFA tournaments. The plan included selling roughly a 20 percent stake to outside investors, among them a firm led by Joshua Kushner, brother of Jared Kushner, Trump's son-in-law. Infantino later issued an apology over the scheme before it was withdrawn.
Not all confederations have turned against him, however. Both the Confederation of African Football and South America's CONMEBOL have publicly backed Infantino to secure another term. Trump himself has also weighed in, cautioning that removing Infantino from his post would be a "terrible mistake" for FIFA.
Addressing the scrapped investment scheme directly, Giuliani urged critics to take a broader view of Infantino's tenure rather than fixate on a single controversy. "Look, we are all human beings, and I think it's one of those things where sport has become monetised and commercialised," he said. "I would just say that you have got to look at Gianni's full body of work and to also realise that he's always trying to improve his organisation, and I think that's the thing. Just because you're always trying to improve doesn't mean that you're not going to take a misstep here or there, right? As a human being, it happens, but I would look at the body of work and say this is the guy I would want leading."
The FIFA Congress vote in March will ultimately determine whether Infantino secures the support needed to continue leading world football's governing body.
Based on reporting from The Independent.